• Seamus Egan arrives in the world July 1, 1969, in Hatboro (in the Montgomery County suburbs of Philadelphia), the second of six children born to Irish emigres Jack and Ann Egan.
• Three years later, the family moves back to Mayo.
• Not long thereafter, Seamus starts taking Irish music lessons from famed button accordionist Martin Donaghue.
• Strongly influenced by either a.) Matt Malloy or b.) James Galway, whom he either a.) saw on television or b.) heard on the radio, Egan takes up flute.
• Flash forward 10 years or so. Egan manages to not only learn, but master, several other instruments.
• By 15, he wins the All-Irelands on flute, whistle, banjo and mandolin, an astonishing accomplishment. As one observer gushed (again, understandably): "It was like listening to Mozart as a young man."

The Egans moved back to Hatboro in 1980. Seamus attended Hatboro-Horsham High School, where he mostly kept mum about his traditional music exploits. Achievement in the arena of Irish music was likely to get you exiled to The Land of Eternal Nerds (Suggested Irish language translation: Tir na Noogies), as Egan now recollects: "It’s not the sexiest thing in the world to be in high school playing a banjo or a whistle or a flute. It's not something you want on your resume at that stage of your life. There are enough disadvantages at that point.”

But Egan wouldn't hide his light under a bushel for long.

Together with other talented members of his family, Egan performed throughout the Delaware Valley. And we can all thank the Web gods that some sites never delete their old pages because, on the Rainbow Productions Web site (a Drexel Hill talent and special events agency), we found this terrific tidbit:

The Egan Family

The Von Trapps had nothing on the Egans. (Bonus: no lederhosen.)

Egan also released an album—"Traditional Music of Ireland"—at age 16. About that time, he also fell under the influence of Mick Moloney, with whom he later played as a member of the group The Green Fields of America. Also part of that group was virtuoso fiddler Eileen Ivers, with whom he later played in the Eileen Ivers-Seamus Egan Band. Also among his early accomplishments were soundtracks for two movies, "The Brothers McMullen" and "Dead Man Walking." He also co-wrote, with Sarah McLachlan, the Grammy-winning "I Will Remember You."

Fans, however, probably know Egan best for his virtuoso performances as a founding member and leader of Solas (an Irish word meaning light), which first appeared on the scene in 1995. As with so many bands, Solas has weathered a few personnel changes over the years, but the band's sound remains vibrant, pushing trad to the limits and, in many cases, well beyond.

When it dawned on members of the group that Solas was nearing its 10-year anniversary, they initially considered a commemorative CD. But, Egan says, those early plans soon morphed into something far more ambitious, technically challenging, and—happily, for the band's many fans—much more memorable.

So it was that on Sept. 13, 2005, all the present members of Solas—Egan, Winifred Horan, Mick McAuley, Deirdre Scanlan, Eamonn McElholm—came together with past members Karan Casey, John Doyle, Donal Clancy and John Williams at Indre Studios on South Darien Street in Philadelphia to record both a live CD and DVD. Also joining them for the performance were special guests Antje Duvekot, Chico Huff, Ben Wittman, John Anthony and Michael Aharon.

The CD/DVD on Compass Records is scheduled to go on sale in the United States on April 25 (2006). We've heard and seen it, and it is guaranteed to make any Solas fan's socks roll up and down. Two of the best Irish bands on the planet turn out to be the same band. More on that in coming days.

We spoke with Egan a few days before the band's scheduled appearance at Sellersville Theatre 1894. Here's what he had to say about the reunion, the band, and Irish music in general.

1. Was there ever any question that the reunion would take place in Philadelphia? Why did that seem appropriate? How much of it had to do with the fact that the Philadelphia area was home for much of your life?

When we were in the planning stages, there were only two places, really, where we felt the reunion should take place. The one, obviously, was Philadelphia The other was New York. New York is really where the band came together. As far as Philadelphia is concerned, just about every record we've made, we've made in Philadelphia. That really was something that was a pull for us to do it here. As we continued planning, it just became more obvious.

