The musical duo known as Switchback says an afternoon St. Patrick’s Day concert at Elgin Community College’s Blizzard Theater is the perfect way to celebrate the Irish holiday.
“A matinee will bring out an audience that wouldn’t typically stay out late, especially on a weekday,” said Marty McCormack, one part of the two-man team who will be presenting American roots and Celtic tunes at the 1:30 p.m. show on Tuesday, March 17.
Since no alcohol will be served at the concert, attendees can grab a pint and maybe some corned beef at a pub after the show and they’ll still be home in time for bed at 9, McCormack joked.
That laidback approach to annual day of Irish celebration is a far cry from when McCormack and bandmate Brian FitzGerald would make a day of it. Decades ago they were part of the Wailin’ Banshees, and would typically start St. Patrick’s Day at 8:30 a.m. and play gigs all day and into the night, he said.
“We’d start with a bar, head over to WGN radio to play live, then over to Spirit of Chicago, then to a country club and finally a bar,” McCormack said. “We almost killed our banjo player and our fiddler with all that playing. It was exhausting, but once a year.”
Performing a St. Patrick’s season concert in 2019 as Switchback provided the men with a cherished memory of working with a legendary Irish act.
“We opened for the Chieftains in Tyler, Texas, as part of their ‘Irish Goodbye’ tour,” FitzGerald said. “They played on our song, ‘Muintir na Sidhe’ (The Fairy Folk). That was a major life experience. It was totally special to have that privilege to be with them.”
On days when there is no Irish holiday to celebrate, Switchback has played everywhere from inside caves to a stable in Sweden to a replica of the HMS Bounty at Navy Pier, he said. There have been shows where there have been tornadoes in the area, including one that leveled Greensburg, Kansas.
“We had a show in St. Louis where the opening act was a carnival veteran who ate lightbulbs. We pretty much have seen and done it all,” FitzGerald said.
While this will be the pair’s first show at ECC, McCormack said they have played some private shows around Elgin, including weddings, school programs, Irish festivals, area pubs and once, years ago, at the Blarney Fine Irish Imports shop in Spring Hill Mall.
“I grew up in rural Woodstock so Elgin is familiar turf for us,” he said.
In fact, McCormack is working on his memoir, a story that begins with his days as a young lad tending sheep, pigs, horses, chickens and the occasional beef cow on his family’s farm. His home was filled with music, he said.
“I started out performing on the Woodstock Opera House stage, for their first Irish Night,” he said.
An Irish-American Renaissance man, McCormack is a painter who sells his work online and he and FitzGerald also lead travel tours in which they accompany people to Ireland, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Costa Rica, Iceland, Spain, the Rocky Mountains and other locations.
Stateside, FitzGerald’s family owned noted music venue FitzGerald’s in Berwyn until 2020. Switchback will perform there Saturday, March 14.
“The most valuable thing (about FitzGerald’s) was the exposure to so many rich styles of music, up close and personal with Stevie Ray Vaughan, Clifton Chenier, Doctor John, Marcia Ball — a lot from Austin, Texas, and Louisiana. So much so that the bar was called Austin North,” FitzGerald said.
“It was there that I first met Cuz Teahan and was exposed to Irish music. He asked me to bring my mandolin and play on stage with his group. From there I never stopped playing Irish music.”
Switchback bills its sound as a mix of “America roots and Celtic soul.”
“The key is high energy music, taking chances, relating to the audience throughout the show,” FitzGerald said. “Jumping up on table tops and bars over the years. Making an event, and a fond memory. The audience is part of that experience, not merely spectators. That’s the difference between us and a lot of other acts.”
Tickets to the show are $35 and can be purchased at elgin.edu/calendar/art-center-events/switchback.php.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
