Poitín are based in Pilsen, Czech Republic, and play traditional Irish , Scottish and English folk music plus their own compositions. For those who like pigeon-holing things, this is the oft-maligned genre known as ‘Celtic’. The group came together in the spring of 1996 and expanded gradually from its original four members to ten, and then back to four again and nowadays has about seven in its lineup:
Jaroslav 'Oto' Macháček - fiddle
Jakub Siegl - guitars
Jan Brabec - bouzouki, banjo, tin whistle
Jeremy Marc King - vocals, spoons, bodhran
Hana Círová - low whistle, tin whistles
Saša Šantorová - flute
Dick Savage - didgeridoo, spoons
Please note that our site is changing all the time. You can find several anecdotes of our escapades. and also links to some of our favourite sites and bands.
book performances or order "CDs" or download "MP3s"from our website or SoundClick..
Poitín JUKEBOX click to play!:
Repertoire
Their repertoire is mainly made up of Irish songs and dances. The tunes are mostly jigs, reels and hornpipes and they also have several compositions by the renaissance harpist, poet and composer Turlough O’Carolan which, on our earlier albums, are brought to life by Antonin Vysata on the/ harp. Jeremy’s songs are made up of those which he brought with him from the U.K.,versions sung by bands such as Planxty and Steelye Span, and some others from a lovely Scottish tome from the turn of the nineteenth century which somehow turned up in a Pilsen secondhand bookshop.
At the beginning the band tried to perform interpretations as faithfully as possible to their heroes (The Chieftains, Altan, Alain Stivell,Planxty, etc.) but gradually they started to find their own voice and their traditional repertoire has expanded to include their own musical ideas, remaining ever faithful to the original Celtic pulse.
You can hear a broad sample of their repertoire on their first CD ‘Poitín’
Their second CD, "De la Basse Bretagne", contains French and Breton songs sung by one time member and French friend, Neige Pruvoust.Their third CD,"Hot Days" shows off the skills of the amazing saxophonist Helena Markova and Poitin explore more deeply their own sound. Poitin have also featured on Marc Gunn's Victims of Irish Music compilation, a collection of traditional Irish instrumental tunes and on two Celtic Music compilations available in the Czech Republic.