The Whiskeydicks

CelticFest 2013 in Vancouver
Dan McPeake Posted: Mar 14th, 2013

Share on Tumblr Send ArticlePrint Article Read More:Culture fiddle Mairi Rankin Mary Jane Lamond Oliver Swain Qristina Quinn Bachand St. Patrick's Day Vancouver Wendy MacIsaac Whiskeydicks

Vancouver’s ninth annual CelticFest is in full-swing. This year we have many local favourites – including Whiskeydicks, Mairi (pronounced Maddy) Rankin – as well as great traditional players from Nova Scotia & The Maritimes, the home of Celtic music in Canada. I spoke with a few of the artists – Pat Ernst from Whiskeydicks, Mairi, and Mary-Jane Lamond, about their start in Celtic music and what CelticFest means to them:

Pat Ernst: It’s a great time for us to showcase our music, play new venues and St. Patrick’s Day is the best of year for us being a Celtic band. It’s great all around.

Mairi Rankin: For me as a musician, playing in the city that you live in is always a benefit, and it’s such a great week of music. I get to see other bands, I get to hear other bands. It’s all around wonderful.

Mary Jane Lamond: I think festivals in general and CelticFest in particular bring together a couple of things that work. It gives people an opportunity to hear that style of music from people around the world, and secondly, we get to hear what other musicians are doing in the genre.

While Celtic music is revered and renowned back east – particularly in Nova Scotia – many of the performers have connections out west. Several members of the Whiskeydicks are originally from Whitehorse, Yukon and Mairi currently calls Vancouver home. Even Mary Jane isn’t even originally from the Maritimes. (She was born in Ontario, and moved around a lot, including Montreal and Cape Breton – both her parents hailed from Nova Scotia).

One thing that is common in traditional Celtic music circles is singing in Gaelic. Mairi grew up speaking it as a child, while Mary Jane was a Gaelic studies major in university and is quite active in the movement to revive the language. For me, it was Mairi’s famous cousins that I first heard the language and fell in love with it’s sound and musicality. (For the record, her cousins are Jimmy, Heather, Cookie, and the late Raylene and John Morris – aka The Rankin Family). Along with step-dancing – which they both do - both Mairi and Mary-Jane say that it is simply part of the lifestyle and history that they grew up surrounded by.

For Whiskeydicks, the story is a bit different. Their facebook page states they are “Celtic Gyspy party rock” and the love child of a drunken hook-up between Gogol Bordello and Corb Lund. Celtic Punk is something that is becoming more common, with bands such as The Mahones and The Real McKenzies among its pioneers. For Ernst, he felt that folk instruments were a natural fit with the rowdy party style of their band. (Whiskeydicks boasts a cellist and two trumpets). Whiskeydicks are playing March 14th at Mahony and Sons, March 16th at Doolins, and March 17th from 3:30-4:30 at the Celtic Village, and from 6-9pm at the Cellar Nightclub.

Mairi Rankin is playing March 14th at Ceili’s Irish Pub, as part of the CelticFest Ceilidh on March 16th at 8pm at Vancouver Fan Club, and will giving a workshop at 1pm in the Lobby Level of Tom Lee’s Music.

The St. Patrick’s Day Parade beings at 11am on Sunday. - Dan McPeake

CelticFest 2013 in Vancouver
Dan McPeake Posted: Mar 14th, 2013

Share on Tumblr Send ArticlePrint Article Read More:Culture fiddle Mairi Rankin Mary Jane Lamond Oliver Swain Qristina Quinn Bachand St. Patrick's Day Vancouver Wendy MacIsaac Whiskeydicks

Vancouver’s ninth annual CelticFest is in full-swing. This year we have many local favourites – including Whiskeydicks, Mairi (pronounced Maddy) Rankin – as well as great traditional players from Nova Scotia & The Maritimes, the home of Celtic music in Canada. I spoke with a few of the artists – Pat Ernst from Whiskeydicks, Mairi, and Mary-Jane Lamond, about their start in Celtic music and what CelticFest means to them:

Pat Ernst: It’s a great time for us to showcase our music, play new venues and St. Patrick’s Day is the best of year for us being a Celtic band. It’s great all around.

Mairi Rankin: For me as a musician, playing in the city that you live in is always a benefit, and it’s such a great week of music. I get to see other bands, I get to hear other bands. It’s all around wonderful.

