Greenhouse Productions Presents: Kalos

Kalos is drawn to water. Every performance is like stepping into a river—they never play a song the same way twice. They make music inspired by the maritime traditions of Scotland, Ireland, Scandinavia and North America. Their album titles—Harbour and Headland—honor the meeting point between the land and sea and they sing songs about shorelines, seafarers and drownings. They revel in the driving danceability of Irish tunes, but also take inspiration from the pastoral melodies and naturalistic metaphors of Scottish music. But while the music they write is forged in tradition, it is nonetheless cast and tempered in new and unexpected ways. The trio spans three generations, three cities and two countries. Ryan McKasson (violin, viola, voice), Eric McDonald (guitar, mandolin, voice) and Jeremiah McLane (accordion, piano, voice) met over the years at highland games, contra dances and fiddle camps across North America. They made their first recording in 2016 and have been touring together since 2019. Kalos prizes the magic of live performance—breathing, dancing and weaving together like high-wire acrobats. They are as generous as they are virtuosic. Like nature itself, their music is full of chaos and chance yet always feels spacious and balanced. Their concerts are more an exposé than a performance—they are immersive, trance-inducing experiences. Kalos appreciates how acoustic music can be a balm, a respite in the midst of our radio-static modern life. “As noisy as music is, it feels like meditation compared to the clatter of social media,” McLane muses. All three band members come from Scottish immigrant families, so even when they venture beyond the edges of traditional Celtic music they remain deeply connected to past centuries and forgotten folkways. The acoustic instruments they play are made of sonorous wood—mahogany, spruce, ebony—and the band is always attuned to the sonic quality of the spaces they play in. They love a reverberant church or a forest green encircled by the far-off hum of cicadas. Kalos is an ancient Greek word that means “beautiful” or “praiseworthy.” It’s the root of the English words “calligraphy” and “calisthenics.” Like a fine calligrapher or adept gymnast, each musician possesses a profound attention to detail and form. But within the exquisite architecture of their compositions, they remain inventive—finding new flourishes and discovering unseen ley lines in the fertile ground of traditional music. Folk Worlds magazine says, “There’s a spontaneity at work as the three musicians alternately contest and duel, combine and coalesce to bring their talents together.” Kalos has performed at the Lotus Festival (Bloomington, IN), New Bedford Folk Festival (New Bedford, MA), New World Festival (Randolph, VT), Gracie Center (Bangor, ME), Old Town School of Folk Music (Chicago, IL), Seattle Folklore Society (Seattle, WA) and more. They have taught workshops and masterclasses at Tufts University (Somerville, MA), Celtic Arts Foundation (Mount Vernon, WA) and Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddle School (Boulder Creek, CA). With music that enlivens the human spirit, Kalos brings warmth, grit and exuberance to every performance.

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