Well before Irish step dancing and all things Celtic became the in thing, there were The Clumsy Lovers.
A group of crazy Canadians, The Clumsy Lovers took rock music and infused it with heavy dose of the Celtic spirit.
Bagpipes. Fiddle. Whistle. Mandolin. The pluck of the Irish.
Lo and behold they had one heck of a thing going -- feisty music that had people dancing and reeling and jigging like lunatics on a clover high.
``When we started out, there was nobody doing anything at all like that,'' says Chris Jonat, bassist and singer for the Vancouver-based ensemble.
Nowadays -- what with ``Riverdance'' and ``Lord of the Dance'' and their legions of fast-stepping step dancers -- Celtic music has become ever so chic.
``I've actually found it, if anything, to be a bit of a disadvantage because we're not as unique as we were five years ago,'' Jonat says.
Nonsense.
The thing about The Clumsy Lovers is that they're not traditionalist. This six-person group uses the best of several music styles to create an uncommon concoction they like to call ``raging Celtic banshee rock.''
Raging is right. I've never seen the Inland Northwest boogie like it does at Clumsy shows.
Since their beginning in 1993, The Clumsy Lovers have been through a few adjustments.
For a time they switched names to the Six Million Dollar Band. A Minnesota band called The Clumsy Lovers had claimed rights to the moniker. And the name change seemed appropriate at the time since several original members had left and the band's sound had altered.
``We were basically just a rock band that happened to have a fiddle player,'' Jonat says.
Now, with several of the original members back, so is the old name. This time our Clumsy Lovers plan to let the lawyers duke it out over the rights to the name.
Jonat says the band has also moved back toward its original sound. He is joined by Kevin Ball (on bagpipes, whistles, mandolin, guitar and fiddle), Cam Jonat (on drums and percussion), Andrea Lewis (on fiddle) and Cameron Thomson (on vocals and guitar).
Tonight, the Clumsy ones return to Spokane (a favorite stomping ground) for some good Celtic lovin'. They're also celebrating the release of their CD -- ``Picture This.''
The 13-song album is a splendid mixture of Clumsy-written work and traditional pieces that roll from merrily upbeat tunes to haunting reaches. Riddled with affecting bagpipe work and loping guitar, ``Mist-Covered Mountains'' and ``Paddy's Leather Breeches/Banjo Breakdown'' are broiling instrumentals. ``Don't I Know'' ends the CD with superbly done blend of rock and Celtic elements.
Although it's a good CD, The Clumsy Lovers are a must-see live for the whole experience.
``We don't really hold anything back,'' Jonat says. ``We just play as hard as we can and hope people like it. And they seem to.''
Delbert and Bombshell 99 open the show for The Clumsy Lovers at Outback Jack's tonight. Cover charge is $5. Show starts at 9 p.m.