The Onion, Madison WI

"The Elders proffer rootsy Celtic rock immersed in American tradition. Their latest cd, GAEL DAY, is a genuine foot-stomping testament to old- world charms;the Elders' live show, likewise, is a riotous barroom affair that is as invigorating to watch as it is to join"

The Leaven Kansas City, MO
"From now on, I’m going to listen to my Elders"

Then the main attraction, The Elders, took the stage, and all I can say is, “Wow!” From the first few notes the group struck until the last notes of the encore numbers some two hours later, I was transported by the electrifying energy and exceptional artistry of the group. Led by Ian Bryne, the only native Irishman of the bunch, The Elders cranked out song after song to an extremely appreciative audience. I had the good sense to bring along a pair of binoculars, so I could zoom in on the musicians while they were performing. What I saw on their faces was something rarely seen nowadays: pure joy. The performers relished their music and wanted to share that delight with their audience. And, as far as I’m concerned, they succeeded in providing what they promised: “the mightiest party in the land!”
Many times, I fear, we forget that joy of our faith. We fail to let it penetrate our lives and inspire our actions. We let the news around us and the endless peddlers of pessimism dampen or even extinguish the joy that is meant to bubble up from within us. The Elders reminded me, through their performance, of the power of joy to move people. Joy is contagious, attractive, encouraging and refreshing — all qualities that our faith should have as well. Joy is one message our world most needs to hear, and God is depending on us in these waning days of Lent to get that good news out.
— Fr. Mark Goldasich

The Leaven
"The Luck of the Irish"

(Gael Day, The Elders') latest creative effort follows four earlier studio albums and two live albums. The CD’s title may reflect economic woes, but the positive outlook and upbeat feel of its music are apparent from the opening track “Better Days Ahead,”
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— Jill Ragar Esfeld

Kansas City Star

Named the Elders for good reason. Decades of combined experience have taught the band smart stagecraft, superb showmanship and taut professionalism. Many superstar acts would envy the level of audience participation the Elders achieve.
— Tim Finn

WUTC Radio Chattanooga TN

It has been remarkable to watch The Elders mature over the years. Their sound was always good but it has grown into something great with every recording sounding fresh and intense.
— Rabbit Zielke/Celtic Harvest

Lochbroom FM Scotland

From Kansas City, The Elders are the number one Celtic rock band in America at the moment, packing them in at gigs all over the country. They are without doubt one of the greatest finds this century.
— Charles Dewhurst

Worldbeat Canada
Travelling abroad and minding your Elders

When I finally get that much dreamed about vacation and catch a plane to somewhere I've never been, it's not likely I'll opt for a package tour. There's something to be said for seeing the world for the first time through your own eyes instead of someone else's. But, I gotta say, this sounds like it must have been a blast!
In March of this year, The Elders, a rocking Celtic band from Kansas City, Missouri took 150 of their most loyal fans back to the Emerald Isle for whirlwind tour of their music’s ancestral home. Film maker, Benjamin Meade realized his vision for what he saw as ‘the ultimate road flick’ … a 67 minute documentary following one of America’s hottest Irish bands on tour across Ireland with three busloads of US Celtic fanatics in tow. ‘The Elders, Alive and Live in Ireland’ is an honest recounting of the story. The DVD traces their journey from Cork to Killarney to Dublin, through pounds of fish and chips, pints of Guinness and several rocking performances of contemporary Celtic music, including a taping for television on a Gaelic language program called Ardan. The Elders turned out to be very impressed with their traveling companions. Of the 150 fans they took to Ireland the band said they were, “the coolest people in the world.” Best of all, they brought them all back home safe and accounted for!
I understand they're already selling seats for next year, which will be a double bill in Ireland with Canada's Enter The Haggis joining the road trip. It's very tempting indeed.
— Cal Koat

