Sons of Malarkey

“We want to play the music we love with the people we love. For a few hours each night, we want the audience to feel the happiness we do.”

There has been much malarkey building in Scappoose, OR over the last 20 years and now the Sons of Malarkey are bringing it to the rest of the world.

Coming from a city named Scappoose, you have to have a sense of humor and the Sons of Malarkey’s humor is created by the strong friendships between its members. The first spark of what would later become the Sons began with a trip Jason took to Ireland in 2004. His interest in Celtic music became an obsession after a second trip in 2007.

While performing in a duo, Jason started incorporating traditional Irish and Scottish music into their shows which caught the ear of their friends, Josh and Jereb. The three of them decided to form what became the Sons of Malarkey.

As the newly formed band began to find their sound, their influences from groups such as the Dubliners, the Pogues, Christie Moore, the Waterboys, the Young Dubliners, and Gaelic Storm created a desire for a fuller sound.

“We wanted to start playing pubs and rocking out a bit more so we contacted our old friend Dave,” who Jason has known for 20 years. Dave brought his passion for music to the Sons and blended in his Americana feel.

On the search for additional melody, Tatijanna, a young classically trained violinist and family friend of Josh, joined only two months before the 2010 Galway Bay Irish Festival (in Ocean Shores, WA). In short time she became quite the fiddler and has added a sparkle to the band.

During the summer of 2011 the Sons were determined to record their debut album and have it ready for release at the 2011 Galway Bay Irish Festival. It was completed on time with the expertise of Dan Edgar (Entropy Lab). However the band soon missed their long work sessions with Dan, as he did with them. Since he was a veteran musician, he now adds both vocal, piano and accordion rounding out the Sons of Malarkey sound.

As any band evolves, The Sons continue to fine-tune their strong harmonies and incorporate detail dynamics within classic, fun pub songs, more obscure songs, or their memorable originals. “A lot of these folk songs deal with tragedies or a longing for times past which are very universal feelings.”

The Son’s first big break came when they were invited to perform at Sixty-Seven Music’s Anniversary Party in Portland. This resulted in an ongoing friendship with Sixty- Seven Music (67music.net) who has graciously continued to promote the Sons of Malarkey.

Then in October of 2010, the Galway Bay Celtic Music Festival was a huge opportunity to make new friends on the Celtic scene as well as many new fans. “I had never played in front of so many people,” Jason remembers. “It was so awesome to hear so many other bands versions of Irish music. I remember being a little nervous before the “Battle of the Battles” because the other band, Maggie’s Fury, had been playing together for nine years whereas we were very new on the scene." However, the Sons of Malarkey had nothing to worry about as the audience loved their music. “That’s when I knew we were heading in the right direction.”

With so many Celtic bands out there, what is it about the Sons of Malarkey that audiences latch onto? Most noticeably is the interaction between the band members. “We didn’t want to place an ad on Craigslist for members or just find someone by word of mouth. One of the most important things about our group is that we’re friends first and a band second.” That friendship translates into their fun, upbeat shows where their rocked-up versions of traditional Celtic folk songs are blended with other World music genres and incorporate a variety of instruments such as guitar, banjo, mandolin, tin whistles, harmonica, steel guitar, bass, drums, fiddle and accordion.

“We have all played in various styles of rock, grunge, synth, pop, and electronic. We want to play the music we love with the people we love. For a few hours each night, we want the audience to feel the happiness we do while we’re playing.”