Celtic Lads Like to Fiddle Around With Tradition : Music: Boys of the Lough blend Irish, English, Scottish musical dialects in their folk repertoire.

Although Celtic folk influences have sporadically found their way into pop music, from Van Morrison to the Pogues to new British sensations the Levellers, the Boys of the Lough prefer to play it straight.

“We pretty much stick to tradition,” said Dave Richardson, who plays a variety of instruments for the band, in addition to serving as its manager. “We haven’t added a back line, like a synthesizer line or a drum, because if you’re doing that you’re doing something different.”

Boys of the Lough (pronounced lock ), along with the Chieftains, are the chief exporters of traditional Celtic music to these shores, with numerous recordings to their credit along with twice-yearly tours of the United States since 1972. They play Saddleback College’s McKinney Theatre tonight.

While the Boys generally stick close to their roots, their take on tradition and their instrumental lineup is “a little unusual,” Richardson admits, shaped as it is by the varying regional influences the five band members bring to the group.

Richardson, 44, who plays mandolin, cittern (a long-necked, stringed instrument), English concertina and button accordion, hails from Northumberland, the border country between England and Scotland. Aly Bain, the fiddle player, was born in the Shetland Islands. The three remaining members are from different parts of Ireland: Cathal McConnell (flute, vocals), Christy O’Leary (uillean pipes, whistles) and John Coakley (piano, guitar).

“We sort of unite those three different dialects of the tradition,” said Richardson, reached by phone at his home in Edinburgh, Scotland. The repertory, familiar to fans of the musical tradition, ranges from sprightly jigs and reels to haunting ballads and airs.

Boys of the Lough was formed 25 years ago, when Celtic music was undergoing a revival in the folk clubs of Britain and Ireland. The group’s history has been marked by several lineup changes. In 1984, Richardson’s brother Tich, the group’s guitarist, died in a car accident.

The current lineup has remained solid since its formation in 1985, although members have worked on solo projects. For example, Bain, possibly the best-regarded fiddler in the Celtic tradition, has taken time to explore Cajun music, and also produces specials for Scottish television.

“As we’ve gotten older, it’s very healthy if we can do things outside the band,” Richardson said. Working together in the band, while “very synergistic,” can also be “very limiting,” he said.

Much of Richardson’s spare time is taken up with band management duties, although he still finds time to “play music as a hobby” when the band isn’t touring or recording. “At the moment I’m trying the two-row accordion,” which has been gaining new favor in recent years, he said.

The Boys’ most recent recording is “Live at Carnegie Hall,” released last year on the independent Sage Arts label. There had been plans for an adaptation of James Joyce’s dauntingly complex “Finnegan’s Wake” in collaboration with the U.S.-based dance group Pilobolus, but announced funding for the project fell through and it was abandoned.

Richardson did try to wade through what he called the “impenetrable” book, which is written in an invented language with only a passing similarity to English. His understated appraisal: “I think you can say things in a clearer way.”

The group’s next record is planned as a collection of all-new original compositions. “We’ve just started thinking about it in the last month,” Richardson said. The task is a bit intimidating, he added. “Normally, when you make up tunes, you don’t do it to order. You’re just kind of sitting around playing and you come up with a sequence of notes.”

Interest in traditional Celtic music, which has gone through some slow times since the group formed, has hit a new high in recent years, Richardson said. “I don’t think it’s ever been stronger.”

Most encouraging has been the rise of a new crop of traditional musicians, such as a 20-year-old accordionist named Luke Daniels whom Richardson recently saw perform. “He was just great,” Richardson said. Traditional music is making a strong resurgence in pubs and other venues, particularly in Ireland, he added. “It’s not stage Irish that would be put on for tourists, stuff like ‘Danny Boy.’ It’s the genuine thing, and people are doing it because they love it.”

He’s less enthusiastic about the melding of pop and traditional music. “It’s probably healthier for the rock music than for the traditional music,” he said. Musicians who blend the two styles “find a halfway point where the skills are less demanding.”

On the other hand, he believes it may draw some curious pop fans to explore purer expressions of the folk tradition, and contribute to the groundswell in Celtic interest: “If anything, it’s a golden age now, for the music, for a lot of things.”

* Boys of the Lough perform tonight at 8 in Saddleback College’s McKinney Theatre, 28000 Marguerite Parkway, Mission Viejo. Tickets are $14 to $16. Information: (714) 582-4656.