Blackbush

The renowned Celtic Folk band BLACKBUSH has already celebrated 43 successful years on stage and has recently entered semi-retirement. However, the folk veterans are not resting; they can still be found on many stages.

Instrumental dance pieces and songs from the Celtic cultural sphere alternate, getting the audience’s toes tapping, while the band’s typical multi-part harmonies complete the folk experience.

Stamping, clapping, and dancing are encouraged!

Blackbush

Live

Mo 17.3.2025

St. Patrick’s Day
Kulturfleckerl Essling
1220 Wien, Esslinger Hauptstraße 96

Blackbush

The Formation

After the impressions of the performances by The Dubliners at the Vienna Folk Festival at Heumarkt and the Scottish band The Battlefield Band at the Vienna Metropol, the band was founded in October 1981.

The band’s original name, Tullamore Dew, was changed in 1982 by the famous Austrian poet H. C. Artmann, following a St. Patrick’s Day celebration at the Hotel Wimberger, to the name of his favorite whiskey, “Black Bush.” Due to the musicians’ ignorance, the spelling “Blackbush” emerged, and this name has remained to this day.

Blackbush

Music

Blackbush specializes in Celtic Folk music and has had a permanent place in the Austrian music scene since the 1980s. The group’s music is heavily inspired by traditional Celtic sounds and rhythms. The variety of instruments, such as violin, flute, guitar, bouzouki, and accordion, shapes the authentic sound of music from the Celtic cultural sphere – Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Brittany.

Blackbush interprets traditional and contemporary songs and instrumental pieces in their characteristic arrangements, with the multi-part a cappella singing being a hallmark of the band. The songs often deal with history, legends, and themes related to Celtic culture and tradition. Over the years, the band has built a reputation as an outstanding Celtic Folk band, releasing five albums.

Publications

Celtic Chatroom (CD), 2006

Celtic Chatroom

00:00
  1. Miss Monaghan’s Reels
  2. Missing You
  3. Screw the Nut / The Acrobat (Hornpipes)
  4. The Spider’s Jigs
  5. Green Grow the Rushes-O
  6. Gwendal
  7. Glory Reels 
  8. Garden Valley
  9. Wild Montain Thyme
  10. Fest Noz
  11. The Maid that Sold her Barley 
  12. Noonday Feast (Jig) / Maids of Mt. Cisco (Reel)
  13. Come by the Hills
  14. The King’s Farewell
  15. The Setting
  16. The Glasgow Reel Set
    Bonus Track – No Frontiers

Precious Time (CD), 2001

Precious Time

00:00
  1. The Lark in the Morning, Mac´s Fancy, The Knights of St. Patrick
  2. A Miner’s Life
  3. Gavotte Ar Menez, Neil Dickie´s
  4. Capernaum
  5. Banish Misfortune, The Trip to Athlone, Willie Coleman´s
  6. The Flower of the Flock, Dick Gossip´s, Craig´s Pipes, The Longford Tinker
  7. Bright Blue Rose
  8. Eileen Aroon, The Sound of Sleat, The High Road to Linton
  9. Muinera Sul Sacrato Della Chiesa, Jump up the Sun, Trip to Lerwick
  10. The Rovin’ Dies Hard

Chapter Three (CD), 1999

Chapter Three

00:00
  1. The McGregors
  2. The Shetland Fiddler / The Maple Leaf / St. Anne’s Reel
  3. Back Home in Derry / The Battle of Aughrim
  4. Irish Polkas
  5. Kilkelly
  6. Caracena
  7. Go, Move, Shift
  8. Coleraine / Langstern’s Pony / The Connaughtman’s Rambles
  9. The Apprentice Song
  10. Outlaws
  11. The Dusty Windowsills / Farewell to Ireland
  12. The Yew Tree
  13. Bal Ar Zon

Glass of Beer (LP, CD), 1992

Glass of Beer

00:00
  1. Seagull / The Irish Washerwoman
  2. Chairlie, Oh Chairlie 
  3. Mac’s Fancy / The Humours of Whiskey / The Kid on the Mountain
  4. The Blantyre Explosion
  5. The Atholl Gathering / The Cameron Highlanders
  6. The Arran Boat / The Maids of Mitchellstown
  7. The Star Of Munster / Ash Plant / The Flowers of Red Hill / The Fermoy Lassies / The Turnpike / The Glass of Beer
  8. Seacoalers 
  9. Searching for Lambs
  10. The Trooper and the Maid / The Left-Handed Piper
  11. Red and Gold
  12. Lt. McGuire’s Jig / The Irish Jig