2. I believe the show originally was supposed to take place at the World Café. I think there was a last-minute change there to the other location (Indre Studios). Was that change of location always a possibility, or was it a last-minute heart attack?

It was a bit of a last-minute heart attack. There were some issues that came up on the technical front. To have a degree of control and confidence, though, we were able to set ourselves up at Indre Studios for a few days. Over the course of three days, we were able to set ourselves up for the concert. It worked out as well as we liked. It also added an air of intimacy of the overall show. It became more of an "MTV Unplugged" atmosphere.

3. Tell me about rehearsals. Starting with the singers, I assume you’re talking about different repertoires, styles, and ranges. Is it hard to make adjustments? How much did you have to plan ahead?

With the current line-up, there’s a kind of telepathy at this point. That sort of rapport existed when Karan was in the band, too, but we didn’t know for sure how the older stuff would all click. But it really all just found its own level almost immediately. It was almost as if we had just finished a show the night before.

4. Doing both a CD and a DVD sounds a lot more complex than simply doing one or the other. What drove that decision?

It began as a live CD. We had wanted to do a live CD for quite some time, without having any aspirations toward the reunion idea. Once we realized we were coming into the 10th year, it evolved into the idea, that if we were going to do something it would be great to see if we could do something that’s more encompassing than just this lineup. That's where the idea came to bring everyone back. In the scheme of things, this is an unusual thing to be able to do. So if we're all there. we thought, let's see if we can do the DVD as well.

I think it was well worth it. For all of it there was a sense of personal satisfaction.

5. "Lament for Frankie" is the last cut on the CD (and a bonus cut on the DVD). It's one of my favorites. Why did you choose it?

We hadn’t done it for quite some time. Because of the nature of what this project was, it “wanted" to be included.

Bonus questions!

6. I believe you moved back to Hatboro when you were 16. I remember reading that you kept the fact that you played this kind of music something of a secret. I suspect it’s because, in a way, you were already obviously an out-of-towner. That kind of music wasn’t cool.

Most definitely. It’s not the sexiest thing in the world to be in high school playing a banjo or a whistle or a flute. It's not something you want on your resume at that stage of your life.There are enough disadvantages at that point.

7. I get the sense that kids’ tastes in music are no longer so fixed. They can listen to Arctic Monkeys, Dixie Chicks, the Who ... and you guys. Do you think your kind of music would still be uncool? Would you perhaps be less likely to keep things secret if you were in high school now?

There’re a lot more variations, and a lot of that has to do with the Internet. You can sit at home and play music from around the world. As radio has become more and more restrictive and formulaic and corporate, you have this burgeoning world of music that is literally at your fingertips. The younger generation is the savviest tech generation. They're out there hunting this stuff down. And we’ve certainly seen an increase in young people coming to our shows. I think a lot of that has to do with the Internet.

But as well, we're influenced not just by traditional music—that’s the blood pumping through the veins—but you can't help but be influenced by everything else around you. Irish music has always been something that’s evolved. One of the reasons it has the degree of popularity that it does is that it has always been able to evolve, and stay relevant.

8. When you were 16, you had a lot of influences in this area, Mick Moloney and Billy Comiskey among them. Who were some of your other Philadelphia influences?

I remember Kevin McGillian. And of course, there was Eugene O'Donnell, Ed Reavey. It was that generation of music that was here at the time. It really dug a foundation for the Irish music community in Philadelphia. It wasn’t long before we were immersed back into that.

9. The session scene in the Delaware Valley seems unusually robust. It seems as if there's a session somewhere every day or the week.

A lot of that is from the younger players. It's nice that it (Irish traditional music) has not only stuck around. In a lot of ways, it has grown and become stronger.

10. Is Solas returning for a free concert in Chestnut Hill this summer?

Pastorius Park? I don't know, I haven’t heard anything yet. I hope so. We really enjoy that concert.