About the Band

Callanish is:
Patty Lambert - Flutes, whistles, concertina
Carol Lindsay - percussion, bodhran, bones, spoons
Sara Kelley - vocals
Gretchen Seaver - fiddle
Joe DeLuca - guitar, bouzouki

Callanish was formed in 2001 by four members of the Scottish band Ceol Binn, based in Lemont, Pennsylvania. When the founders of Ceol Binn retired to Canada, the remaining band members re-formed, named itself “Callanish” and expanded its repertoire to include Irish as well as Scottish music.

They quickly became regulars at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, First Night State College, and Celtic Day in Lewisburg. The current lineup of band members was established in the Spring of 2006.

Callanish takes its name from the standing stone circle of the same name, located on the Isle of Lewis, an isle in the Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland.

Patty Lambert plays wooden flute, silver flute, whistle, and concertina. She also performs with the Crooked Stovepipe contradance band, and was a former member of the Celtic Classic trio, Ceol Binn, and the Altoona Symphony. She currently studies Irish flute with Chris Norman and Mike Rafferty, and has previously studied with Bernard Goldberg and Eliot Grasso. Formerly on the faculty of the Music Academy, she now teaches privately in her home.

Carol Lindsay is the band's percussionist, playing bodhran, spoons, bones, egg, and tambourine. She has performed with the Susquehanna Valley, Altoona, and Nittany Valley Symphonies, several concert bands, a women's percussion ensemble, Penn State Percussion Ensemble, and in the pit orchestra of many theatre productions. She was previously a member of the Celtic band Ceol Binn. She now performs with Tr-HANDS-formation, a drumming ensemble, and is producing a series of meditation and healing CDs.

Sara Phinney Kelley is the band's vocalist. She began singing Celtic music with Ceol Binn, but has a long history of classical singing in choirs and as a soloist. She is currently a member of the Susquehanna Valley Chorale and sings jazz, pop, blues, and rock with several Lewisburg-area musicians. She has studied classical voice with Richard Kennedy.

Gretchen Seaver plays fiddle. She began her study of Suzuki violin at age 5. Gretchen participated in youth orchestras at New England Conservatory's Extension Division and Boston University throughout elementary school, middle school, and high school. She is an instructor at State College Suzuki Program and has taught violin and viola for two years at the Intensive Community Program (an outreach program through Boston University) and taught privately in State College for one year. She graduated in 2004 with a B.M.A. in violin performance from Penn State where she was a student of James Lyon.

Joe DeLuca is the band's guitarist and also plays bouzouki. In addition to those instruments, he has played mandolin and clawhammer banjo as a member of old-time groups including the Crabapple String Band and the Barking Spider String Band. He is a regular contributor to Crooked Stovepipe and other contradance ensembles. He has attended numerous camps and workshops where he has studied under many notable guitarists including John Doyle, Steve James and Jorma Kaukonen.