Pitch Perfect

As long as people in the U.S. support Irish music, Pitch the Peat plans to take full advantage of it. "It's all over the place," says fiddler Nikki Custy. "I'm sure part of it has to do with how Riverdance brought it to the forefront. There are Irish festivals even in Alaska."

Custy (who attended school in Ireland) and Patrick, her Irish-born husband, founded the band in 1998 after they moved back to her native Summit County. For the past two years, Brendan Carr and fellow Irishman Ruairi Hurley have rounded out the group, which performs jigs and reels every week at local bars and festivals. "A lot of people have told us that when they come to see us play, they feel like they're back in a pub in Ireland," says Custy. "Every gig is different. You see a lot of bands who say the same thing and play songs in the same order. We just kinda wing it."
Sat., May 27, 9:30 p.m.