Scatter the Mud's second CD saw them back with their own distribution, selling their pop-laced brand of Celtic music directly to their fans. Conan Daly looks like the odd man out on the cover of this, with his plaid trousers and impish smile, but it's his bass lines and harmonies that helped make this band special. [center][img width=600px]//7ca49eb9f67ba1319ef136f9d52cd8b8.cdn.bubble.io/f1766531355235x477257302962857300/richtext_content.jpeg[/img][/center] [h2]Muddy music a hit[/h2] [h3]Scatter The Mud finds following with Celtic tunes[/h3] James Muretich Calgary's Scatter The Mud is no ordinary chip off the old Celtic block. Not even the old Celtic ice block. "When we toured the Maritimes last year, we wondered how our brand of music would go over there," says bassist-vocalist Conan Daly. "Is this like going out to sell ice to the Eskimos or are they going to embrace us? "Fortunately, they liked us." They're not alone. The band's blend of Irish and Scottish traditional music with a pop sensibility has earned it a substantial following in Canada, even a touring slot with the popular Rankin Family. "Our stuff definitely combines those elements and it even comes across more polished on record," says Daly. "I think that's a good thing because it makes the music more accessible." Scatter The Mud's debut disc sold 5,500 copies, both as an independent release and as a release distributed by BMG. Its success has "laid a good foundation" for the band's second CD, Never Time To Play. The new disc has been released independently and is being distributed to Alberta music stores "out of the back of our cars," says Phil O'Flaherty, who handles lead vocals, guitar and mandolin for Scatter The Mud. The CD is once again made in an easy-going, gentle-but- rhythmic, contemporary Celtic folk style, balancing some fine instrumentals (especially the flute playing of Greg Hooper) with tender ballads. Well, not always that tender. Daly has penned a wee ditty called A Little Piece Of Me in which the main character sends his beloved a rather unusual keepsake - one of his fingers. "I just feel a song should have definitive ending rather than just saying the same banal stuff over and over," says Daly. Yep. That's pretty definitive. Scatter The Mud is celebrating the release of its new CD with an 8 p.m. concert at the Uptown Stage. Tickets are available for $9.34 at all TicketMaster outlets today until about noon hour and until show time at the Uptown (phone: 265-0120). As well, $2 of every ticket sale will go to CKUA radio. Scatter The Mud also will be performing at Morgan's Pub Friday and Saturday night and hosting the Saturday afternoon jam at the Ship & Anchor.
