Steve Wildsmith

It’s time once again to catch up with those hard-drinking roustabouts in local Celtic-rock outfit Cutthroat Shamrock, headlining their annual St. Patrick’s Day show this year at The Valarium, 940 Blackstock Drive in Knoxville’s Warehouse District.

We profiled the band this time last year, and the group continues to evolve and branch out. Not only did the guys release the album “Blood Rust Whiskey” last year, they’re already putting together a new CD — this time around, an acoustic offering tentatively titled “Hope Chest,” front man Ben Whitehead told The Daily Times recently.

“Three strings, no drums,” Whitehead said. “We’ve been playing acoustic shows at the Fox and Parrot Tavern in Gatlinburg for years, and people have been asking us for a long time — ‘Do you have this acoustic, softer-sounding music on CD?’ We didn’t, and we never planned to record anything like that, but around Christmas we decided to do one. We’ve got quite a few songs recorded, and we hope to record some more and have it out by the end of spring.”

Next week’s Valarium show — which includes local bands The High Score and Big Country’s Empty Bottle (admission is $6 in advance and $8 at the door) — is actually the capper to a busy St. Patty’s Day for the band, Whitehead said. First up is an appearance on the WDVX-FM “Blue Plate Special,” a live radio show/concert that’s recorded — and open to the public — at WDVX studios, 301 S. Gay St. in downtown Knoxville.

It’s a band full of Celtic goodness, featuring — in addition to Cutthroat Shamrock — local bands Shamrock Road, Four Leaf Peat (profiled in this coming Friday’s edition of The Daily Times Weekend section) and singer-songwriter Matt McNeely, all playing for an extended, 90-minute special. It’s the kick-off for WDVX’s spring fundraising drive, supporting efforts to keep the independent, community-supported radio station — which plays an eclectic mix of music celebrating the arts and culture of Southern Appalachia — going. (To make donations, contact the station at 544-1029 or visit the website.)

For Whitehead and his bandmates, their foray into Celtic music happened quite by accident, he said.

“Years ago, when we found our rhythm, we didn’t know it was a Celtic rhythm,” he said. “We were sitting around, jamming out and playing music, and before we ended up singing, someone said, ‘You sound like The Pogues.’ We were like, ‘Who are they? Let’s look into it.’ So we checked it out and decided, wow — we do kind of sound like them.

“We just stumbled onto it kind of by coincidence. We didn’t set out to say, ‘Let’s make a Celtic rock band.’ The sound sort of found us.”

Over time, the band’s music evolved from the roughshod, primal sounds of a band of Celtic warriors to a sound that’s more refined — although still hearty and anchored in rock ‘n’ roll. The Pogues and The Chieftains are still present, however, and the sound will always be a part of the band, Whitehead said.

“There’s just a liveliness to Celtic music that you can’t find in any other kind,” he said. “Just the good time, the feel, the camaraderie that you have — even if it’s a dark song, there’s still a liveliness to it.”

They’ll need that liveliness next week — immediately after playing “The Blue Plate,” they’ll head over to WUTK-FM, 90.3 The Rock, for an on-air performance; one hour later, they’re due at WFIV-FM, 105.3 for more St. Patty’s Day madness. After that, it’s time to load-in at The Valarium and rock the house.

The challenge, Whitehead said, will be in curbing the guys’ notoriously hard-drinking ways to make it through until the end of the night. As long as there’s no moonshine involved, they should be OK, he said with a laugh.

“We made that rule last year — the next day after The Valarium show, actually,” he said. “The night before, I decided to drink some moonshine on stage, and things got a little belligerent toward the end of the set. I at least want to try to remember some of it this year.

“Don’t get me wrong — we’re still gonna drink, just nothing from a jar if we can help it.”

Free music! Cutthroat Shamrock, “Dry Bones”: Right-click here (choose “Save Link As” or “Save Target As”)
Buy music by Cutthroat Shamrock: Click here
Cutthroat Shamrock on Myspace: Click here

Stopped by “The Shed” at Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson in Maryville on Saturday night to say hey to the boys in local Celtic-rock outfit Cutthroat Shamrock and pick up a copy of the band’s new CD, “Blood Rust Whiskey.” As much as I enjoy “The Wake,” the band’s last album, this one’s a fine representation of the band’s evolution — more intricate musicianship, tighter harmonies and an intensity that’s more razor-sharp than ever. The boys like to put out that whole “drunken pirate” image, and they live up to that quite well. But make no mistake — when it’s flag is high and all hands are on deck, this ship runs tight. They may be a bunch of grizzled roustabouts, but these boys have it going on.

After Saturday’s show, at which they opened for The Hackensaw Boys, the band hit the road for a multi-city jaunt they’re dubbing “The Rowdy Soul Tour,” after the final track on the new album. Check out the band on Myspace to get a run-down of all the dates, and mark two in particular on you calendar — Sept. 24, when the guys will headline “Old City Live” behind Southbound in Knoxville’s Old City; and Oct. 24, when they’ll play the Knoxville Brewers’ Jam. You can also keep track of the latest tour happenings by following singer/guitarist Ben Whitehead on Twitter. While you’re poking around online, go here to read a March story we did on the band.

An adorable side note — my 3-year-old son, Ezra, has been a fan of C.S. since I first started playing him their music. He knows them only as “Shamrock,” and his favorite song is “South Australia,” off of “The Wake.” The guys graciously included the song in their soundcheck, just for him. He had such a good time on Saturday night, even though we didn’t stay long, that when we got home, he got out his toy guitar and “played Shamrock,” hitting random pre-programmed chords and growling his way through his own special version of “South Australia.” He sounded possessed by demons, shouting and singing so loud the veins in his neck were popping against his skin and his little face turned beet-red. I was indeed a proud papa. The kid may not be able to tie his own shoes (yet), but by God he appreciates good music. I’m gonna film it and post the video on the group’s Myspace page, I think.

UPDATED! The guys have graciously allowed us to include a track off the new album in our steadily growing library of music by local artists. Download it now and get a taste of what you’re missing, if you’ve never taken the opportunity to see Cutthroat Shamrock perform live.

Download “Dry Bones,” by Cutthroat Shamrock: Right-click here (choose “Save Link As” or “Save Target As”)

As soon as we get a link to where you can purchase this fine album online, we’ll post it here.