The Groups I Perform With...

EPK

I currently perform with a number of musical groups. All are available singly, or if you have a festival to fill out, hire all of them for a diverse range of musical entertainment. Just keep in mind with scheduling that I'm in all of them, so you can't schedule two of them at the same time.

I perform with:

Shanghai Brown & the California Celts (Celtic pirate rock & ska)

Steve Rushingwind & The Native Groove (Award-winning Native flute music with full band)

Kefi (Greek music instrumental duo with Greek backing tracks)

Shanghai Brown (solo sea music, or with acoustic duo or trio)

Also available as part of a combined booking: Steve Rushingwind solo or duo with backing tracks

Shanghai Brown & the California Celts

BIO

Where to begin?

The Grammy nominated California Celts are one of the hardest working bands in southern California, performing from the coast to Las Vegas at least once a week. Powered by indie record label Invisible Mass, the California Celts are the Armitage brothers and the Shurley brothers from the hills of Yucca Valley in the Mojave Desert, California. From Riverside on guitar, melodica and vocals is Miguelangelo La Marque Casares a.k.a. “Pirate Mike”. On Celtic harp is Patti Hood. She is a performing and recording member of the 80's pop band from Australia, The Church. Rounding off the troop is Solid Gold dancer Jesse Walton.

The California Celts music draws from the worldwide catalog of Celtic, Nautical and Island music. Their style can hold a crowd, young and old. Their music reflects this in subtle tones of Reggae, Bluegrass, Mexicano and Rock.

The California Celts are a unique group of minstrels that pay homage to the Scotch-Irish musical thread and its journey from the Old World to The Americas and beyond. Hear the Appalachian influence as it seamlessly weaves its way to the California songs of the 49ers. The California Celts are a one of a kind experience.....

Joining the Celts is Shanghai Brown, captain of There Be Pirates!, and now the Sweet Trade. Shanghai Brown and There Be Pirates! have two albums out, "Drink and the Devil," and "Pirates in the Desert." They have performed at venues ranging from the Queen Mary (Pyrate Daze headliner), and Pappy & Harriet's Pioneertown Palace (Chuckwalla Fest), to On the Waterfront Festival (Liverpool), and SeaFest in Scarborough (headlining both festivals), as well as the Ryedale Folk Museum, the Merseyside Maritime Museum, the Captain Cook (Staithes), the Joshua Tree Retreat Center (Chuckwalla Fest), Danby Castle, and many other California and UK venues.

Brown, as lead singer, drummer/percussionist, and songwriter, met up with the California Celts while filming the second season of his PBS TV travel show, Southwest Stories, joining them on stage for a live performance. They learned they had much in common, and now are planning a UK tour together.

Shanghai Brown's piratical/sea music/shanty singing career extends back decades to a visit to Mystic Seaport, followed by a workshop led by Louis Killen of the Clancy Brothers. Brown's Washington state-based group, Blue Peter, performed regularly on the state's official tall ship, the Lady Washington, as well as at Northwest Folklife Festival, Vashon Island's Strawberry Festival, and numerous other venues. He has been an artist in residence and classroom performer/instructor for sea music and traditional folk songs, led workshops on shanty singing, and produced the Great Northwest Shanty Singoff for Victory Music, hiring performers from three states and Canada, organizing volunteers, producing three days of entertainment and contests, writing corporate and civic grants to underwrite the event, and procuring corporate sponsors.

After relocating from Vashon Island to the Mojave Desert in 2000, Brown took the sea songs, shanties, Irish tunes, and piratical music a new direction with There Be Pirates!, leading California's favorite pirate jam band for nearly a decade.

Now, Shanghai Brown and the California Celts have joined forces to tour in 2020! Keep yer eyes on the horizon!

PRESS

“If you are looking for something fresh and different in the current Celtic Folk Punk scene try the California Celts.”

Kinksmarkham - CelticFolkPunk.blogspot.com

“The California Celts have pioneered, if not invented, the genre of Celtic Ska by drawing on their experience as fifth generation Scottish Californians.” The Pines, NAU Alumni magazine.

Lisa Altomare - The Pines, NAU Alumni magazine

“The California Celts have an onslaught of a show, playing everything from their classics like 'Slow Down Sister' and 'Love is Stronger Than Pride' to obscure and infectious Hibernian reels."

-Jamie Winpenny Honolulu Weekly

“Every set starts off with a Celtic parade that features bagpipes, brass and drums. From the street to the stage, the pipe processional is absorbed by warmth of the rhythm section. The Cali Celts then launch into their extensive repertoire of songs including Scottish jigs, Irish standards, Celtic originals and songs of California. To top it off, the lads do a bit of ancient mouth music to make the two 2 hr. sets authentic and complete.”

- The New Times, San Luis Obispo