Hey, this is Mary-Kate Spring from Seasons.
Well, when your parents start you and your siblings out with corresponding
middle names, what else is there to do but become a band?
After you learn some instruments, of course...
I started studying the Celtic harp at the age of twelve. My mom was the
first harpist in the family, but after catching me picking out numerous
songs on the harp with one finger, she decided that I should start taking
lessons to.
Once Peter and I began learning hammered dulcimer two years later (thanks to
my dad's interest in Christian musician Rich Mullins) we began going to
nursing homes and volunteering our harp/hammered dulcimer duo services. This
led to playing a number of gigs, which varied from coffeehouses to concert
halls to the Appalachian Brewing Company. Needless to say, we started
learning a wide variety of music (from Bach to the Beatles) to fit each
occasion.
In 2006 Seasons had grown to three members with the addition of my sister
Mary-Teresa, and we decided that it was time to record our first CD.
Actually our mom guided us in this direction by repeatedly urging "Why don't
you guys record some Christmas songs so that Grandma can hear you play?"
So we trooped into a tiny, basement studio (with more that one hundred
strings between us to have in perfect tune) and put together our first
album, "Eventide Lullaby," originally expecting that no one but our
grandparents would want to hear it.
About a week after sending the CDs to the local Christian radio stations, we
got a call at about 7:00 am from Pete Hamel, the morning DJ and station
manager at Fortress 1230‹-the station was actually playing our CD, and
people were calling in to the station to find out who we were and how to buy
the CD. The station couldn't tell them anything, however, because our
website (the only contact information on the CD) was still under
construction. We had never envisioned anyone going to our website so we
hadnšt pushed to get the website done before the CD release!
Our second album "Which Way to Dublin Town," features our favorite Irish
tunes as well as several original songs, and has sold so far in every
continent except for Antarctica (thanks to a person from Japan who bought
"Dublintown" on Itunes).
Mary-Grace joined the band in Fall 2009, initially to pinch hit on the
dulcimer while Peter studied abroad in Gaming, Austria. However, Grace
turned out to be so skilled on both hammered dulcimer and harp that there
was no other course but to have her officially stay on!
Mary-Clare, our youngest sister at age ten, "guest-stars" with us on the
violin, and we are hoping that soon our quartet may become a quintet. Luke,
9, plays the cello, so we are looking forward to the day when Seasons has a
sweet string section on all of our songs!
We play a lot around Central PA, and also have done shows in Washington
D.C., Pittsburgh, New York, and Ohio.
Please keep us in your prayers and come check out one of our shows!
