Musical Entertainment Blarney Band Reno Celtic Celebration welcomes the Blarney Band back for the third time at this year’s event.  Catch up with them again this year and enjoy the wonderful sounds of their music.  Blarney is defined as; smooth, flattering talk, often nonsensical... and so it `tis with the Blarney Band; smooth, flattering song, often nonsensical. Keith and Dan Shannon make up the sound of Blarney and make their home in Truckee, California. This father and son duet, blend strong harmonious voices with a variety of instruments; bringing together a wonderful presentation of Irish, Scottish, and Celtic music. Their constantly expanding repertoire includes traditional and contemporary songs and ballads. CÍANA New to our event, 'Cíana' is a Carson Valley band that performs tunes and songs from the Irish tradition.   'Cíana' is an Irish word roughly meaning distance and time, which speaks to the ancient expanse that defines western Nevada.  The trio met at the local Irish music sessions around western Nevada and Lake Tahoe, and they were soon getting together to play tunes as a group. With a nod of appreciation to those Irish musicians from whom they learned, Cíana keeps the Irish tradition of lively tunes and soulful songs alive in the high deserts of Nevada. Come hear them play and you’ll soon be transported to another time and another place. Contraband Contraband was first formed in 1996, the name deriving from the fact that a number of its members are doctors in the Reno-area. One day, Henry was playing his pipes all alone, and while a magnificent instrument played solo, the bagpipes needed company. "Aha!", Henry thought. My good buddy Norm plays the mandolin, and is a fair singer in his own right. "Maybe he'd like to start a band!" After talking with Norm, he suggested a number of names to form the crew... thus, Contraband was born. Nowhere this side of the Mississippi, east of the Sierra Nevadas, south of the Cascades, and north of the Sedona cactus, will you find a band that plays such a harmonic and fluid sound as Contraband. Reno Celtic Celebration welcomes the Contraband back to our event for the second time.  They will be playing on Saturday only, so be sure to stop by for a listen.  Check out the YouTube video of the band talking about their formation and evolution: Gáirín Returning to our event this year,  Gáirín is husband- and-wife musicians and singer-songwriters Tom and Mary Kay Aufrance, who are from Carson City.  You will find them performing close to home on festival stages and also in intimate settings, making music for coffee shop or pub audiences.  Their Scots-Irish name Gáirín comes from the Gaelic word for a wee bit o' laughter, kinda like a chuckle. It's a wee bit o' Gaira and reminds us of the laughter of the Desert Quail, in fact! The Celtic connection? That bird was first named by Scots-Irish Welsh American adventurer-naturalist William Gambel, a Celtic cowboy who headed Out West in 1842. In 2011, an exciting highlight was being invited by the Strings in the Schools program to be the workshop instructors for the Celtic Workshop. For this day-long event and performance, they worked with nearly 60 students of all ages from grade school through retirement age. Their approach to teaching Celtic styles was to help the students to form their own Celtic bands! During the workshop they formed 10 new Celtic bands, and each band was featured during a crowd pleasing performance that took place at the end of the day.