Golden Bough
20th Anniversary 1980-2000
by Stacy Meyn

The Celts were a busy bunch. Their cultural markings linger in the U.K., Scandinavia, Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Several of their descendents have taken activities further, making camp in Pacifica, California. The American-Celtic group Golden Bough have undergone multiple upheavals in personnel and sound, becoming stronger with each adjustment, and now they are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their founding in 1980.

Golden Bough have amassed an impressive repertoire of acoustic, folk, and traditional music of England, Cornwall, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, Brittany, Galicia, Turkey, and Scandinavia. Celtic tradition merges with contemporary arrangement, and Golden Bough's enthralling vocal harmonies help differentiate the group from other Celtic bands. Songs include ballads, jigs, reels, singalongs, airs, and tales with amusing spoken passages. The well-traveled group has played in nearly every geographic region that influences their music.

Golden Bough co-founders and mainstays Margie Butler and Paul Espinoza delivered some of their first-hand perspective on the progress of Celtic music over the last 30 years. "Recently they [Celtic waves] have had a more profound effect," said Butler, "whereas 10 years ago in Europe we were able to perform in the big theaters, art centers, etc.—it was much harder to break into the market in the U.S. The last couple of waves have opened things up. It's been really nice to see that on this side of the Atlantic."

"We were in the 70s listening to Steeleye Span, Pentangle, the Incredible String Band, and Donovan," noted Espinoza. "In later years, I wanted to go back and reconnect with those songs. I've been through a number of record collections because I'm the kind of guy who'll loan things out, saying, 'You've got to hear this!' And that's the last I'd see of it," he laughed.

"I didn't see it really pick up until...I'd have to call it the third wave, when Braveheart and Rob Roy hit," Butler continued. "All of sudden a lot of people were coming up to me, saying they wanted to 'rediscover their roots,' " she chuckled. "Before that, it was really the hardcore folkies supporting us. Perhaps the Europeans are more open-minded about what they hear. When we were touring, I'd turn on the radio and hear this really eclectic mix. Frank Sinatra, then an accordion 'oompah', then some sort of popular rock. Radio has made a difference over there, but in America it's the films. Enya became very popular. Clannad...that helped. They were much more popular in Germany before they were in the U.S. They did a lot of scoring for the BBC, too."

Golden Bough have been together for 20 years, yet Butler and Espinoza were each performing well before 1980. "I had a music trio, and we were doing 90% original acoustic music in the early 70s," Espinoza said. "It was more folk oriented. Margie was in a college production of Tommy in San Diego. We both grew up there. We met there—my group was doing a Christmas concert, which has become a mainstay for Golden Bough. Since there were three guys in the group, we wanted to get some female singers to join in. I met Margie and asked her to sing with us."

That query blossomed into the roots of Golden Bough. "Paul and I were playing as a duo for a couple of years," Butler said. "The first person we met was a fiddle player named Margot Duxler. Then Lief Sørbye, who had just come from Norway, basically his first stop in the U.S. We immediately connected with him." That was late 1979, when the four played for tips at The Cannery on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco — their new home.

This is an excerpt. Read the full article in Dirty Linen #89 (Aug/Sept '00).