A Little of The Ready to Perform at the Ironwood Theatre

IRONWOOD, MI - Monday, February 14, 2011 - Put on your green and shamrocks and start celebrating St. Paddy a couple of weeks early with an evening of foot-stomping fun with Minneapolis-based group A Little of the Ready!

A Little of the Ready play a lively mix of Irish and Scottish pub favorites, Irish rock and folk traditionals, along with several of their own compositions. With rich four-part harmonies, energetic acoustic instrumentation – and the obvious pleasure they take in performing together – they have quickly become a favorite of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Irish pub scene.

Front-man Leslie Rich is a singer/songwriter transplanted from Belfast, Northern Ireland. In 1999 he released his first album, the eight track "Geeklove" that quickly became a playlist regular in Ireland with the thunderous, piano driven "Air Is Just A Breeze." He took this album with him to Minneapolis and New York in September 2000 and performed in a number of venues, including First Avenue in Minneapolis. In 2002, he was nominated for "Best International Unsigned Act" at the Orange County Music Awards. Leslie became a permanent resident of Minneapolis in 2004.

A Little of the Ready's roots go back to 2007, when Leslie joined with Mollie Clancy and Caleb Peterson to play at a friend's wedding on a hog farm in Southern Minnesota. They enjoyed it so much they decided to continue performing together and formed a group focused on Irish and Scottish traditionals. Mollie is a Minneapolis-based singer and percussionist, and Caleb Peterson is a flautist and whistle player also based in Minneapolis.

A Little of the Ready was formed shortly thereafter with the addition of bassist Jason Wahl — the friend whose wedding first brought the group together. Jason and Leslie have played together on and off for the past 15 years. The most recent addition to the group, Mike Hinton, is a prominent percussionist on the Minneapolis music scene, performing in other popular bands such as The Hopefuls and We Became Actors.

The group recently recorded two songs for the 30-year anniversary of the Good Vibrations label in Belfast, Ireland, and has also just recorded their first EP. They take their name from the James Joyce novel The Dubliners. "The Ready" is a slang term for having a little cash on hand.

A Little Of The Ready don't play Irish, Scottish and roots music because of any great reverence, but because of the overwhelming joy of performing live. To find out more, visit www.alittleoftheready.com  or http://www.leslierich.us.

A Little Of The Ready at the Ironwood Theatre on Saturday, February 26 at 7:00pm. Advance tickets $15 Reserved, $10 General. At the door $17 Reserved, $12 General. Students always $5. Doors open at 6:00pm.