Mary Jane Lamond: I think festivals in general and CelticFest in particular bring together a couple of things that work. It gives people an opportunity to hear that style of music from people around the world, and secondly, we get to hear what other musicians are doing in the genre.

While Celtic music is revered and renowned back east – particularly in Nova Scotia – many of the performers have connections out west. Several members of the Whiskeydicks are originally from Whitehorse, Yukon and Mairi currently calls Vancouver home. Even Mary Jane isn’t even originally from the Maritimes. (She was born in Ontario, and moved around a lot, including Montreal and Cape Breton – both her parents hailed from Nova Scotia).

One thing that is common in traditional Celtic music circles is singing in Gaelic. Mairi grew up speaking it as a child, while Mary Jane was a Gaelic studies major in university and is quite active in the movement to revive the language. For me, it was Mairi’s famous cousins that I first heard the language and fell in love with it’s sound and musicality. (For the record, her cousins are Jimmy, Heather, Cookie, and the late Raylene and John Morris – aka The Rankin Family). Along with step-dancing – which they both do - both Mairi and Mary-Jane say that it is simply part of the lifestyle and history that they grew up surrounded by.

For Whiskeydicks, the story is a bit different. Their facebook page states they are “Celtic Gyspy party rock” and the love child of a drunken hook-up between Gogol Bordello and Corb Lund. Celtic Punk is something that is becoming more common, with bands such as The Mahones and The Real McKenzies among its pioneers. For Ernst, he felt that folk instruments were a natural fit with the rowdy party style of their band. (Whiskeydicks boasts a cellist and two trumpets). Whiskeydicks are playing March 14th at Mahony and Sons, March 16th at Doolins, and March 17th from 3:30-4:30 at the Celtic Village, and from 6-9pm at the Cellar Nightclub.

Mairi Rankin is playing March 14th at Ceili’s Irish Pub, as part of the CelticFest Ceilidh on March 16th at 8pm at Vancouver Fan Club, and will giving a workshop at 1pm in the Lobby Level of Tom Lee’s Music.

The St. Patrick’s Day Parade beings at 11am on Sunday. - Dan McPeake

If Gogol Bordello and the Corb Lund Band got drunk, hooked up and then nine months later popped out a little whippersnapper, that baby would probably be the Whiskey Dicks. That is to say this BC-by-way-of-Whitehorse band combine various elements of country, rock and gypsy music and filter them through punk sensibilities and a rowdy disposition. The band create an interesting atmosphere on tracks like "Tamlynn’s Dizzle” and "Back in ’86,” where cello and fiddle intertwine with the more traditional rock instruments (the former actually features a pretty sick hip-hop breakdown). There’s also a re-imagined cover of Chumbawumba’s "Tub Thumping,” which is fun as hell. Overall, this is an entertaining disc of drinking/party songs created by some seriously talented musicians that will have you singing along before you know it.
(Independent) - Ty Trumbell

This article is taken from Andrew Hoshkiw's website www.hoshq.com

Saturday was looking pretty much the same, until about five in the afternoon, when I encountered an the main Alsek stage a band calling themselves The Whiskeydicks.
I'd say the best description for this band would be Celtic rock with punk and gypsy overtones. Loud, crazy and at times completely out of control.
In an environment where other bands were getting a lukewarm reaction from the audience, with some clapping and the occasional lone dancer, these guys (five boys and one girl) by the end of their set had a hundred people dancing in front of the stage and everyone else up out of their seats
If the crowd had been a little bit deeper, I swear there would have been moshing and crowd surfing.
It was completely amazing. Two fiddles, two guitars, an upright bass and a set of drums. They played all original tunes with an energy I haven't seen on stage since Gob. And even though that was only three weeks ago, with these festivals I've seen a lot of music since then.
After their performance, I mentioned to one of them, a very cute fiddle player named Zoe, that I'd like to interview them at some point. She seemed alright with the idea but not terribly enthused.
So I went away, did some other things. Went back to camp, had some food, had a nap, then went and checked out more of the bluegrass fest.
Got back to the Alsek fest about 11:00 p.m.
As soon as I got there, I encountered one of the band members at the gate. It's as if he was there on duty waiting for me.
He quickly gathered up the band, and then together we went to the hospitality tent to do an interview.
By this point in time they were already well on their way to intoxication, and because there was an imbalance between them and me, they started the interview by filling me with liquor.
We talked for about an hour. I really won't get into it here. Some of it was quite interesting though. This time I had the foresight to remember my minidisc and record the conversation.
It was definitely a great talk. Some of it might even be printable, and if I can extract enough information, I should be able to write an article just on them as this up-and-coming band who will (I have no doubt) be big within a few years.
That is, if they can devote a little less energy to drinking, and a little more to promotion and getting a CD out.
Anyhow, after the interview the group of us split up and I went to watch the bands that were playing. More than once throughout the evening I encountered various Whiskeydicks, who would give me more booze.
They've been together since September, and they said this was the first major interview they've done. I get the impression they really think I'm going to write great things about them, and I am, for sure, but I don't know how far my words will go.
It'll be a big feature article with lots of pictures, and everyone here will read it, or at least see it, but I doubt that'll go very far in their social scene of Vancouver.
Anyhow, at the end of the show, when everyone was leaving, I decided to go for a walk. There were a lot of people who arrived late and couldn't get into the campgrounds, and so they camped in a field next to the festival site. After the show, this is where a party of about a hundred people developed.
As I was walking around, I encountered them again, and again they gave me more alcohol.
And then, they decided to play some more music, and out came a guitar and a fiddle. It was wonderful. It's amazing how they can play.
It went on for hours, and when I finally dragged myself away, exhausted, about half past five in the morning, they were still playing.
- Hoshq

