William Coulter - Celtic Trilogy

Celtic Trilogy

In 1984 Coulter met guitarist Benjamin Verdery at one of Verdery's concerts on the West Coast. Coulter was so taken by Verdery's music that he introduced himself to the guitarist after the concert. The two guitarists quickly discovered that they had much in common musically, and the two became friends. Despite living on opposite coasts of the United States, they stayed in touch. In 1990, they performed together for the first time.

In 1988, Coulter teamed up with four other San Francisco Bay instrumentalists to form an ensemble called Orison, the name taken from the Middle English word for prayer or invocaton. The group, which included William Coulter, Barry Phillips, Shelley Phillips, Steve Coulter, and Anne Cleveland, came to the project with a collective repertoire that included music from both the folk and classical traditions, as well as original compositions. Their combinations of harp, guitar, cello, oboe, English horn, flute, and percussion produced an ethereal musical signature of "poignant beauty."

In 1993, Coulter invited Verdery to play on some recording sessions of traditional and contemporary Celtic music he was working. This first album Celtic Crossing was released in 1995 and reflected Coulter's longstanding love for traditional Celtic music. Inspired by this musical tradition, Coulter produced his own renditions of traditional jigs, reels, and airs, including "The Lark in the Morning," "Si bheag," "Banish Misfortune," "Lagan Love," and others.

In 1997, Coulter and Verdery followed up with the album Celtic Sessions, which featured contemporary arrangements of old Irish songs. Coulter characterized the album as "pristine ... capturing a range of nuances and gentle moods that are rarely heard on recordings of Celtic music." In 1999, Coulter and Verdery concluded the trilogy with the album Crooked Road, which again featured traditional Irish and Scottish melodies, as well as some contemporary songs. The album features Benjamin Verdery on classical guitar, Barry Phillips on cello, Shelley Phillips on oboe and English horn, Lars Johanneson on flute, Deby Benton Grosjean on fiddle, and others.