CARTHAGE — New England Celtic Arts will host Allen “Mac” McHale and The Radio Gang on Sunday, June 5, at Skye Theatre Performing Arts Center. Joining McHale on-stage will be John and Sally Roc, and Herman McGee.

Members of The Radio Gang, known for their high-spirited performances, play and sing rousing renditions of classic melodies from the 1930s and 1940s.

Simple, honest and in many ways innocent, vintage American country music (often classed as bluegrass today) was purely acoustic with six-string guitar, mandolin, banjo and stand-up bass. In many cases, country music had its start as live broadcasts over the radio or was performed in Grange halls and churches.

The band’s selections are richly varied — spirited fiddle and train songs, gospel music, hand-clapping and toe-tapping tunes, and ballads of love and heartbreak.

The Radio Gang has 11 recordings to its credit. Among them are “Old Country Radio Songs,” chosen by CD Review as one of the Top 4 country CDs since the magazine began in 1984; “When the Roses Bloom Again;” and New River Train, submitted by Folkways Records for a 1993 Grammy Award. The group recently recorded four albums for Fishtraks: “Get on Board,” “Sunbonnet Mother,” “River of Memories” and “Down in Memory Lane.”

The concert will begin at 7 p.m. There will be a jam session a 6 p.m. when audience members can play their musical instruments with the performers for a few minutes. Tickets, $15, will be sold at the door. For reservations, call 562-4445. Skye Theater is at 2 Highland Drive.


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