The Celtic Tenors are going in a different direction with their forthcoming album. The trio, which includes Matthew Gilsenan, James Nelson and Daryl Simpson, plan to release the new album in September, starting in Australia. On the album, they worked with producer Charles Fisher, best known for working with groups like Savage Garden, Olivia Newton-John and Air Supply. In a telephone interview from Ireland May 7, Simpson said The Celtic Tenors signed with Decca Records, part of Universal Records, for an international release of the album. “We’re very excited about it,” he said. “It’s a new venture for us. We’re doing popular songs from artists like John Denver and Bob Dylan to more contemporary artists ... It’s a little poppy-oriented album. It’s obviously not a Britney Spears type of album, but it’s popular music. People may look at the album and recognize two-thirds of it.” The Celtic Tenors perform at 7:30 p.m. May 16 at The Honeywell Center in Wabash. Tickets are $25, $35 and $45. Tickets may be purchased at the box office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, by calling 260-563-1102 or visiting www.honeywellcenter.org The Celtic Tenors are known for performing a mixture of Celtic, operatic and reworked popular songs. The music on the forthcoming album will feature songs from the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s. When people look back on those time periods, Simpson said they realize what great music came from those decades. “It seems like a risk for us as we haven’t gone down the popular music road before,” Simpson said, but the group is giving the music the full attention it needs. He said they enjoyed working with a top producer – Fisher – on the upcoming album. Decca hopes to introduce The Celtic Tenors to a wider audience with this album, and then introduce that audience to the tenors’ classical and operatic music that they perform in their live shows. The live shows feature the trio’s Celtic and Irish roots, but the songs don’t always have to be traditional. The classical and operatic worlds, however, are where all three men get their training from. Simpson said the live shows take audiences on a real journey, and there’s definitely something for everyone. For the Wabash show Saturday, Simpson said they will perform some new material, but they try not to change what they do based on the venue or who they are working with. “We keep it the same style every night so people understand who we are,” Simpson said, but the trio also wants to show they’re more than classical music. On deciding which songs to put into a performance, Simpson said, “It’s like the three-headed monster when you throw us together.” He said they work with their musical director to get the ebb and flow right. There’s no use in putting five or six love songs in a row because it diminishes the songs, he said. It’s best to break the show up with a mix of fast and slow songs. “We put a lot of credence into the thought of the show,” he said. “Anyone who hasn’t seen us before doesn’t realize how much of our own personalities we put into the show.” He said it’s a very relaxed show, with lots of laughter, and they talk about themselves. The Celtic Tenors want everyone to enjoy it and have fun. As for its audience, he said its U.S. audiences are very developed. In Ireland Simpson said people think the U.S. audiences are probably dominated by Irish-Americans. Obviously, he said, there are Irish-Americans at the show, but it’s not limited to them. There’s fans of all kinds and all ages. “The kids enjoy the show because there’s a lot of goofy humor,” Simpson said. Once people see who they are, he said, they come back to other shows and bring people with them. He loves it when there are kids at the show because “they become fans overnight.” The Celtic Tenors was formed around 1999, he said, though the idea for the group was formed before that. The group originally was signed to EMI Classics out of London at that time. Gilsenan and Nelson were part of the original group with Niall Morris. Morris left the group in 2006, and Simpson joined that year. “We’ve been a unit since. We’ve been a fantastic unit since then,” he said. Each man brings their own talents and interests. Gilsenan grew up with traditional Celtic and Irish music. Simpson grew up listening to jazz and rhythm and blues, and he was a pianist. Nelson came from a more formal background so he gets the classical and operatic world, Simpson said. All three share a background in church music. Six months out of the year, they’re on tour. Since January, he said they’ve been to places like the Middle East and Canada. They’ll be back in the U.S. in August for the big Irish festivals. “We’re kept incredibly busy,” he said. Social media helps provide them with a world audience, he said. The Internet has opened them up to a greater audience. CDs and downloads are like business cards to get people to the live shows, he said. “It entreats them to come to our shows. We were surprised by the people who come big distances to hear us,” Simpson said. They’ve had fans from Holland and Germany travel to the U.S. to hear them, and fans from the U.S. travel overseas to see their shows, he said. Social media has become a way for the group to form friendships over long distances, he said. Simpson said the trio doesn’t care if fans pronounce Celtic with a “S” sound or a hard “K.” “Sports teams seem to be known as ‘S’ sounding. Anything having to do with the tribe of the Celtics is with a hard ‘K.’ My only understanding of that is Celtic comes from a Greek word. I don’t know why the sports teams go with a ‘S’-sounding C,” said Simpson. “We don’t care which way you say it, but it’s with a hard ‘K.’” For more information about The Celtic Tenors, visit the group’s website at www.celtic-tenors.com or its Facebook page under TheCelticTenors.
