My wife and I were at Molly Shannon’s Irish Pub the other night and stumbled onto one of the most exciting Celtic bands I have heard in quite a while. I was surprised to learn they were local as there are not a lot of purveyors of the Celtic sound in this area besides myself. Combining great performance, unique arrangements and excellent musicianship, the effect of Feckless Fear Dearg was pure enchantment and a lot of fun. I am certain that they are a band that will be invited back to Molly Shannon’s and probably a lot of other places in the future. I recently spoke with their lead singer and guitarist, Zach Daugherty.

Zach, the crowd at Molly Shannon’s really responded to you in a positive way the other night. I am sure that folks here would really like to know more about you. Where did you get the name Feckless Fear Dearg?

I’ve always been fascinated with Celtic mythology and lore because it’s full of enchanting tales and magical creatures. A fear dearg is the faerie cousin to the leprechaun and the clurichaun and they are known for wearing red and playing sinister pranks on travelers. Basically our name means “lowlife evil leprechaun.”

Who are the members and what instruments do they play?

First there’s Susanne Stinson, who plays a mean fiddle, then Lonnie Qualls on the mandolin, Rusty Lewis plays guitar, and Bruce Spence plays the bodhran (a Celtic drum) and the penny whistle.

Can you tell us a bit about your personal and musical histories?

The beauty of our group is that we all come from different musical backgrounds. Su has been playing instruments her whole life, some of us started in high school, others just recently. This lets each us bring something different to the table. Take Lonnie – his influence is a lot of blues and bluegrass and his play style is some informal interpretation that is unique to him that is just a perfect fit for us and makes some of those places in the song really pop.

How did you get started musically as a Celtic band? What attracts you about Celtic music?

When I hear the drone of the bagpipe or the shrill melody of a penny whistle ringing out over the drums it stirs up something primal inside of me. Like a call to arms or a memory of a past life in a home far away, the music of our ancestors gets to me every time. If you have any Scottish or Irish blood in you at all you know the feeling and it is that feeling I want to stir up in our audience every time we play.

FFD has been together as a group for almost five months now and I couldn’t be more pleased with the progress. I first met Su at Molly Shannon’s Irish Pub (formerly Greener Grounds). She brought in Rusty and Lonnie. Bruce we met at one of our St. Paddy’s Day shows. He was out in the crowd having a good time and sporting a kilt like a boss, so we had to recruit him.

Who has influenced you as musicians?

I love the quintessential Irish groups the Dubliners and the Clancy Brothers. Ronnie Drew and Luke Kelly are two of my heroes. We listen to a lot of the modern Celtic bands as well, also the American artist Tim O’Brien. Lonnie originally introduced us to Tim’s work and we were hooked. You should look him up!

What is your favorite sort of gig?

We like places where we can easily get the crowd involved with our songs. We do quite a few sing-a-longs and shout-along songs that are very exciting when we get everyone to participate! It doesn’t matter if we play for 5 or 500, if we leave feeling like we connected and that someone was blessed because of us, that’s our favorite gig.

Do you write your own tunes?

I’m working on it.

Where do you want go with your music? Are you working on a CD?

This experience has taken us far already and we are game to find out just how far it can. A CD is definitely a goal for the future.

Thanks for taking time to talk with us. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Thank you for the opportunity to tell you a little about ourselves. And if anyone wants to see us, we play at Molly Shannon’s Irish Pub on Wednesday nights at 7 and we play Dublin’s on State Street July 7. Find us on Facebook at Facebook.com/fecklessfeardearg!

About the author: Jack Montgomery is a librarian, author and professor at Western Kentucky University, where he handles bookings for musical acts in University Libraries’ Java City coffeehouse. Jack has also been a professional musician since 1969 and performs with a celtic quartet called Watersprite. Visit him at MySpace/shadowdancerjack or on Facebook.

About the author: Jack Montgomery is a librarian, author and associate professor at Western Kentucky University where he handles bookings for musical acts in University Libraries, Java City coffeehouse. Jack has also been a professional musician since 1969 and performs with a celtic quartet called Watersprite. Visit him on Facebook.