GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- St. Patrick's Day Celebrations in Grand Rapids continue tomorrow with Irish on Ionia.
This year, there will be some special entertainment, a Celtic band that got its start just miles away in Allendale at Grand Valley State University.
They're called CrossBow and like most musicians they got their start early.
“Crossbow was started by myself and the other fiddler in the group," explains fiddler Steve Lesko, "We came from a high school that had a really cool extracurricular group which was like a jazz band but for the orchestra. We played Celtic music."
Lesko is a violinist by day, fiddler by night.
Lesko says, “The difference between a violin and a fiddle is... a fiddle is just a violin with attitude.”
When Lesko is on stage, pay attention or you might become part of the show, “I’ll follow people out in the audience if they’re not paying attention."
Come Saturday, don't expect the usual songs from CrossBow during their shows at Irish on Ionia and SpeakEZ.
“We don’t do a lot of the singing songs," explains Lesko, "We call those green beer songs sometimes. The ones that come out during St. Patrick's Day.”
You'll hear some traditional songs mixed into some cover songs all with that classic Celtic tone.
CrossBow goes on at 5 p.m. at Irish on Ionia and 8 p.m. at SpeakEZ Lounge.
