Celtic Entertainer of the Year '97
by Scottish Clans of North Texas & Celtic Heritage Society of East Texas
and honored as
Chieftain of the Games '04
by the Sweet Home Celtic Festival and Highland Games, Sweet Home, OR
Above left: Red with Trinity Dancers from Chicago, IL, North
Texas Irish Festival, Dallas, TX
Above right: Taking a much needed break, still with guitar in
hand (you call this a break?)!
With close to 275 performances to his credit in 1997, Red McWilliams has taken the right steps to become one of the most recognized names in Celtic music in the south and southwest. Combining a percussive guitar with a rich baritone voice and a positive attitude has created the perfect blend of "entertainer", the fact of which has been proven by being awarded "Celtic Entertainer of the Year, '97" by the Celtic Heritage Society of East Texas and the "Johnny Hailstones Entertainer of the Year, '97" from the Scottish Clans of North Texas, Ft. Worth.
Red has also received awards and commendations from:
National Honor Fraternity of Community
and Junior Colleges
The Celtic Heritage Association
of Oklahoma, Inc.(Tulsa)
The Castle of Muskogee (OK)
Bank One Corporation
The Denton (TX) Celtic Society
Project Children
Pennsylvania Game Commission
North Texas Irish Festival
(and has won the Bonniest
Knees Contest at both the
Ozark (MO) Area Celtic Gathering,
June 3, 2000 &
The Scottish Society of
Mobile (AL) Burns Night, February 4, 2006)
Ready to play at the drop of a hat (with some loose change in it), he keeps his calendar full, due in the most part to the way he moves from ballads to bawdy, from patriotic to parody, historical to hysterical, only to be punctuated by off-the-wall comments, jokes, ribald humor and snide remarks caused by something in his nature that drives him to "entertain" his audiences and participation is highly encouraged. Red has been known to get people from the crowd to sing a song, tell a story, dance or just sing along. Basically, whatever entertains them.
"Boldly going where no regional Celt has gone before",
Red has taken himself from the "ranks" to the "front lines" by going professional,
national and international. After performing in seven states and three
countries at countless games, festivals and pubs in 1998, Red has surpassed
that mark. Red has performed at around 55 highland games and Celtic festivals
with many coffee houses, pubs, clubs, restaurants, 16 states, 3 countries
and a lot of miles
in between. (I wish that they gave frequent "driver"
miles! LOL)
During his career in Celtic music, Red has performed,
sung with and/or opened for acts such as Battlefield Band, Brother, Men
of Worth (Donnie MacDonald and Jimmy Keigher),
Seven Nations, Sian James Band (Welsh triple harpist),
Alex Beaton, Carl Peterson,
The McIlroys, Joni Madden (Cherish the Ladies), The Fureys,
Noel Nash,
Patrick O'Flaherty (Celtic Folk), the late John Gary,
Wolfstone, Brendan Grace and others.
He has been featured in articles in such publications as:
Ft. Worth Star-Telegram
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Kentucky New Era
Dallas Morning News
Dallas Times Herald
Scottish Connection Journal
Odessa American
East Texas People
Lewisville News
Bank One, Texas' newsletter The Wire
Southwest Celtic
Music Association's
Ceili and others.
Red has performed, quite adequately, for groups large
and small ("Where three or four are gathered, there's always a 'fifth'"),
Scottish, Irish, Welsh, Japanese, Polish, Italian, Greek, Hawaiian and
every other Celtic grouping. He has Headlined/Co-Headlined and has been
the Master of Ceremonies of at least 55 festivals and games in the US and
abroad. Red's performance schedule in 2006 (at this time) includes Alabama,
Florida, Georgia,
Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma,
Oregon, Texas, Washington
and Scotland & the UK.
Red has proudly associated himself with "Project Children", a New York based organization which raises funds to bring kids, Catholic and Protestant, from the "war zone" of Northern Ireland for a six week stay in the US, "Dunvegan Foundation" of Clan MacLeod raising funds to help build a geneological complex at Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye in Scotland and "Imagisphere", an interactive children's museum in Bedford, TX
Red wishes to thank and extends his gratitude to all of the Scots and Irish who have helped make this all possible. Without their and your support, there would be no "Red McWilliams".
Look for him at an Irish festival or Scottish Highland games, a pub or an elementary, high school or college near you soon! By the way, if you see him broken down on the highway, please stop and help him, he's supposed to be somewhere!
Red
McWilliams
"The
Celtic Tradition Continues"