Kansas City Star
THE ELDERS March 17 at the Uptown Theater

The Plaza lighting ceremony on Thanksgiving. The Royals on opening day. Add the Elders on St. Patrick’s Day to the short list of Kansas City’s most beloved seasonal traditions.
The Celtic rock band’s fifth consecutive St. Patrick’s Day Hoolie packed the Uptown Theater. For many of the 1,700 in attendance, the event is less a concert than a ritualistic celebration. The Elders’ most devout adherents count on the Kansas City band to throw a life-affirming party. They didn’t disappoint.
“We’re half-dead, but this is the best night we’ll have in our lives,” vocalist Ian Byrne pledged as the band launched into the rousing “Packy Go Home.”
The six men in the Elders had good reason to be exhausted. They’d toured Ireland earlier in March and had just returned from a performance in Colorado.
Yet they’re named the Elders for good reason. Decades of combined experience have taught the band smart stagecraft, superb showmanship and taut professionalism. Their one hour and 50-minute show was well-paced and consistently entertaining.
Many superstar acts would envy the level of audience participation the Elders achieve on favorites like “Moore Street Girls.” Melodic anthems including “Gonna Take a Miracle” and “1849” also roused the audience. Four bagpipers joined the band on a moving rendition of “Men of Erin.” That nice touch provided the evening’s emotional anchor.
Since they’re far from a traditional Irish act, the Elders are at liberty to pick and choose from among the catchiest bits and pieces from both Irish and popular music. The result is a marriage of the heartland rock of John Mellencamp to the most engaging bits of the Chieftains and the Clancy Brothers.
This mongrelized approach may not fly with purists, but it thrilled their rabid fans in the Uptown. In fact, the Elders are the only active band based in Kansas City capable of filling the large venue.
All six Elders are gifted craftsmen. Brent Hoad’s fiddle work is particularly valuable. His staged duel with Steve Phillips’ versatile guitar on “Green and Gold” was remarkable. The enormous arena rock drumming of Tommy Sutherland also plays a key role in the Elders’ vitality.
The encore, a loose take on the Police’s “Message in a Bottle,” was a well-deserved victory lap.
— Timothy Finn & Bill Brownlee,

Nashville City Paper
Riffs

Racing The Tide (Pub Tone) is the newest release from the Kansas City ensemble The Elders, who infuse traditional and contemporary Irish music strains through all these songs but also have rock and country influences. Lead vocalist Ian Byrne is at his best on “Bad Irish Boy,” “Right With The World,” “Racing The Tide,” and “Ever Be A Nation,” while his mates provide capable assistance on a host of instruments, and guest stars like Dave Marsh and Brett Gibson on accordion and Dan Ketter on cello bring some conceptually interesting contributions to several songs. The material ranges from secular to impassioned and spiritual, augmented by an occasional reflective (“Gonna Take A Miracle”) or historical piece (“Ever Be A Nation:”).
— Ron Wynn

Maximum Ink
Eclectic Vibes

THE ELDERS “Racing The Tide” (Pub Tone) Well seasoned Irish rock from Kansas City covering a wide variety of bases (and touring all over the place) while dancing their fervent jigs. Grab a pint and fall in line! (7)
— Andrew Frey

The Boston Herald
Beery good

Somewhere between the shots-at-closing-time aggression of the Pogues and the beery, good-time vibe of the Saw Doctors resides the Celtic-flavored pub rock of Kansas City’s Elders. The sextet’s self-issued CD, bristling with fiddles, mandolins and whistles and ringing with high, declarative lyrics, breaks no new sod, but makes for a fine St. Patrick’s Day appetizer all the same. Download: “Dear God.”
— Kevin R. Convey

Pop Matters
The Elders- Racing the Tide

When people think of Celtic rock, they often think of the Waterboys or the Pogues. The Elders, with lead singer (and Irishman) Ian Bryne at the helm, bring to mind more of the former and far less of the latter. This group evokes the Levellers and Great Big Sea in some respects, especially during “Send a Prayer”, which has several Celtic instruments in it. Meanwhile, “Bad Irish Boy” is Celtic pop, a mid-tempo and radio-friendly ditty that is quite mainstream and safe. The Elders are content to keep things rather light in terms of the barnstorming, hell-raising quotient, especially during “Dear God”, which features fiddles, accordions, and whistles. The lone exception (and even this is a stretch) that revs things up is the chugging “Cousin Charlie”. The group also can churn out a decent ballad-ish piece with the swaying “Right With the World”. One of the highlights is the tight and catchy “Banshee Cry”, which thakfully has no banshees crying. This is quickly followed-up with the delightful Flogging Molly-lite “Gonna Take a Miracle”. And the high-octane momentum and verve continues during the beer-spilling “Story of a Fish”. The second half finds the Elders in a far better mind than the first half—and a faster, catchy and finely tuned mind at that.
— Jason MacNeil

