Decatur Arts

 

49th Field Regiment

 

University of Texas

 

Gorton Center for the
Performing Arts

 

Springfield Area Arts Council

 

Keokuk Art Center

 

Patrick J. Leahy

 

 

Review of Ghosts of the River Folk

by Rick Minerd
Writer/ Author/ Former Broadcaster

Marty McCormack and Brian FitzGerald have created another collection of amazing songs in their latest package of musical jewels called Ghosts of the River Folk.

I was expecting their very familiar and often raucous Irish blend of folk and pure Celtic Soul, but what I found was ten songs that seem to represent an extension of this amazing duo's endless ability to be familiar as well as original.

Every piece of music these guys share with their legions of fans sounds as if they got there first, whether it is a well-known ballad or something from their impressive vault of personal creations. The music they make and share, either in live performances or on recorded disc is distinctively theirs and if you've ever heard them you know it's them when you hear it.

But this new CD sounds to me like they have reinvented another good thing. Every cut on this album is similar to the original "Switchback" sound, but to me, and maybe only to me, I can hear something very close to the British sound that changed pop music forever when it first made its way into our culture.

As bold as this sounds even to me, I hear shades of "Rubber Soul" here. A lot of Marty and Brian's music takes as much energy to listen to as it might take for them to perform it. Yet this is another pleasant surprise, a collection of songs that is as easy to hear first thing in the morning as it is as I compose this essay about it.

I am listening to it for the second time as I write, and I'm liking it more than the first time. And in addition to what I can only describe as Beatle-esque, I am reminded of many of the other British and American music that I grew up with and later played as a radio disc jockey. Yet every song sounds new, and every song is new.

I cannot call out my favorite on this one. But if Marty and Brian said,"Pick oneor we will never come back to Columbus and play for you,"I might say, "Rock Your Heart." But then I would probably say,"Wait a minute..." It would be that tough, and I remember thinking the same thing about "Rubber Soul." See for yourself.

 

A Lot of Foot Stomping Going On
Newspapers of Fayette County
Monday, February 15, 2010

By Janell Bradley, Editor

 

Not long after we’d arrived in Ireland, the first venue for our travel hosts, the Irish roots band, Switchback, was to play in a pub in Killarney. Traveling abroad with musicians is icing on the cake of what is already a great itinerary. Around 8 p.m., our group walked a couple of blocks from our hotel to OConnor’s, to get good seats. We ordered our pints of Guinness and soon our feet were tapping to Brian’s mandolin and Marty’s bass guitar as they performed some of the songs they’ve written, such as “Mayfly Dance,” and the “The Miser.” Click here to read the entire article

 

Switchback in Grayling concert Dec. 30

Gaylord Herald Times

Friday, December 18, 2009

 

On Wednesday, Dec. 30. at 7:30 p.m. the Grayling Rotary Club is staging a Holiday Benefit Concert featuring the award-winning Chicago duo Switchback. Switchback is on a short tour up north over the New Year’s weekend and they are making a stop in Grayling to play at this benefit event. The proceeds from this concert will go to support the Grayling Rotary Club community efforts....Switchback tours the world every year playing festivals, performing arts centers, opera houses, theaters and pubs from Iowa to Canada and from Ireland to Italy. In 2008, Switchback traveled to almost half of the states in the U.S. and played to international audiences in The Netherlands, Ireland, England and Canada. This winter they are off again for tours of Ireland and Italy in January and February and on the way they stop over on an island in Northern Ontario to play at a sold-out performance this New Year’s Eve...Click here to read the entire article

 

Duo sheds Celtic soul, steals hearts at Crighton

Conroe Courier - Lifestyles

November 19, 2009

By Peggie Miller

 

Two guys with an unlikely moniker — SWITCHBACK — came to town with guitars and a mandolin last week and left with a collection of hearts. Not in recent memory has the Crighton Theatre, through the MONTGOMERY COUNTY PERFORMING ARTS SOCIETY, hosted so personable a duo. The music they played was mostly Celtic, or as a publicity phrase put it, “American roots music with a Celtic soul.” Their voices blended in heart-tugging harmony, and they made more music with two guitars, a sometimes mandolin, and those voices than some six piece bands produce. Click here to read the entire article.

