RANGELEY — Girsa, an eight-piece, all-female Irish band based in New York, will make its first tour of Maine in mid-June.

Performances will be at Lakeside Theater on Tuesday, June 14; Skye Theatre Performing Arts Center in Carthage on Wednesday, June 15; and Unity College Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday, June 16.

The women of Girsa, who are from the Pearl River, N.Y., have been playing traditional Irish music, dancing and singing together for most of their young lives. Many are the daughters of musicians and Irish immigrants. All have had the distinction of representing the United States at the All Ireland Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann and several hold titles in various instruments.

They have all known each other since childhood and started Girsa, which means “young girls” in Gaelic, a little more than four years ago.

The group holds numerous titles, including first place at a busking competition at the Festival in Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick in May 2005.

“Now that I’m home from college, I play music almost every day,” said singer, fiddler and mandolinist Deirdre Brennan, a nursing major at the State University of New York at Binghamton.

“I think you can have a normal career outside of music and still have music at the center of your life,” she said.

Curtain will be at 7 p.m. at Lakeside and Skye, and 7:30 p.m. in Unity. There will be a jam session 45 minutes prior to curtain at Skye and Unity when audience members can play their musical instruments with artists for a few minutes. Tickets are $15, except at Lakeside Theater where they are $15 in advance (www.rangeleymovies.com), $20 at the door. For reservations, call Lakeside at 864-5000, Skye at 562-4445 or UCCPA at 948-7469. Lakeside Theater is on Main Street in Rangeley. Skye Theater is at 2 Highland Drive in Carthage. UCCPA is at 42 Depot St., Unity.

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