If you have been to MerleFest, you have heard Scythian, who often play three or four sets during the four-day festival held each spring in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. In fact, I have named them the festival’s unofficial house band. So you know you don’t want to miss them when this Virginia-based band makes a stop in the Triangle!

Raleigh’s The Rialto will welcome Scythian on Saturday, Sept. 12, at 8 p.m. Tickets start at $41.50 including fees and can be purchased at this link: https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/82008413/scythian-raleigh-the-rialto?partner_id=100

Named after Ukrainian nomads, Scythian (sith-ee-yin) plays roots music from Celtic, Eastern European and Appalachian traditions with thunderous energy, technical prowess, and storytelling songwriting, beckoning crowds into a barn-dance, rock concert experience.

You can learn more about them in this article I wrote on my Huffington Post blog: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/scythian-gifts-st-patrick_b_9488940

Nashville’s Music City Roots says Scythian is ‘what happens when rock star charisma meets Celtic dervish fiddling’, and the Washington Post claims “Scythian’s enthusiasm is contagious, and shows seem to end with everyone dancing, jumping around or hoisting glasses.” The foursome brings various influences together to create a conglomerate which is technically precise and steeped in various folk traditions. You have to catch the live show to understand why The Camel City Dispatch said of their MerleFest performance: “[Scythian gives] no quarter in their quest to entertain and bring a joy to their music that gives it an irony-free, wide open feel of manic possibility. The playing is technically brilliant, but it is the energy that carries the day.”