This article is taken from Andrew Hoshkiw's website www.hoshq.com

Saturday was looking pretty much the same, until about five in the afternoon, when I encountered an the main Alsek stage a band calling themselves The Whiskeydicks.
I'd say the best description for this band would be Celtic rock with punk and gypsy overtones. Loud, crazy and at times completely out of control.
In an environment where other bands were getting a lukewarm reaction from the audience, with some clapping and the occasional lone dancer, these guys (five boys and one girl) by the end of their set had a hundred people dancing in front of the stage and everyone else up out of their seats
If the crowd had been a little bit deeper, I swear there would have been moshing and crowd surfing.
It was completely amazing. Two fiddles, two guitars, an upright bass and a set of drums. They played all original tunes with an energy I haven't seen on stage since Gob. And even though that was only three weeks ago, with these festivals I've seen a lot of music since then.
After their performance, I mentioned to one of them, a very cute fiddle player named Zoe, that I'd like to interview them at some point. She seemed alright with the idea but not terribly enthused.
So I went away, did some other things. Went back to camp, had some food, had a nap, then went and checked out more of the bluegrass fest.
Got back to the Alsek fest about 11:00 p.m.
As soon as I got there, I encountered one of the band members at the gate. It's as if he was there on duty waiting for me.
He quickly gathered up the band, and then together we went to the hospitality tent to do an interview.
By this point in time they were already well on their way to intoxication, and because there was an imbalance between them and me, they started the interview by filling me with liquor.
We talked for about an hour. I really won't get into it here. Some of it was quite interesting though. This time I had the foresight to remember my minidisc and record the conversation.
It was definitely a great talk. Some of it might even be printable, and if I can extract enough information, I should be able to write an article just on them as this up-and-coming band who will (I have no doubt) be big within a few years.
That is, if they can devote a little less energy to drinking, and a little more to promotion and getting a CD out.
Anyhow, after the interview the group of us split up and I went to watch the bands that were playing. More than once throughout the evening I encountered various Whiskeydicks, who would give me more booze.
They've been together since September, and they said this was the first major interview they've done. I get the impression they really think I'm going to write great things about them, and I am, for sure, but I don't know how far my words will go.
It'll be a big feature article with lots of pictures, and everyone here will read it, or at least see it, but I doubt that'll go very far in their social scene of Vancouver.
Anyhow, at the end of the show, when everyone was leaving, I decided to go for a walk. There were a lot of people who arrived late and couldn't get into the campgrounds, and so they camped in a field next to the festival site. After the show, this is where a party of about a hundred people developed.
As I was walking around, I encountered them again, and again they gave me more alcohol.
And then, they decided to play some more music, and out came a guitar and a fiddle. It was wonderful. It's amazing how they can play.
It went on for hours, and when I finally dragged myself away, exhausted, about half past five in the morning, they were still playing.
- Hoshq

