Like a musical postcard

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey
Reader Staff

The Gothard Sisters came upon Celtic music by chance, and the subsequent musical journey has been nothing short of remarkable.

Real-life sisters Greta, Solana and Willow have gained an international following and performed worldwide to great acclaim, lauded for their uniquely Western take on classical and Celtic music. The Gothard Sisters will bring that sound to North Idaho on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m., as the group performs its Celtic Christmas show at the Heartwood Center (616 Oak St. in Sandpoint).

The Gothard Sisters will play the Heartwood Center on Saturday, Dec. 10. Photo by Ruth H. Photography.

The Reader caught up with Greta Gothard as the group launched its Christmas tour across the Pacific Northwest to talk about the sisters’ humble musical beginnings and what​​ the Heartwood Center audience can expect when The Gothard Sisters take on Sandpoint this weekend.

Sandpoint Reader: How did you all get started playing these specific instruments and this specific style of music? What has inspired you to stick with it for so many years?

Greta Gothard: When I was little, around 5 years old, I saw someone playing the violin at a concert and thought it was so beautiful that I started crying; it affected me very deeply. My parents thought that was lovely and asked if I wanted violin lessons, so I started learning how to play classical violin. After that, my sisters Willow and Solana were both inspired to play violin as well and they also took lessons. 

It was a few years after that that we first heard Celtic music — I think it was a combination of when Riverdance first came out and hearing a program on NPR called “The Thistle and Shamrock” — but we all fell in love with the special energy of the music from Ireland and Scotland. Eventually, as teenagers, we made the jump from playing classical music to Celtic folk music, and have continued into writing our own music in a combination of the two genres. It’s so joyful and energetic.

SR: How have you seen your music change over the years? What inspires your current songwriting?

GG: Our music now is inspired by many things: our travels, the beauty and timelessness of nature, comfortable rhythms and singable melodies. It’s very influenced by the dance tunes and ballads from Ireland and Scotland, but we’ve also been told that it sounds thoroughly American, with a particularly Western earthiness to it. I love that. Our music is always evolving and changing, and we try not to stick it in a box or be strict about genre, but instead think of each album release as a musical “postcard” of where we’re currently at, musically.

SR: What are some of your favorite things about touring together? What can sometimes make it challenging?

GG: It’s an amazing thing to be able to share these experiences of traveling and playing music with my sisters. We’ve gone through so much together that it has made us very close. It can sometimes be challenging to work with family, because it’s a very different dynamic from another kind of band, but mostly we have such similar tastes in music and visions of where we want to go (and now so many shared experiences and stories) that the rewards mostly outweigh the challenges.

SR: What can the Sandpoint community expect from your Christmas performance? What makes it a special show?

GG: We’re so excited to bring the Christmas show to Sandpoint for the first time! The Christmas concert is full of Celtic tunes and songs, dancing, drumming, stories, our original music and old traditional carols done in fresh new ways. We would love to offer the concert to the community as a fun way to get into the Christmas spirit, and to take a pause from the hectic busyness to be present in the magic of the season. 

Tickets are $25 in advance at mattoxfarm.com or $30 at the door. Youth tickets are $15. Learn more and listen to The Gothard Sisters at gothardsisters.com.