Entertainment

Solas

Solas stepped out onto the world stage in 1996, when Irish music was poised at the brink of a new era of innovation and popularity. The five young musicians who made up the band at the time had no idea that they were to be a galvanizing element in the Irish music scene -- a lightening rod of talent and inspiration that set new standards for musicianship, repertoire, and intensity. "We thought we were doing a one-off project," says multi-instrumentalist Seamus Egan with a smile, ten years after the fact. Egan and fiddler Winifred Horan have remained with the band through a decade that has encompassed seven albums, a series of evolving lineups, endless international touring and critical acclaim.