Lend an Ear (LP, CD), 1990

Lend an Ear

00:00
  1. Fisherrow / Newmarket House
  2. Pipe On The Hob / Geese In The Bog / Jig Of Slurs
  3. Back To The Island
  4. Over The Moor To Maggie / Bashful Bachelor / Colonel Rodney
  5. Tae The Weavers / Humours Of Tulla
  6. Atholl Highlander / Merrily Kiss The Quaker
  7. The Gipsy Laddie
  8. Up An’ Run Awa’ Hawley
  9. Two Kerry Slides / Morrison’s Jig
  10. Maggie Lauder
  11. Land Of Light
  12. Ye Jacobites By Name 
  13. Small Coals For Nailers / Anchor Steam Reel / Farmer’s Daughter
Blackbush

Band

Walter Hollmann (Vocals, Guitar, Banjo, Mandolin, Irish Bouzouki), as a founding member, has been part of the band from the very beginning. Very soon, Hans Keller (Irish Bouzouki, Bass, Guitar, Vocals) and Peter Beinhofer (Accordion, Vocals) joined.

In 1997, Joanna Lewis (Fiddle) became a band member. She is a renowned Australian violinist who has performed with many national and international greats (Koehne Quartet, Radio Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Art Orchestra, Otto Lechner Quartet, Max Nagl Quintet, Salzburg Festival, and many more).

Since 2020, Antonia Wernig (Uilleann Pipes, Tin Whistle, Vocals) has been with the band. She lived in Ireland from 2007 to 2015 and, as the first woman and non-Irish person, completed a Bachelor’s degree at the “Irish World Academy of Music and Dance” in Limerick. She is a musician in numerous other ensembles and organizes the annual “Traditional Music Workshop” at Lockenhaus Castle with international guests.

Through sessions, Stefan “Stoney” Steiner (Fiddle) also joined Blackbush. He is one of the most well-known folk musicians in Austria and a multi-instrumentalist – Fiddle, Nyckelharpa, Accordion/Organetto… – and plays with various groups such as Hotel Palindrone, The Moving Pints, Squadune, The Roadie Rowdy Piper Band, and is a guest musician with many other formations and CD productions.

Thanks to him, the band doesn’t have to miss the fiddle when Joanna is otherwise committed.

Blackbush
Blackbush

Highlights

  • Several weeks of tours through England, Ireland, and Scotland (including a performance at BBC Scotland), concert series in Germany
  • Various international folk festivals in Austria (Vienna, Gmünd, Gutenbrunn, Hallein, St. Johann/Tirol…), as well as in neighboring countries (Germany, Hungary, Slovakia)
  • Winner of the band competition “Popodrom” (folk/songwriter category, 1989)
  • Various TV appearances (“Die große Chance”, “Seniorenclub”, “Willkommen Österreich”, “Am dam des”…), and radio broadcasts (Ö3, Ö1, Radio Wien, etc.)
  • Own concert series at the Metropol “Blackbush & Friends” with guests such as Hamish Imlach (SCO), Na Casaidigh (IRL), Noel McLoughlin (IRL), Greensleeves (IRL), and Eat the Donkey (SCO)
  • 20th Anniversary concert (2001) at the “Arcotel Wimberger”, with international guests Jake Walton (GB) and Eric Liorzou (F)
  • Live band at numerous Irish dance events with international stars from “Riverdance” and the best Irish dance groups in Austria (O’Kelly Irish Dance Academy, Irish Dance Center Vienna)
  • 25th Anniversary concert (2006) at the “Orpheum” in Vienna with numerous guests from the Austrian folk scene
  • “Farewell concert” at the Orpheum in Vienna (30 years of Blackbush) in October 2012 – the band humorously calls it the “entry into semi-retirement”
  • Since then, occasional performances on St. Patrick’s Day (most recently in 2024 at Kulturfleckerl Essling), and various pub sessions in and around Vienna

Press Reviews

Blackbush

Contact

info@blackbush.at

+436642040846

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