Denver – Known as the first full-time professional Celtic band to gain international recognition, Boys of the Lough come to Swallow Hill on Friday, December 1 at 8 p.m. for a lively performance of old Christmas favorites and new songs from their latest CD, Twenty.

For over five decades Boys of the Lough have been performing traditional Celtic music and original arrangements throughout the globe. Irish World hails them as "traditional heroes," the Boston Globe called them "musically splendid ... legends," and Classic CD magazine says, "The Boys are the créme de la créme ... unadulterated pure integrity." The Boys are known for playing music that "tastes of itself," never diluting their sound, always playing their instruments traditionally, allowing the natural tone colors to show through. Their mission is to develop a widespread respect for traditional music (something they began in 1967) by touring around the world bringing their fresh arrangements of traditional airs and dances to new audiences. Irish Times praises their musical performances "full of guts and technical brilliance," Time magazine says "hard core folk appeal ... the most rhythmically bracing of the traditional music bands." Rolling Stone magazine hails the Boys, "...A quartet of young British instrumentalists and singers set the Saturday night crowd howling and dancing in the full glory of an August thunderstorm with Gaelic tunes played on fiddle, guitar, flute and bodhran."

For tickets visit www.swallowhillmusic.org or call (303) 777-1003. Discounts are available for Swallow Hill members.

About Swallow Hill Music Association:
Helping people make music since 1979, Swallow Hill Music Association is one of the largest institutions of its kind in the United States as a source for folk, roots and acoustic music. With more than 2,100 members—some of whom are also volunteers—, Swallow Hill provides a place to celebrate music that is rarely heard elsewhere in the Rocky Mountain Region. Three concert venues house more than 150 performances a year, featuring some of the world's great artists as well as up-and-coming new talent. The Julie Davis Music School at Swallow Hill provides a valuable and affordable extra-curricular educational resource to the community with more than 50 music instructors involved in more than 240 adult classes and 70 children's classes annually.

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