 

 

Switchback duo celebrates

Celtic heritage at Crighton

Conroe Courier - Lifestyles
November 12, 2009

by Tori Brock

 

If St. Patrick’s Day is your favorite holiday and you can’t wait to celebrate your Celtic heritage next March, Switchback has an upcoming performance you won’t want to miss.

 

Switchback is a part-Americana, part-Celtic duo that has performed all over the world and now the duo is coming to the historic downtown Crighton Theatre Saturday, thanks to the Montgomery County Performing Arts Society. Click here to read the entire article.

 

 

 

Musical Duo Switchback Next on MCPAS Bill

The Courier of Montgomery County

November 5, 2009

By Peggie Miller, Performing Arts Columnist

 

Switchback’s music, ranging from “wild Irish polkas to sentimental ballads,” seems a little off the beaten path. But the harmony and musicianship of MARTIN MCCORMACK and BRIAN FITZGERALD appeal to a diverse audience. Click here to read the entire article.

 

 

 

Dear Switchback,

Thank you for coming to our school. I really like your music. It was very interesting how you guys sang about history. Both of you are very talented. So thanks again. It was very fun watching you sing and play your instruments. I wish you guys lots of luck playing for everyone else in the world and I know they will enjoy you also.

Sincerely,

Cloe M.
5th Grade
Inland Lakes, Michigan

 

 

 

Switchback: Fusing Cultures

Groupee.com

September 11, 2009

by Kristi Kates, Groupee.com Writer

 

Americana-Celtic duo Switchback have been doing the DIY band thing from their earliest beginnings 23 years ago in Illinois. Mandolin student Brian FitzGerald - the "elder statesman" of the band, as he'd already been on the road touring - met Marty McCormack, a voice student at the American Conservatory of Chicago (and a member of Star Search band Beyond Blue) through fortuitous circumstances. They were both chosen by legendary master composer Terrence Teahan to join his traditional Irish music group. Click here to read the entire article.

 

 

 

 

Celtic Duo Switchback

to Entertain at the

3rd Annual

Iowa Irish Festival

The Courier

Monday, July 27, 2009

by Mary Stegmeir

Waterloo/Cedar Falls, Iowa

 

It can be somber and solemn, or witty and whimsical. Few other genres seem as well-suited to the array of human emotions as Celtic music, and the Irish duo Switchback is one of the best bands suited for the job...."Celtic music is a very tribal kind of music," said McCormack, who plays guitar and bass guitar. "Whether you're a Celt or not - Irish or not - you feel it. It's a music and culture that appeals to everyone."

 

 

Switchback's first live webcast was on Marty's Birthday!

A milestone was accomplished on July 16, when we had our first live web concert and chat room on the WayGood website.  For those of you who missed it, it was an exciting evening at the Soo Theater for not only Brian and Marty, but the people in the audience.  They were told that they were part of a bigger event with people watching and commenting from Germany to Florida. Watch the archived broadcast online... 

 

 

I'm a Believer, Tuesday, July 21, 2009

from: Rick Minerd's blog "Life is a Jukebox"

 

Every time I listen to Marty and Brian I know how lucky I am to be a music lover.

 

As a broadcaster I cleared my throat and cut my teeth on rock & roll, but later came to appreciate country music and easy listening just as much. also dabbled with jazzy radio formats for a while, and with a few stations that specialized in the very basic American standards. I'm very at home with Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams, Bill Monroe, Waylon Jennings and Jimi Hendrix. And whatever falls between that eclectic gathering of music makers. Playing and enjoying songs written and recorded by the great masters ranging from Cole Porter to Jimmy Webb.

 

I can feel as melancholy listening to Johnny Cash as easily as I do when I hear Ricky Nelson or The Beatles. And, I can also jump to my feet and join everyone around me during a raucous Irish Jig just as quickly as I can while being serenaded by flaming bluegrass jams. Okay, maybe not as quickly as I could have ten or forty years ago, but the mind remains just as eager and the heart still pounds pretty soundly when I hear Switchback fusing all of that together. That is what Marty and Brian do, they grab the various musical genres by the guitar strings and fuse it all together to create absolute symphonies, of everything we music lovers are passionate about.

 

Celtic music by any other name is defined by what this duo is able to do with a song, whether one of their own, or one made famous by someone else in another era. It all sounds new when Marty and Brian touch it personally. With that constant passion for getting it right and making believers of audiences around the globe, their music speaks universally.

