LEWISTON – Celtic musicians from Ireland, Scotland and Canada may soon make Lewiston’s Franco-American Heritage Center a regular stop as they tour the Northeast.

Twenty artists are already booked for 2009, and if the feature is successful, the list of acts could double next year.

“I’m positive it will work” said Phill McIntyre, the architect behind the program and founder of the Skye Theatre Performing Arts Center in Carthage. “The audience will come. I know it.”

The catalyst is a new arrangement between musicians, managers, the director of the Franco center, the small Lakeside Theater in Rangeley and McIntyre’s tiny rural stage.

McIntyre’s niche: Finding a place for bands as they hunt for work between weekend gigs in places like New York, Boston, Quebec City and St. John, N.B.

Rather than sitting in a hotel and waiting for a Friday night show, the bands would perform three mid-week shows: Tuesday in Lewiston, Wednesday in South Carthage and Thursday in Rangeley. And rather than paying for lodging, they would stay in apartments beside McIntyre’s theater, which is set to open a new stage at the end of the month.

“It gives them a decent day’s pay,” McIntyre said.

And for the modest venues, it’s a chance to offer performers who might be too costly to hire any other way.

The savings will be passed on to audiences, McIntyre said.

“It’s a $10 ticket,” he said. “Period. End of story.”

Among the planned performers are Sons of Maxwell and Pogey from Nova Scotia, Cynthia McLeod from Prince Edward Island and Catrip from Scotland.

The series of shows will kick off with “Give Way,” four sisters from Scotland who play a fusion of traditional Celtic music and funk.

At the Franco Center, the feature will be called “Celtic Tuesdays.”

Richard Martin, the program director of the Lewiston center, figures the audience may take a while to fill the 300-plus seats of the main performance hall.

“There’s no ready-made audience for us,” he said. At $10 per ticket he hopes people will be willing to try it.

McIntyre believes Celtic music audiences will find the Franco Center and other venues. After all, they found his theater.

His intimate stage often draws people from across Maine and nearby states, he said.

McIntyre opened his place four years ago and featured a steady run of Celtic artists. Sell-outs have been common.

His success has helped him connect with artist groups and bookers. For the new initiative, he was aided by Canada’s East Coast Music Association and the Scottish Arts Council.

Performers’ experiences at Skye Theatre also helped make the plan work.

“They really want to do this,” McIntyre said.