Buzzine
"Kansas Celtic Rock from Elders; Inviting Irish Americana Band"
February 24, 2007

Making Celtic roots-rock by way of Kansas City, The Elders have proven it's not just a musical entitlement for larger burgs like L.A., New York, Boston and so on. The band's been well-known in the Midwest for nearly a decade, headed up by Irish County Wicklow native Ian Byrne as lead singer who bangs bodhran and battle drum, and also includes one-time Rainmaker Steve Phillips on guitars, Brent Hoad on fiddle, Norm Dahlor on bass, Tommy Sutherland on drums, and newest player Joe Miquelon on keyboards. "Racing the Tide" is The Elders' fourth studio set filled with surging Celtic melodies and ample doses of some pub-rocking rousing rumble too. The disc opens with the invitation to sing along with the boys on "Send a Prayer", while the harmony-rich title track is another winner. Spinning supposedly true tales and fable embellishments as well, the band excels in musical storytelling on tracks like "Dear God, St Brendan Had a Boat", while the group cuts loose for "Gonna Take a Miracle" and the celebration of "Right with the World".
With reels and jigs embellished by those Irish drums and fine fiddlin', as well as touches of whistles, accordion and mandolin, all set against the rock guitar dynamic, the band falls somewhere been Pogues bluster and The Saw Doctors' Celtic Creedence spirit. But most of all, even when touching on the bittersweet, The Elders are fun--straight out of the rowdy pub and onto CD.
— Darryl Morden,

Associated Press
January 31, 2007

The Elders, "Racing The Tide" (Pub Tone) When it comes to Celtic rock bands from Kansas City fronted by a custom cabinetmaker, it's a safe bet no group can rival the Elders.
Even beyond that narrow niche, "Racing The Tide" is impressive. The Elders are well-established in the Midwest, and their fourth studio album merits wider attention.
Ian Byrne moved from Ireland to Kansas City in the 1980s, started a cabinet business and now moonlights as the Elders' lead singer. He sounds like more than a part-time performer, though, because his lusty vocals make every song soar. And the band is far from a one-man show — instead, the breadth of instrumental and composing prowess is part of the sextet's charm.
There's a strong Irish flavor to the lyrics and rollicking music, which has more in common with the Pogues and Saw Doctors than with U2. Traditional jigs, reels and fiddle tunes flavor songs about fish, ghosts, war and peace. The melodies are catchy and arrangements varied, with Byrne occasionally sharing lead vocals and the group swapping leads on fiddle, whistle, accordion, mandolin and guitar.
It's all thoroughly Celtic, and astounding given the band's home base — like learning some guy from Denver wrote "Ulysses."
— Steven Wine

Pittsburgh Tribune
The Elders, Racing The Tide,

The sextet known as the Elders does a good job creating a tradionally oriented form of Celtic rock on "Racing the Tide." On "Dear God," for instance, electric guitar and a pounding rhythm from drummer Tom Sutherland blend with fiddle, accordion and flute the create a sound that is living in the 21st century but has its roots in the 19th. Amid that instrumental blend comes a set of lyrics that deals with classic Irish issues: sadness at the direction of life on the island, a hopeful willingness to emigrate and pride in the land's history. "Cousin Charlie" is a plea for pride-raising stories. "Five Long Years" talks of not bending "a knee to a red-coat Englishman." The blended style of the music and the familiar political thought show Irish issues are as consistent as the ebb and flow of the tidal River Corrib in Galway.
— Bob Karlovits

