“I always feel like we’re playing Celtic music, even if what we’re playing is from a different tradition or from the classical domain,” he says. Not exactly the basis for a concise classification, it would seem, but Hearn feels otherwise. Through this Rakish lens come Irish, Scottish, Americana, folk-rock, and even classical elements (including a Bach composition). Produced by the renowned Irish musician, composer, and arranger Seamus Egan, “Counting Down the Hours” – the duo’s first full-length CD – features original tunes and songs as well as traditional ones, among them a ballad associated with a legendary English folk performer. 2 with a concert at Club Passim in Harvard Square (tickets and details available at ). This model of rakishness is in evidence on their new album, “Counting Down the Hours,” which Hearn and Scanlin will formally launch on Feb. “We pull them all together in a way that’s perhaps unconventional, but makes perfect sense to us.” “It has to do with the lens through which we view Celtic music, and the other music we play,” says Scanlin. Replies Scanlin with a smile: “I certainly never thought about it that way,”īut to Scanlin and Hearn, “rakish” carries the connotation of “unconventional,” and that is the more relevant reason for its selection as their nom de band. “So, Rakish is supposed to be the edgy counterpart,” says Hearn, “which isn’t really true.” The inspiration came from the title of a popular traditional Irish reel, “Rakish Paddy.” Part of the reason they chose it, explain Hearn and Scanlin, was as a tongue-in-cheek contrast to their other band, Pumpkin Bread, a quintet with a “wholesome” vibe to its sound and style. “I think that was kind of surprising to people who know us well,” says Hearn with a laugh. Boston-area fiddler Maura Shawn Scanlin and guitarist Conor Hearn readily agree that the name they perform under, Rakish, was an improbable – and manifestly ironic – choice.Īfter all, one definition of “rakish” is a “dashing, jaunty, or slightly disreputable quality or appearance” the root word, “rake,” is defined as “a dissolute or immoral person.”
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