The newest Celtic band in Regina is Rógairí, a fun-loving group of talented musicians from a variety of backgrounds, both classical and traditional. Drawing their inspiration both from the 'modern' Celtic sound of such groups as Solas, Danu, and Altan, and the traditional repertoire, Rógairí is rapidly finding a voice of their own with passion and energy. Rógairí formed in late February 2006 and immediately found themselves booked for St. Patrick's day gigs – before many of the members had even met! Rising to the challenge, the group took on some new members, learned several songs over only a few rehearsals, and the rest, as the say, is history. The group decided early on that they needed to represent a fresh new sound and fill a gap in the Regina music scene, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive, with bookings with the Irish Club of Regina, the Mosaic festival, social clubs, and local pubs.
Click to learn more about the members of the band!
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Carolyn Lowther began her violin studies when her dad saw an ad in the Leader Post for the program for young children at the Regina Conservatory and figured it would be a good idea for his 4 year old daughter to join. It wasn’t until nine years later that she finally enjoyed playing the violin, and that was only because the orchestra she was in went to Disney World! If that’s not a good enough incentive, I don’t know what is! Carolyn received a BMus in violin performance from the U of Regina. For the past 10 yeas she has been teaching violin at the Conservatory (ironically leading the very program in which she began) and playing with the Symphony. Carolyn has played with many amateur and professional orchestras including the Regina Symphony Orchestra, the National Youth Orchestra of Canada and the National Academy Orchestra. In the spring of 2005 Carolyn discovered her love of Irish music and dance. Since then she has taken up Irish dancing and fiddling, and has found it to be very exciting and rewarding (as well as really good exercise!), and just plain a lot of fun. She feels honored to play with the musicians in Rógairí. As far as Irish heritage goes, she will proudly proclaim that she is 1/13th Irish! Another interesting fact is that Carolyn’s violin was made in PEI in 2002, and that Natalie McMaster owns a violin by the same maker! |
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David Popoff starting playing the flute back in elementary school. Since such humble beginnings David has lead a double life as a classically trained flutist and Irish traditional musician, obtaining a B.Mus.Ed. from the University of Regina and a Master of Music Degree in Flute Performance from the University of Ottawa, studying with Robert Cram. He has performed with the University of Ottawa Orchestra, National Academy Orchestra and currently performs with the Regina Symphony Orchestra and the Quarter Tones Flute Ensemble. However, his darker side consists of a passion for traditional Irish music. David has been active in the Irish musical scene in Ontario, playing at sessions in Ottawa, London and Hamilton, Ontario. He's also played in performance and recording with Ruth Sutherland, Eileen Laverty and many céilí bands in and around Ottawa. David is also an Irish dancer and currently teaches with the Prairie Gael School of Irish Dance. He's currently learning to play uilleann pipes, so look out for that in the future... |
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Bryan Rice was kicked out of band in grade 6. He is ashamed to say he was one of "Those kids" but he was too small to play the tuba, and carrying it 12 blocks to school sucked. Mrs. Doloughy-Stevenson and he exchanged some words and that was the end of his band experience. Bryan has loved listening to music of many genres his whole life and is quite in touch with my Irish heritage, with all his ancestors coming from the county Munster (he is definitely of Irish heritage - and has the red hair and beard to go with it!), but it was only recently that he met up with his fellow band mates and began to seriously have a passion for playing the bodhrán. Apparently the tuba just wasn't his thing… His major influence is Animal from “The Muppets”, no but seriously he was personally trained by one of the worlds most highly renowned bodhrán players, Steafan Hannigan. The words by which Bryan will always remember him are as follows: “First, you grab the stick, then you hit the drum, now that will be $20.”(Just kidding Steafan!) His DVD was amazing and helped Bryan’s learning curve tremendously. Bryan’s wife is Pam and together they have a little boy named Taeghan who is already a pretty accomplished drummer. On a parting note, sometimes being up there under the hot lights can make fair-skinned Bryan a bit parched. So if he’s looking a little weary, a pint of Guinness or a glass of Tullamore will do wonders! |
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As a singer/songwriter/instrumentalist, Sean Farr has toured western Canada with bands for 15 years performing for audiences of 10 to 10,000. During those years he also gained experience as sound and lighting technician for groups such as "Lee Aaron"," Helix" and "The Irish Descendants". He began playing guitar when he was only 5 years old and picked up the banjo 20 years later, followed by the mandolin. As a vocalist, he comes by it honestly - his older sister sings opera! But don’t confuse that with Sean’s country and celtic vocal styling! Sean is the real “Rogue” of the band. He’s a true Newfie born in Labrador City, Newfoundland, and of Irish descent, but lived in Scotland during his younger years. When he was 11, he moved to Saskatchewan. When not performing with Rógairí, Sean can be seen as lead male singer and multi-instrumentalist with Bluegrass / Folk / Country band, Pete Bog and the Mash. If you’d like to help Sean have a great night, offer him a fine single malt Scotch! Or just a Guinness will do, too! |
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A friend of Susan's once said to her, "I used to watch musicals and think, 'that never really happens. People don't actually just break into song like that'. Then I met your family." Susan has been singing for as long as she can remember, coming from a family where spontaneous song was not only accepted, but encouraged. She sang everywhere - at church, at home, on the playground, and in the car on long drives from her tiny home town of Pangman to larger centres such as Regina. She is self-taught on whistle (much to the chagrin of friends and neighbours forced to listen to the learning process) and also plays piano and flute and a bit of mandolin, and is seriously looking to get a bouzouki sometime down the road. Susan is also lead vocalist, flutist, and whistle player for the Regina band Prairie Dust. Susan owes much of her appreciation of Celtic music to her uncle, who graciously lets Susan borrow his CDs, and to a proud Irish Newfie lineage. She's most comfortable in the slow and sad genre but is happy to push her boundaries a little with the more up tempo and edgy music Rógairí plays. When not making music, Susan works as a Public Servant and is desperately avoiding working on the completion of her second BA (honours paper? What honours paper? I don't know nothin' 'bout writin' no papers!). |
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Trevor joined Rógairí in September of 2006 and has been rockin' out ever since! Trevor also plays with Sean in their Bluegrass / Folk / Country band, Pete Bog and the Mash! Trevor has been instrumental in getting our recording going and the band thanks him eternally for that! By day, he works for Java Post doing all manner of post production work for national television shows! |