Goldmine
The Elders, Racing The Tide, Grade: B+

For those unfamiliar with The Elders, they're a group of Kansas City-area musicians who have a talent for Celtic rock, ranging from more alternative to classic sound, and (excepting the occasional cover) completely original. Racing the Tide is the group's fourth studio album, and sixth album total. It follows two live albums, one of which was also produced as a concert DVD. Overall, it¹s a great effort, with several excellent songs and no stinkers.
The title track is the best, with "Bad Irish Boy","Dear God",and "Five Long Years" other ones worth the "Repeat" button. The weakest song is the playful "Australia". still a good tune, and it will appeal to some listeners, but not for those who prefer harder rocking and faster pace. The themes on this record have drifted slightly from earlier efforts. Though not gone completely, the romantic songs and odes to women are noticeably not near the quantity from earlier albums. This isn¹t a bad thing, it simply is. The lyrics contain plenty of philosophical explorations and contemplations on the past (and the lessons therein) common to Celtic music, though The Elders music is far from common.
Lead singer Ian Byrne¹s voice is a beauty, and the passion shows clearly throughout the album, assisted by fellow vocalists Brent Hoad, Norm Dahlor, and Steve Phillips. The lyrical and musical excellence of these songs will stick in your mind long after the final track has played.
— Ray Sidman

Patchchord.com
January 18, 2007

2007 could just be the year of the Elders. The tremendously popular local Irish rock band is heading places, and it most likely won’t be your local pub.
The Elders released their sixth album, Racing the Tide, in mid-2006, which has already secured a national distribution deal that will expose the sextet to the rest of the United States. The band also has a popular DVD, “Live at the Gem,” on rotation at PBS stations. And they’ve received several recent designations, ranging from top album of the year on paddyrock.com to second place in the most recent Celtic Music Awards.
The band is famous for their high-energy rock shows that exude a fiery Celtic-influence and comical story telling that is true to the culture they represent. For almost a decade, the Elders have combined folk, bluegrass and traditional Irish to create their unique, lively sound that will have you up on your feet and tapping your toes no matter where you are. They have a dedicated following of fans throughout the world -- some so dedicated that they’ll travel with them as they play throughout Ireland this March. But that’s just the type of band they are: nice enough to invite you along on vacation, friendly enough to share a story with you and if they’ve seen you at a couple of shows, they may even buy you a drink.
The charismatic group is comprised of musicians who each have a strong history in the local and regional music scene: Norm Dahlor (bass, banjo, guitar and vocals), Brent Hoad (violin, mandolin and vocals), Joe Miquelon (keyboard and saxophone), Steve Phillips (guitar, mandolin and vocals) and Tommy Sutherland (drums and percussion). Ian Byrne, (vocals and percussion) from County Wicklow, Ireland, brings the band’s Celtic authority full-circle.
The band has been a headliner on the Midwest Irish festival circuit for years. Watch for them to become more prominent nationally as festival – and concert organizers for that matter – realize that an Elders performance brings out the masses.
— Laren Mahoney

The Pitch
Och! I Feckin’ Shot That!?
January 18, 2007

Filed under: Dispatches from the Scene Local outlaw auteur Ben Meade has informed me that the subject of his next film will be Kansas City Irish rock band the Elders. Meade explained the project via e-mail:

Marry, ’tis a brave project auld Meade has ta’en on. I just wonder how truly wild the Elders and their fans can get. Though, for the record, I’ve always enjoyed the Elders — they hold a special place as the first local band I ever saw upon moving here — they’re not known for generating the kind of langers-off-yer-tits abandon of the Pogues, which, to me, would be what a rock and roll binge across the Emerald Isle should strive for, and make for the best footage. Sure, the Elders generate a lot of energy and put on a passionate performance, but, when it’s over, most of the audience gets in some form of minivan and drives home, no?
So, the challenge for Meade is to get the Elders and their relatively elderly fans not to seem like just a bunch of tourists from the Heartland armed with camcorders, filming each other drinking Guinness in pubs. Then again, if the fans rise to the occasion, there could be something rather compelling about seeing a bunch of men in tapered pants and oxford shirts and women in mom jeans ruined and rat arsed for days in a row as ol’ Ian beats the hell out of the bodhrán. It could be the ultimate document of Midwestern baby boomer saturnalia and catharsis.
— Jason Harper

Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange
January, 2007

Firmly Celtic in their base, hailing from America's breadbasket (motto: "Arse Kickin' Music from the Heartland"), rollicking from one coast to the other and abroad, The Elders capture a hybrid that initially sings the airs of Eire, then of AmerEnglish folkrock, sometimes of New Orleans jazz, finishing with whatever might be amiable to their high energy presentation. Blending The Chieftains with Horslips, the Pogues, Immaculate Fools, Bad Haggis, and myriad Celt-rock ensembles, the lads craft a highly polished repertoire, to this genre as Bob Seger is to modern American rock.
Along with sprightly melodies will be found an attention to backing vocals partially harking back to such English combos as Pentangle, Steeleye Span, and so on, keeping every aspect of each song busy and involved. Expect the usual fiddles, whistles, mandos, banjos and such, but it's their synchrony to the blended staples of several modes that provides ready ignition to easy accessibility. Then there's the obvious gusto one can't help but start boot-scooting to…
The sextet also follows old protest traditions, providing grassroots anecdotalism in searing terms. Take Dear God, a laid-back tune swelling with hope and heavily imbued with subtle allusions and symbols:
There's also a rough-country bravado blent with realism and sardonic grit, as in Racing the Tide's revelations of grim duty, speaking to the rigors of life's necessities not untinged by the wilder shores of spirit, much said in few words. Australia, on the other hand, recalls Audience, Stackridge, Sailor, and some of the odder avant-folkrock outfits, boozy with strange timbres, electric with intelligence. More often than not, there's an anthemic quality to the compositions, parting-shotted as Saint Brendan Had a Boat closes out the CD, a celebration of bonny refrains and bouncing dance-steps.
The Elders have a number of releases out, this being the latest, and they're going from strength to strength. It would take no Nostradamus to predict the next disc will be fully as solid as this one. The general public might initially balk at such distinctly Irish foundations, but, once exposed to them, this unique hybrid the band presents is irresistible, rapidly overcoming whatever may stand between ethnic airs and down-home familiarity. These boys don't just pick and grin, they damn near set their instruments on fire...as you'll see even more evidently if you catch their DVDs.
— Mark S. Tucker

All Music Guide
January, 2007

The Elders may be based in Kansas City, but you'd never know it to hear their music, which is full of references to Irish history and myth. The sextet has a rock-based sound played on amplified instruments, with Steve Phillips' electric guitar prominent in the mix. But the pennywhistles, mandolins, and accordions are never drowned out. The Elders are more traditional than, say, Black 47, as expatriate Irish bands go, but they play original songs, mixing in part of a traditional tune here and there. Lead singer Ian Byrne (the only actual native of Ireland in the band) uses his slightly husky, Irish-accented tenor to bring out the sentimental, descriptive lyrics, which are full of mountain and sea imagery, and soaked in whiskey and stories handed down through Irish history. Early on, he is content to tell of the sailor's life in songs like "Racing the Tide" and "The Story of a Fish," but he turns passionate in recounting Irish political history in "Ever Be a Nation," a tale of British oppression that concludes, "A hundred bad years later and the struggle still goes on/A hundred bloody Sundays and their funerals come and gone/No victors only victims and survivors left to mourn/Our children need to know this Island is their home." As this suggests, the group is humorless at its best and somewhat histrionic at its worst, but it's hard to believe its music could fail to stir a crowd of Irish-American descendants even in Kansas City, especially if the bar was open.
— William Ruhlmann

Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange
January, 2007

After six CDs, it was time for this well-loved sextet of Celt rockers to issue another DVD - paramount, in fact, as audio discs don't always catch the full electricity of their flesh and blood performances. Not for nothing do the lads carry their "Arse-Kicking Music From The Heartland" banner proudly. This particular date opens with a rousing round of Michael's Ride, an energetic instrumental setting the players loose to raise cardiac rates and set toes to tapping. It's a perfectly appropriate gateway, as the key to The Elders lies in their impeccable chops and irresistible rhythms.
That cut gives way to a couple of rockers and then the band settles into a Fogelbergy Love of the Century ballad, laying out a warm multi-part vocal presence that's as much a trademark of the ensemble as the swooping fiddle and breezy accordion dominating their repertoire. Ah, but you only get a few minutes of such reverie and then it's off into another hipshaker, Turnpike, a showcase for Brent Hoad's violinic virtuosity and a damn fine tune in its own right.
Amidst all this, the Elders wear their American patriotism unabashedly, regaling the country's virtues and history in no shy manner, so none of this is a matter of old country partisanship by any means but rather a happy marriage of the two trans-Atlantic countries in a maverick tradition fully elemental to both. 1849 displays the trait in full measure as does the entire concert, an extension of their studio sound. The group's shimmering folk base is equally native to the shores of Eire, Angleland, and the New World, but so's the exuberant jam burn-down at the tail end of Devil's Tongue, drenched in top-notch musicianship, with high spirits born of the progressions rock and roll have brought to so many musics.
The Gem venue, a nice little hall, boasts a lineage, so it was a natural for a public television document, here presented in all its original footage but with a bonus: three cuts unaired when first released have been added, commencing with a jazzed variation of trad Celt airs, Brettski's Medley, the highlight of the show and a showcase for Brett Gibson, accordionist par excellence. Needless to say, bluegrassers will go wild for all the high-end chops from every member, complicated melodies in nearly the songs (except the ballads), and interlocking lines from the instruments and vocals, as enneagrammatic a blend as could be wished.
Breakaways are inserted, snippets of the crowd, which numbered many many Baby Boomers - some of whom took their kids along - as well as a healthy percentage of teenagers and young adults. It was surprising how many ticketholders happily boasted of the thousands of miles they'd traveled throughout the past year, forming a Deadhead brand of dedication, catching the band whenever possible. Given the unique sound and overall feel-good environment, that kind of devotion is easily understood. One guy, though, rendered a very apt appraisal: despite the evident inclusion of the modes purveyed and the shamrock-green base of Celtia, these guys really do play a style of music fused in a fashion no others have so far captured quite so well. Where older ensembles like Horslips ultimately failed to satisfy, The Elders are marrow deep in their unique art, and it's not only pleasing as hell but infectious.
— Mark S. Tucker

Irish American News
Raised on Songs and Stories

Its great to see The Elders break out of Kansas City. They are brilliant and are certainly in my Top 5 Festival Bands. But in their own town, KC, they reign supreme. Their Live At The Gem album is one of my favorites and their unique blend of song writing and showmanship has won them legions of fans. At the 2006 Kansas City Irish Festival, on a sunny afternoon they rose to the occasion and played one of the best sets I have ever heard. I saw them play again at the Weston, Mo Irish Festival. It was cold and wet and most of the crowd had moved indoors, but The Elders knew their fan base and insisted on playing outside. Brigid’s Cross joined them on stage and again it was an amazing set. I wish you could all be with me on some of these occasions!
— Shay Clarke

St Louis Post-Dispatch

For many people, the words "Celtic band" probably conjure up either a sedate group in cable sweaters or punksters such as the Pogues. That makes Kansas City's Elders the perfect Irish band for a wide range of tastes, a six-man group that melds the energy of rock with respect for Irish musical traditions. Less than a decade and six CDs into their career, the Elders are forty- and fiftysomethings who bring a wealth of experience and influences to the stage. Guitarist Steve Phillips played with Bob Walkenhorst in KC's great Rainmakers; sax player Joe Miquelon has backed up the Temptations, Four Tops and Spinners; drummer Tommy Sutherland has played everything from jazz to country; and lead singer and percussionist Ian Byrne was born and reared in Ireland, giving the band that authentic sound. "Racing the Tide" is its new CD, and it contains a baker's dozen of band-written story songs that exude a positive vibe while rocking to the sound of piples, horns, accordions and mandolins. Could two nights at the Dubliner be too much of a good thing? Nah.
— Barry Gilbert

MUSIC ROW Magazine
"Racing the Tide is a thrilling, pulsing, propulsive title tune to a fantastic Celtic-pop collection. These six Kansas City guys are a real find ... a band to shout from the rooftops about.
— Robert K.Oermann