The Jig Is Up, Except When Down Under

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Seamus Begley and Stephen Cooney play an unusual, often unpredictable style of Celtic folk-rock.

Begley is a County Kerry dairy farmer and part-time singer-accordionist who descends from generations of Irish musicians; the dreadlocked Cooney hails from Australia and has played bass and guitar in several rock and reggae bands. Together, they blend (or is it bend?) traditional Irish folk music, Australian tribal music and blues-tinged rock into something their own.

The duo’s musical ingenuity was impressively on display Saturday night, when Begley & Cooney performed in a concert at the Laguna Beach High School Artists’ Theatre. It was striking how effectively the two musicians expressed a variety of emotions, from the ache in softly played, heart-wrenching ballads to the celebratory joy of upbeat jigs, reels, slides and polkas.

Each song in their expanding repertoire was played skillfully and passionately. The delivery could be gently moving one moment, aggressively biting the next--including times during some of the harder-edged selections when both men attacked their instruments with reckless abandon.

The night’s best offering--the Scottish standard “Mary’s Wedding”--combined the duo’s tough and tender approaches. After Cooney began the song by gently strumming his acoustic guitar, Begley jumped in with his fiery accordion playing, and the song exploded into a hard-charging finale that brought the small but enthusiastic crowd to its feet.

Other highlights during the first of the evening’s two sets included the 18th century love song “Mairin de Barra,” the didgeridoo-powered “John Brosnan’s” and “Mo Gile Mear,” one of several new tunes planned for their next album.

Complementing Begley & Cooney’s playing was the pair’s warm stage presence and engaging sense of humor.

Relaxed and chatty, they explained the meaning behind several Gaelic and all-instrumental numbers. At one point, Cooney held up his didgeridoo and told the audience: “We played in Texas last week, and you know how everything has to be big in Texas, right? So we told the crowd that this is an Australian tin whistle.”

Performing without a set list, Begley & Cooney let spontaneity work its way into the program, allowing the mood of the moment to carry them in unexpected directions.

For instance, Cooney followed a traditional Irish reel by peeling off a few licks from the Beach Boys’ “California Girls.” Then, perhaps inspired by the surroundings of the high school, he and Begley played a lovely if unusual rendition of the old Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young hit “Teach Your Children.”

In the hands of Begley & Cooney, even classic rock can be surprising.