 

A few times each year we get an opportunity here in Columbus, Ohio to enjoy this world class act without traversing the planet in search of them, or someone like them. And there are other singers and musicians like them, as a matter of fact, the guys credit them during every show. They're called influences. And that list includes the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughn, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and The Beatles among many others.

 

Clearly they have been influenced by the best from the Celtic stages as well, and if I had been paying closer attention to that musical theatre I would probably be able to name some of them. But I only joined this theatre of sound about a year ago. One of my better decisions.

 

Switchback is Marty McCormack and Brian FitzGerald and they tour year round. Sample their music at www.waygoodmusic.com/ and then check your local entertainment listings to see when they will be in your area. This is a favor that any music lover, or just someone wanting to feel good can do for themselves.

 

Rick Minerd - Freelance writer Photographer Former Broadcaster WCOL WMNI WRFD WNCI WTVN Retired Chief Of Police Former Deputy Sheriff, Franklin County Sheriff's Office

 

 

Switchback Teaches, Entertains Students

Daily Gate City, Keokuk, Iowa

April 16, 2009

 

Keokuk High School Choir students listen as Brian FitzGerald, guitar, and Marty McCormack on bass perform one of their songs. The duo, known as the band Switchback, are Artists in the Schools, visiting Keokuk Middle School, the high school, Kid Zone and Southeastern Community College, Keokuk, this week.

 

 

 

 

American Songwriter Magazine, October 2006

From a review for Falling Water River
"On Falling Water River, Brian FitzGerald and Martin McCormack take a minimalist approach... However, they aren't above using ethereal sound effects, which give the album an inviting dreamlike quality. 'Looking at Love' is a bluegrassy tune that recalls Nickel Creek, while 'The Loneliest Road' may remind listeners of Simon and Garfunkel. 'Requiem,' sung entirely in Latin, is something you might take out of an early Moody Blues playbook."

 

 

 

 

The Muskegon Chronicle, Sunday, Sept. 17, 2006

From "Festival brings 'Switchheads' back year after year" by Marla Miller:
"Many people don green at an Irish festival, but this group of women had t-shirts specially made for the occasion. The back of the shirts read 'Switchhead Sisterhood' above the outline of a fun-loving female figure. Below her, the phrase 'American Roots, Celtic Soul.'"

 

 

 

 

The Sault Star, Wednesday, August 16, 2006

From "Cream of Cornfest"
by Donna Schell
"Canada has a mystical and geneaolgical hold on Switchback . . . But the duo, who have toured together for the past 20 years throughout the United States and Europe, have not, until now, strummed their stuff north of the 49th parallel. 'We are real excited to be making our debut in Ontario in a matter of days,' said McCormack in a recent interview. . . The singer-songwriter duo will be one of six acts performing on the main stage at the 36th annual St. Joseph Island Cornfest Saturday."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dirty Linen, February/March, 2006

From a review for Bolinree by Tom Nelligan:
"The familiar Star of the County Down is emphatically rocked up with some buzzing electric guitar. The title track is a sentimental original song that recalls rural life in the west of Ireland from an emigrant's perspective. And there are a couple hot jig sets, too."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

River City Times, Dec. 1-7, 2005

From an interview with Marty and Brian:

What is the hardest thing about being in a band for this genre?
Stereotyping. Pigeonholing. It's a constant proving that you have what it takes to be a professional musician. It's like being on the campaign trail all the time. You are working for respect, recognition and exposure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Folkfire, November/ December 2005

From a Bolinree review by Donna Eckberg:
"Lloyd Maines has once again produced a masterpiece for the duo. The Wobbly Jigs treats your ears with a luscious, full sound and introduces you to the special guest artists featured on this release: fiddler Liz Carroll, an all-Ireland champion; a Chicago squeeze-box legend, John Williams; and percussionist Jim Hines. Each of these fine artists adds Celtic credibility to the CD as they mingle with Switchback's pop/rock sensibility."

 

 

 

 

 

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Dec. 1, 2005

Switchback's show featuring the release of Bolinree at the Focal Point was singled out as a "Don't Miss" event.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Telegraph Herald, Oct. 19, 2005

One of Marty's famous high kicks is captured on film while the band entertain a young audience. Switchback were honored to be part of the Dubuque Arts Council's artists-in-residence program.