- Beltain Biography
- Beltain History
- Discography
- Technical Info
Beltain are Mikkel & Morgan McDow and David Cowan.Beltain performs original and traditional ballads and dances. Our traditional repertoire includes 14th Century chansons and English and Celtic songs and dances set to a rollicking beat. Our original songs, from songwriters Mikkel McDow & David Cowan, are both contemporary and classic sounding.
Performances at Cal Expo in Sacramento, the Mammoth Lakes Celtic Festival, the Covenant of the Goddess Merry Meet in Los Angeles and at The Oregon Shakespeare Festival are a few highlights of Beltain's eighteen year career.
Mik and Morgan play all sorts of things including guitar, banjo, mandolin, bass and drums. Morgan plays button accordion and the recorder family. Mik is also known to play the piano, accordion and slide trombone.
Dave joined the band in 1999 bringing his array of ethnic instruments including the Irish flute, panpipes, cana, charrango, accordion, hammered dulcimer and jaw's harp. He also slings a mighty guitar.Prior to joining Beltain Morgan played in Berkeley's Cyderman's Fancy, a group that included Jon Berger, later of Tempest. Dave led his own bands including Willowgreen and Tar'd and Feathered. Mik was a member of the Alliance featuring guitarist / inventor John Nady. Before that he had some success with his eighties new wave band, The Jars.
Beltain latest release "The Girt Dog Of Langport" collects the EPs Morricide, 4 x 3 and Somerset Wassail onto one CD, and a couple of tunes found nowhere else: Lovely Joan and Un Deux Trois.
Coming soon in 2012: Beltain's all original album Patchwork Quilt.
Beltain was formed in Oakland Ca. in early 1993 by Mikkel McDow, Chris Kemp, J Boyd and Morgan Thomas. Beltain's first CD, titled Beltain, was issued on the band's own Granny's Ghost label on October 15, 1995. One other full length studio CD, Merry Begot, was issued on May 1, 1999. Also released were three CD eps, Wild In The West, Time Of The Assassins and Jongleur and Other Stories. Morgan recorded a CD of early music by the composers Guillame de Machault, Arnold de Lantins and others. A Medieval Feast was made available for Christmas 1995. Shortly thereafter the group disbanded.
Beltain's newest CD of all original material entitled Patchwork Quilt will be made available in early 2012.
