(Left to right) Kathy Sierra, Margie Butler and Paul Espinoza make up Modesto-based Celtic folk band Golden Bough. The trio, which formed in 1980 will play tomorrow at Benicia Historical Museum’s Stone Hall, a venue they’ve played many times over the years. (Courtesy photo)

For almost 40 years, Modesto’s Golden Bough has played Irish-inspired music all across the world. On March 24, the band returns to the Benicia Historical Museum for a night of music and fun.

Made up of band members Kathy Sierra, Margie Butler, Paul Espinoza Golden Bough has ventured to Benicia for nearly 20 straight years. One of the things singer/songwriter Espinoza likes about performing at the Benicia Museum is intimate feeling he gets from the audience while playing at the venue.

“When you are in a bigger theatre and you are up on a bigger stage it’s really fun, but people are further away and it’s a little harder to create that intimate feeling,” he said. “When you are playing in smaller theatres like the Camel Barn Museum, it just makes it so much fun. It’s almost like you feel comfortable with sharing your own home. You have that kind of comfort of just sitting around and playing music rather than I am performing. It’s more like we are just playing music for everybody.”

The band does sing-alongs and tries getting the audience involved with the show. Espinoza says people fall in love with Sierra’s fiddle playing, and audience members also gravitate to the soothing tones of Butler’s harp.

Golden Bough formed in 1980. Espinoza says what drew him to Celtic music was the passion and emotion in the music. When he met Butler, whose father was an Irish tenor, it was a match made in heaven and Golden Bough were formed. The band began as a quintet, but gradually became a trio with several “third members” over time.  Sierra joined the band in 2001 and has remained ever since. Throughout the years, the band has toured all over the world, including Ireland which they hope to play again one day.

The concert will be held tomorrow at the museum’s Stone Hall, located at 2060 Camel Road. The show has a no-host bar if wine beer, soft drinks, and snacks. The museum’s exhibits will be open during intermission. Seating for the show begins at 7 p.m. and the band goes live at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the museum or Bookshop Benicia, located at 636 First St. For more information, email info@beniciahistoricalmuseum.org or call 745-5735.

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