The life of Denise McCurdy

Denise McCurdy was born in Texas to a family with deep musical roots. Her great-grandfather founded the Texas A&M University Marching Band. She plays her grandfather’s fiddle. She was classically trained in violin and piano, but her heart was taken by the violin.

Denise has played in orchestras, bands, chamber groups, duos and as a solo performer. Currently, she and her guitarist husband, John divide their time between the Texas Hill Country and Eastport, Maine.

In Texas, they are the core of Celtic Comfort, a popular five-person group that plays Irish, Scottish, and Cape Breton music. In Eastport, Denise and John perform as a duo, entertaining visitors and natives alike at local and regional festivals in New England and Canada’s Maritimes.

They have traveled the length and breadth of the continent and shared their music from New Orleans to Alaska and across the Atlantic to England, Ireland, France, Spain, Holland, Belgium, and Italy. Denise’s compositions have been performed by a choir in Scotland and on a BBC Television children’s show. Her latest album “Meditations on the Word” has been called “breathtakingly beautiful,” “inspirational,” and “deeply moving.”

Celtic Comfort has been enjoying each other’s company and music since 2012. “Two peas in a pod,” say Denise McCurdy on fiddle and Dawn Antelo on Mandolin. Add harmonica, bones, and bodhran to guitarist John McCurdy and you have rhythm. Add Ginger Evans as bassist, and Buster Green on guitar and banjo, and you have a Celtic band!

Their great voices and harmonies are a bonus to the many traditional and modern instrumental Celtic tunes performed. The band plays for festivals and parties throughout the Texas Hill Country, including the Highland games in Kerrville, the Chalk Festival in Kerrville, Christmas in Comfort Main stage, the Robert Burns Scottish Association celebration in January in Kerrville, and the last three years playing the Arneson River Walk Theater in San Antonio for St. Patrick’s Day.

In addition to these Texas fall festivals, Denise and John Mccurdy play festivals in Maine and New Brunswick, Canada. “We have put together our repertoire from Cape Breton, Ireland, and Scotland during our travels, with some Quebec qua thrown in for fun!” Occasionally, Bluegrass, old-time mountain music, and country tunes are requested for parties. “We do it all”, says Denise McCurdy.

Denise McCurdy has also written music to give some original character to the Celtic Comfort style. Celtic Comfort has a CD entitled “Under a Tartan Texas Sky,” which is available at concerts. For more information, check the denisemccurdy.com website, and also check out YouTube and our Facebook page.