Petersburg Pilot -

Orin Pierson / Petersburg Pilot

The all-star Irish instrumental band Lúnasa kicked off their Alaska tour with a rousing performance in Petersburg's Wright Auditorium on Wednesday evening. The band includes frontman Kevin Crawford on flutes and whistle, Seán Smith (an All-Ireland champion on both fiddle and whistle) on fiddle, Trevor Hutchinson (longtime member of legendary band The Waterboys) on the double bass, Cillian Vallely (who has performed with Riverdance, Tim O'Brien, Natalie Merchant, Mary Chapin-Carpenter and most recently Bruce Springsteen, and recorded on over 40 albums) on the uilleann pipes, and the newest addition to the band on guitar since 2011 Ed Boyd (of the acclaimed band Flook). Lunasa have released seven studio albums. They've performed at the White House by invitation and in 2010 were named International Performers of the Decade by the LIVIES awards. They tour most of the year and perform all over the world. This is their second tour through Alaska and their first visit to Petersburg.