Photo by Winsome Bye

(BLAIRSTOWN, NJ) -- Kalos, a Celtic roots trio, will perform an eclectic, invigorating mix of instrumentals and songs at Roy's Hall on Friday, May 17, 2024. Showtime is 8:00pm.

Kalos features Ryan McKasson (fiddle, viola, vocals), Eric McDonald (guitar, mandolin, lead vocals), and Jeremiah McLane (accordion, piano, vocals).  The three are masters of tradition who make alluringly complex music full of spontaneous artistry. Pulling from parallel strains of influence in the Traditional music canon, Kalos’ underlying drive and pulse, rhythmic electricity and swirling intensity transform traditional repertoire into a vital, elemental, genre-transcending sound appealing to music lovers of all stripes.

The trio’s 2023 debut album, Headland, takes listeners through a range of moods  -- from poignant yearning to exuberant celebration. Headland, which refers to a point where land meets sea, is a fitting analogy for the exploratory space Kalos inhabits one that calls forth driving, heartfelt music journeying through unknown territory to seek and find its essence – the enduring, resilient experience of the human heart.

As a critic for the UK’s Folkwords wrote: “There’s a certain spontaneity at work as the three musicians alternately contest and duel, combine and coalesce to bring their talents together.”

Tickets are $32 and available for purchase online. Roy’s Hall is located at 30 Main Street in Blairstown, New Jersey.

“There’s a certain spontenaity at work as the three musicians alternately contest and duel, combine and coalesce to bring their talents together.” — Tim Carroll, Folkwords.com

“The narrative power of McDonald’s vocals joins the darker riffs of McKasson’s fiddle [and McLane’s soulful accordion] for an album with pluck, depth, and good reels aplenty.” — Rachel Lynne Wilkerson, folkradio.co.uk

Roy’s Hall is operated by Blairstown Live-Arts, Inc., a NJ (501(c)(3) non-profit cultural institution with the goal of promoting a broad appreciation of the interplay between culture and artistic expression. It does this by acting as a forum for artists who best exemplify world traditions, reflect contemporary trends and explore artistic frontiers, and by nurturing the artistic and cultural life of its own community in and around the Skylands region of New Jersey.