Meet ROANE A Celtic/American Folk Band

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mary Lynn (Roane) Gottler

Hi Mary Lynn, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
In 2012, four college aged students came together out of their love of Celtic music and culture and formed a band. Grace Gottler (now Stearns)and Nora Smith (now McCabe)were both vocal students and Luke Stearns was a locally known metal musician and songwriter. At that time a fourth member, a young girl on keyboards was unable to make gigs and practices reliably, and since they all rehearsed at my house, I was coerced into joining them for a gig. “Please, Mom! You know all of our music. We really need you, they urged. And so after stepping off the stage for twenty years, I became part of Roane.

We started out with three part harmony vocals accompanied only by guitar and bodhran(Irish drum). But we were strong vocally and very tight and soon developed a devoted following with much of our repertoire being a cappella.

After the first few years we knew we wanted to add a fiddle. And we convinced Bruce McCartney, a beloved and long time local performer to join us. Bruce’s fiddle and bright personality brought the spark we needed and the ability to broaden the types of music we could perform. We called him our “sparkler”. With this addition, we grew our audience and began to write our own music. It was a wonderful time and it seemed we were on the verge of taking our music to a whole new level.

We began recording a new album, with several originals and traditional tunes we had reworked and made our own.
Then, in 2018, we gathered for rehearsal and Bruce let us know he had cancer. The next year was a blur. We performed and tried our best to take care of our dear friend. Anyone who knew Bruce knew that music was everything to him and although he insisted we look for another fiddler, we just couldn’t do it. It was a heartbreaking time.

Before Bruce passed, when he finally could not play anymore, he suggested we reach out to Nellie Osantowski. Nellie is an amazing musician, a kick ass person and probably one of the top fiddlers in our state. She was also a dear friend of Bruce’s and that made the healing process hurt less. At this time we talked about adding a solid bass to bring a bigger bang to our sound. We reached out to Bobbie Pennington, a well known bassist from one of our favorite bands who had recently called it quits. Bobbie was all in and we were on our way to getting that album reworked and recorded once again. And then Covid hit.

Like all the other musicians and artists of the world, we were stunned. As a matter of fact, the shut down happened right before St. Patrick’s day, which was doubly disappointing for a Celtic band. Also during the shutdown, Gracie gave birth to my grandson Micky (Matthias) in June and Nellie gave birth to little Julia in September. The babies brought so much joy and a whole new dimension to our lives and our rehearsals! LOL! So between COVID and newborns we “embraced the suck” that trying to book a band during a shutdown was and got busy working on our own stuff.

We learned. We grew. We finished the album we called , “Slan Abhaille “(Irish for Safe Home), and we continued to work on writing and composing more of our own music. We felt strongly that we wanted to develop our own music- music filled with stories that were definitively Celtic in influence but told in a voice that hadn’t been heard before. And that’s when the magic happened.

We began to write music inspired by Celtic lore and played with an entirely new sound. As we each brought our ideas and concepts to rehearsals and spent focused time creating together something new began to unfold. It was powerful. It was driving. It was passionate and personal and our audiences responded with enthusiasm.

Roane has found its voice and we bring a performance with all that we’ve got- full throttle-and it moves people. It’s music we believe. It comes from our souls straight to the audience and it connects.

As we continue to create our music together and perform, we invite you to join Roane for a concert or a gathering. We hope that our audience will feel the genuine love we have for one another and for the music we share and that it lifts them somehow. It lifts us. We need this music because it is the most beautiful part of ourselves and it is meant that we share it.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Between Covid, cancer and babies we also struggled when our Nora and her husband Jason narrowly survived a car accident in 2021, leaving them both badly hurt. Through surgeries and therapy they are now much better. Thank God! And we continue to face the challenges of life together. Nora lost her dad to cancer just last week. We all work full time jobs and juggle family responsibilities like most people. But the music is always there. It’s what keeps us going.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Roane is comprised of six members-

Grace Stearns on vocals , Irish Bouzouki, whistle, and bodhran (Irish Drum)

Mary Lynn Gottler (Momma Roane) on vocals, Mandolin and Bodhran (Irish Drum)

Nora McCabe on vocals and the bones

Luke Stearns on vocals and guitar

Bobbie Pennington on Bass

Nellie Osantowski on fiddle

What sets Roane apart is our tight, strong, vocal harmonies. It’s something you don’t hear much among Celtic bands and our sound is built on that foundation.

The other thing that sets us apart from many other bands is that we all write music. The ability to write our own stuff and create together makes us unique and brings something to the table that no other band can imitate.

Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
We love to share the stage with other bands who have a similar energy, traditional roots and their own unique sound. We have collaborated with other bands to perform concerts and expand our following and theirs. We are experimenting on new ways to write and collaborate with friends in other bands such as our dear friends, Mark and Anna of Ironwood. We have shared the stage with Black Murray and Celtic Isles. We performed in Ann Arbor with Wakefire and Ironwood at the Blind Pig. We are working on plans to do more along these lines. Musicians are great people. We appreciate and support one another.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://roaneband.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/roaneband
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/roaneband
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/roaneband
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCPn7D8Av6EnV2XoKVH0dwg
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/roaneband
• Other: https://roaneband.com/press-kit?