Clannad’s Leap, From Eire to L.A. Studio

Sitting in a tony Hollywood restaurant occupied by show-biz hipsters and a silver lame-clad Dolly Parton, Maire Ni Bhraonain, singer of the Irish folk/pop group Clannad, felt a world away from the 2,000-population Irish town of Gweedore in County Donegal, where the group originated nearly 20 years ago.

“Gaelic was our first language,” she recalled. “We grew up running around chasing rainbows and believing there were leprechauns at their ends. Our grandfather told us some great stories of mermaids.”

The music of Clannad (which performs Friday at the Wiltern Theatre) has in many ways traveled just as far from its traditional beginnings. Instead of the acoustic folk instrumentation of the group’s early albums, its latest effort “Sirius” features lush beds of synthesizers and electric guitars in a production by Los Angeles studio vets Greg Ladanyi and Russ Kunkel. There are even guest appearances by Steve Perry and Bruce Hornsby.

Bhraonain (the name in English is Brennan) admitted that she was worried about how true the album was to the spirit of Ireland--so much so that she needed to give it a stringent test to prove to herself that it worked in the land of leprechauns.

“When we finished the album here and we went back to Donegal to shoot the cover, there was a place about 20 miles from our house where I wanted to play a tape of it to see if it felt right, and it did,” said Brennan, 35. “That’s where it’s from. The rugged beauty is part of us, very much so.”

Clannad (the name comes from the Gaelic for family ) was begun in 1969 by Bhraonain, her brothers Pol and Ciaran and their twin uncles Padraig and Noel Duggan. From the beginning, the quintet’s music reflected a wide array of influences.

“Our father had a show band, a Glenn Miller type band,” Bhraonain recalled. “And our mother was a piano teacher who made sure we studied piano. When we used to come home from school in the summer--this is when my father had bought a pub--there was a stage for us to perform on. The program could extend from a Beatles song to a traditional song to Bob Dylan to a harp instrumental.”

In the mid-’70s, the group became established as one of the leading entries in the growing Irish progressive folk movement, gradually mixing jazz and pop elements into its interpretations of traditional songs and in the early ‘80s shifting the emphasis to original material.

In the process, Clannad developed a haunting style centered on Maire’s airy, powerful voice--so haunting that it reportedly caused U2’s Bono Hewson nearly to drive off the road when he heard Clannad’s “Harry’s Game” (from the 1983 album “Magical Rings”) on his car radio several years ago. Hewson then sought out Clannad and ultimately sang a duet with Maire on “In a Lifetime,” from Clannad’s next album “Macalla.”

But though Clannad’s popularity has grown consistently over the years, particularly in Europe, its stylistic changes have not always been met kindly by the group’s fans. The “California” sound of “Sirius” has brought particular criticism.

Surprisingly, Bhraonain is sympathetic with that.

“Anyone who had heard us (in the past) mightn’t like it,” she acknowledged. “But they should understand. We were using drums then. Even before ‘Magical Rings’ we were using synthesizers. It’s like playing around with the music.”

And she’s quick to deny that the changes are designed to fit in with the American mainstream.

“It wasn’t deliberate to go out and look for success and go to America, though it would be lovely, “ she said. “We were never an overnight success, so we’ve been growing and maturing, but we won’t push it in a way that doesn’t fit.”