This was a full page story in the Whitehorse Star on Friday, June 24, 2005

HAINES JUNCTION – The true
gem of the Alsek Music Festival was not
the time-tested, aging bands that headlined
the Saturday night show.
Rather, it was an unknown force of
six youth from Whitehorse and Vancouver
calling themselves The Whiskeydicks.
Wielding Celtic instruments in a
most unconventional manner, they
stormed the stage and captivated the
audience with a sound that was loud,
crazy and at times completely out of control.
Most other bands were only able to
inspire a lukewarm reaction from the
audience, with some clapping and the
occasional lone dancer.
Conversely, by the end of their set,
these guys (five boys and one girl) had
50 people dancing in front of the stage
and everyone else up out of their seats.
“Having the crowd come up and participate
is a big energy burst,” Zoe
Robertson, one of the band's fiddle players,
said during an interview at the Alsek
festival. “It's a beautiful community project
to have here, and everybody seems
quite into it.”
Robertson, the lone female in this
six-member party posse, is selfdescribed
as being the token classical
girl. Along with several members of the
band, Robertson is a student of music at
Capilano College in Vancouver.
The Whiskeydicks are a band which
is rather hard to pin down. A Celtic rock
sound with strong, unrelenting punk
overtones and an undeniable gypsy influence,
they capture perfectly the sound
of rebellious youth.
As one sound technician put it,
“angry Celtic rockers.”
Playing popular Irish tunes commonly
heard in eastern Canada, they
have a musical style that could be compared
to popular bands like Spirit of the
West or The Pogues.
Making comparisons about a
groundbreaking band, however, can be
problematic. Though at first hearing, it
may seem as if they are only following
in the footsteps of other bands, The
Whiskeydicks are in fact pushing the
style with loud, passionate energy to new
levels.
The promoters of the festival were
uncomfortable with the name of the
group, and so in the promotional material,
they were listed as “Whiskeywack”.
Though sexual references are still seen
as taboo, it seems alcoholic connotations
remain acceptable.
“We used to be called Pattywack,
after the exploits of Pat,” guitarist Ryan
Ens told the crowd during the show,
referring to the band's ringleader, Patrick
Ernst. “But then we changed the name
to The Whiskeydicks after the exploits
of Zoe.”
With three band members originally
from Whitehorse, The Whiskeydicks,
who range in age from 20 to 25, formed
in Vancouver two years ago from a
group of college and university students.
Since then, they have released two
independent CDs and have played
numerous performances throughout
B.C. The Alsek festival was their first
venture as a band into the Yukon.
Ernst, who plays fiddle, grew up in
Whitehorse and learned to play at a
young age. Currently studying jazz at
Capilano College, Ernst also plays with
the Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra
and teaches more than 30 students at a
North Vancouver music school.
Robertson, the band's second fiddle,
is no second-stringer. She began her
musical career as a young prodigy in
Vancouver, where she very quickly
established herself as an artist.
Today, she plays gigs regularly
throughout the city with a very diverse
assortment of bands ranging from bluegrass
to Romani Jazz.
Ernst's brother, Curtis, plays cello.
Curtis is an avid musician from Whitehorse.
A rocker at heart, he is able to quickly
adapt to just about any style of music.
He specializes in playing heavy metal
guitar riffs on his cello. He is currently
pursuing a musical education at Capilano
College.
On drums is Mike Bell. Raised in
Prince Rupert, B.C., Bell is as multi-talented
as they come, as he also plays guitar,
bass and holds a degree in piano. He
is currently working on a degree in music
composition at the University of British
Columbia.
The third and final Whitehorse band
member is guitarist Ryan Enns. Best
known for playing punk, rock and blues,
he is also a prolific recording artist, having
recorded three solo albums.
In the summer of 2004, he performed
at the CBC's annual True North Concert
in Haines Junction. In the fall, he will
begin work on a Masters degree in
music.
Rounding out the band on second
guitar is Dave Kornas. The newest addition
to the band, Kornas is from Kenora,
Ont., and has played everything from
bluegrass to the heaviest of heavy rock.
Along with Bell, Kornas currently plays
in three bands.
“Generally, there's two rules with
any performance of this band,” said
Enns. “We always drink more than we
earn, and we cost the establishment more
than we're worth.
“In one tour, we've broken one toilet,
trashed one truck and been thrown
out of four hotel rooms.”
This sort of reckless behaviour, along
with a generous quantity of alcohol,
seem - The Whitehorse STAR, Whitehorse, Yukon

