Serbia’s Answer To The Dubliners

I bet you’re thinking, “Celtic music from…. Belgrade, Serbia??” Well, to answer your question, that even I was asking, aye! it is Celtic, and it is from Serbia! The Orthodox Celts are a seven member folk band that plays Irish traditional music with a slight rock edge to it. The lead vocals of Aleksandar Petrovic kind of remind me of good ole’ Ronnie Drew. (just a slight accent) As soon as I heard the album, I could tell The Dubliners have made an impact on these guys. The Orthodox Celts are huge Glasgow Celtic Football fans (take a look at the photos on their website.) They have also popularized Celtic music and culture in their little neck of the woods, and they sell out concerts on a regular basis. (about 1000 to 5000 people) Some of the tracks on the album include, “The Rare Old Mountain Dew”, “Rocky Road To Dublin”, “Whiskey, You’re The Devil”, my favorites include “The Beggarman”, and “Merry Sisters” and of course, the instrumental, “Marie’s Wedding” I was surprised to say the least, but if you’re a big Dubliners fan, take a listen. I bet you’ll be surprised too.

July 2002

review by Brian Gillespie