2 Sons of the British Isles Sing Tunes Worth Hearing

They are men of song--Jimmy Keigher and Donnie MacDonald, two musical imports who, each Tuesday night, turn Woodland Hills into the British Isles.

They are Men of Worth.

Named after a 1970s folk song about laborers who toiled on the oil rigs off the Scottish coast, the duo performs weekly at Bob Burns Restaurant, mixing soft, melodic ballads with joyful, fast-paced tunes. They’ve played the Tuesday gig since 1986, and on the eve of St. Patrick’s Day, remain as devoted to Irish-Scottish lore as when they arrived in the United States in the early 1980s.

“Week after week, they have a very faithful following,” said Kim Saunders, the restaurant manager. “They’ve added a lot to our place.”

Their assimilation into American culture is complete. Keigher works as a sales representative for a Claremont technology firm. MacDonald is employed by a Pasadena outfit that sells gifts imported from Scotland. They like America.

They miss their homeland.

“Look at how many Scottish and Irish immigrants have come here and helped make this country great,” said Keigher, 30, of Burbank. “We love doing this music, and it helps to take us back to where we grew up.”

Keigher grew up in Ireland; MacDonald in Scotland. To satisfy each, their song repertoire alternates between tunes from their native lands. During a recent Tuesday night performance, Keigher started with a ballad, sounding a lot like Gordon Lightfoot. The audience of a few dozen sat quietly.

Then the pace quickened. MacDonald joined in for a rousing, energetic song. The crowd clapped to its beat.

“I’m more prone to up-tempo tunes,” said MacDonald, 36, also of Burbank. “I worked on the Continent a lot, and you had to play with a beat. That’s what everybody wanted.”

Keigher, conversely, spent many of his early years in music performing solo at small pubs in western Ireland.

The two met in the early 1980s when they both played in an Irish-Scottish band in Burbank. With such different backgrounds and styles, their musical relationship could easily have collapsed.

“But we figured out how to get the timing down where it worked for both of us,” MacDonald said. “It’s not a good idea to do slow ballads all the time, and the fact that we can mix things up gives the show a nice rhythm and mood.”

As for the difference between Irish and Scottish songs, Keigher said: “It’s the same kind of people. Some songs have the same tunes, just with Irish or Scottish lyrics. It’s like the relationship between country music and bluegrass.”

Most of the songs they do are not originals, although Keigher is putting together a tape of his own material to be shipped back to Ireland. They plan to continue playing concerts around the Southland occasionally and maintain their Woodland Hills weekly gig. Tomorrow, on St. Patrick’s Day, they will play at Des Regan’s Irish Pub in Burbank.

“A few years ago, everything seemed to be happening on Friday and Saturday nights,” MacDonald said. ‘We thought we’d try out something in the middle of the week and we found this place. We’ve been here since.”

Men of Worth, a Scottish-Irish duo, perform from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. every Tuesday at Bob Burns Restaurant, 21821 Oxnard St., Woodland Hills ; (818) 883-2145. There is no charge.

The pair will play from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. tomorrow at Des Regan’s Irish Pub, 4311 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank; (818) 845-1036. Cover charge is $5.