This was a full page story in the Whitehorse Star on Friday, June 24, 2005

HAINES JUNCTION – The true
gem of the Alsek Music Festival was not
the time-tested, aging bands that headlined
the Saturday night show.
Rather, it was an unknown force of
six youth from Whitehorse and Vancouver
calling themselves The Whiskeydicks.
Wielding Celtic instruments in a
most unconventional manner, they
stormed the stage and captivated the
audience with a sound that was loud,
crazy and at times completely out of control.
Most other bands were only able to
inspire a lukewarm reaction from the
audience, with some clapping and the
occasional lone dancer.
Conversely, by the end of their set,
these guys (five boys and one girl) had
50 people dancing in front of the stage
and everyone else up out of their seats.
“Having the crowd come up and participate
is a big energy burst,” Zoe
Robertson, one of the band's fiddle players,
said during an interview at the Alsek
festival. “It's a beautiful community project
to have here, and everybody seems
quite into it.”
Robertson, the lone female in this
six-member party posse, is selfdescribed
as being the token classical
girl. Along with several members of the
band, Robertson is a student of music at
Capilano College in Vancouver.
The Whiskeydicks are a band which
is rather hard to pin down. A Celtic rock
sound with strong, unrelenting punk
overtones and an undeniable gypsy influence,
they capture perfectly the sound
of rebellious youth.
As one sound technician put it,
“angry Celtic rockers.”
Playing popular Irish tunes commonly
heard in eastern Canada, they
have a musical style that could be compared
to popular bands like Spirit of the
West or The Pogues.
Making comparisons about a
groundbreaking band, however, can be
problematic. Though at first hearing, it
may seem as if they are only following
in the footsteps of other bands, The
Whiskeydicks are in fact pushing the
style with loud, passionate energy to new
levels.
The promoters of the festival were
uncomfortable with the name of the
group, and so in the promotional material,
they were listed as “Whiskeywack”.
Though sexual references are still seen
as taboo, it seems alcoholic connotations
remain acceptable.
“We used to be called Pattywack,
after the exploits of Pat,” guitarist Ryan
Ens told the crowd during the show,
referring to the band's ringleader, Patrick
Ernst. “But then we changed the name
to The Whiskeydicks after the exploits
of Zoe.”
With three band members originally
from Whitehorse, The Whiskeydicks,
who range in age from 20 to 25, formed
in Vancouver two years ago from a
group of college and university students.
Since then, they have released two
independent CDs and have played
numerous performances throughout
B.C. The Alsek festival was their first
venture as a band into the Yukon.
Ernst, who plays fiddle, grew up in
Whitehorse and learned to play at a
young age. Currently studying jazz at
Capilano College, Ernst also plays with
the Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra
and teaches more than 30 students at a
North Vancouver music school.
Robertson, the band's second fiddle,
is no second-stringer. She began her
musical career as a young prodigy in
Vancouver, where she very quickly
established herself as an artist.
Today, she plays gigs regularly
throughout the city with a very diverse
assortment of bands ranging from bluegrass
to Romani Jazz.
Ernst's brother, Curtis, plays cello.
Curtis is an avid musician from Whitehorse.
A rocker at heart, he is able to quickly
adapt to just about any style of music.
He specializes in playing heavy metal
guitar riffs on his cello. He is currently
pursuing a musical education at Capilano
College.
On drums is Mike Bell. Raised in
Prince Rupert, B.C., Bell is as multi-talented
as they come, as he also plays guitar,
bass and holds a degree in piano. He
is currently working on a degree in music
composition at the University of British
Columbia.
The third and final Whitehorse band
member is guitarist Ryan Enns. Best
known for playing punk, rock and blues,
he is also a prolific recording artist, having
recorded three solo albums.
In the summer of 2004, he performed
at the CBC's annual True North Concert
in Haines Junction. In the fall, he will
begin work on a Masters degree in
music.
Rounding out the band on second
guitar is Dave Kornas. The newest addition
to the band, Kornas is from Kenora,
Ont., and has played everything from
bluegrass to the heaviest of heavy rock.
Along with Bell, Kornas currently plays
in three bands.
“Generally, there's two rules with
any performance of this band,” said
Enns. “We always drink more than we
earn, and we cost the establishment more
than we're worth.
“In one tour, we've broken one toilet,
trashed one truck and been thrown
out of four hotel rooms.”
This sort of reckless behaviour, along
with a generous quantity of alcohol,
seem - The Whitehorse STAR, Whitehorse, Yukon