Eileen Estes
vocals
Jesse Langen
guitar
Tim Langen
fiddle
Amy Richter
bodhrán
Trad from
the Windy City
compás (Irish for compass and pronounced come-paws) is comprised of four members, all masters of their craft and hailing from different parts of the country. Their love of Irish music served as the "compass" that led them to one another. With Irish ancestry weaved into their DNA, they sing songs and play tunes that pay homage to the Irish tradition.
listen to their sound
Eighteen Years Old
Song into Reels
Eileen links the melody of this song to a song her mother learned from Paddy Tunney in the mid 1970's called Buchal Row. The lyrics of Eighteen Years Old were introduced to Eileen by Sean Cleland through a recording of Delores Keane. Eileen's interpretation is still largely influenced by recordings of her mother singing Buchal Row.
The set of two reels following the song, Jim Coleman's (brother of Michael Coleman) and The Tempest, were arranged by the Langen brothers.
Humours of Delight
Jig into Slip Jig
A couple of tunes Tim and Jesse often play together. The first tune is a jig known as The Humours of Kilclogher (or sometimes Kiltyclogher, both are actual towns.) And the second tune, Elizabeth Kelly's Delight, is a slip jig.
Cúnla
Song
Cúnla is a children's Irish folk song that was originally written in the Irish language. It is believed to have been composed sometime in the 14th century.
Halfpenny Hornpipes
Hornpipes
Two hornpipes Tim brought to the group. The first tune is a commonly known as The Stack of Rye followed by The Poll Ha'Penny.
Bonny Labouring Boy
Song
The Bonny Labouring Boy is a song of social misalliance and parental intervention that dates back to the late 18th/early 19th century.
meet the band
EILEEN ESTES
vocals
Irish-American musician and singer Eileen Estes has thrilled audiences for years with her extraordinary voice, which effortlessly combines vocal power with subtle emotional expressiveness.
She works as a vocal instructor and performer and is a former instructor at Blue Ridge Irish Music School.
Daughter of Nita (Conley) Korn, Celtic Thunder’s original lead singer, Eileen grew up immersed in the traditional music of Ireland and Scotland. In 2015, Nita and Eileen released a beautiful album of Irish and Scottish songs called The Apple Tree Project.
Eileen recently relocated to the Chicago area and teaches at the Irish Music School of Chicago.
JESSE LANGEN
guitar
Jesse Langen is an Irish guitarist who is acclaimed for his beautiful, dynamic and powerful accompaniment of traditional Irish music, and also teaches at the Irish Music School of Chicago.
Equally comfortable on classical and electric guitar, he seeks to push both the technical boundaries and the conceptual functions of the guitar.
Jesse and his brother Tim grew up learning Irish and Canadian fiddle tunes from their grandfather Clarence and that grounding laid the foundation for Jesse’s deep, loving approach to traditional music.
Jesse also plays new classical music and can be heard throughout the US and abroad as a soloist, as the guitarist for Ensemble Dal Niente, in Hasco Duo with Amanda Deboer Bartlett, and in a duo with harpist Ben Melsky.
TIM LANGEN
fiddle
Tim Langen was inspired by his grandfather to learn to play the fiddle. He started learning with the Suzuki method at age five and has been teaching since he was sixteen.
He has played in Ireland, Boston, Chicago, Missouri, and elsewhere, with musicians such as Tim Britton, Dennis Cahill, Liz Carroll, Marty Fahey, Jimmy Keane, Larry Nugent, and John Williams.
AMY RICHTER
bodhrán
Amy Richter, a two-time Midwest Fleadh Cheoil champion on the bodhrán, has been performing Irish music since 2003 and teaching since 2007.
Most notably, Amy has been touring the states since 2017 with world renowned trad super group, Danú. She accompanied them on their televised performance at the 2019 Temple Bar TradFest in Dublin and can be heard on two of their albums, Ten Thousand Miles and An Emerald Isle Christmas.
She’s also graced the stage with the likes of Lúnasa, Natalie Haas & Alasdair Fraser, John Williams and John Whelan. She's toured the country with Kerry Irish Productions’ performance of “An Irish Christmas” and is a founding member of áthas, a Milwaukee based trio proud to be entertaining their fans since 2005.
A highly sought after instructor, Amy has taught both in the U.S. and Ireland. Locally, she's been a longtime faculty member for the Milwaukee Irish Fest School of Music. Abroad, she’s taught alongside some of the greats at Junior Davey’s Bodhrán Academy in County Sligo and virtually at the BúlaBuzz internationl bodhrán summer school. Within the states she’s taken the helm for the rhythm workshops at Alasdair Fraser’s highly acclaimed Scottish Fiddling School, Valley of the Moon.
To learn more about Amy visit her personal website.
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