Getting to Know Celtic Thunder's George Donaldson

George Donaldson, the sole Scotsman and the eldest of the soloists, has been nicknamed "The Voyager" by the Thunderheads.

"As a self-taught and accomplished musician, George Donaldson plays guitar, flute, mandolin, bodhran, and banjo. George's love of Celtic music stems from his childhood in Glasgow, where his main influence was his late father Bernard, who had a love and appreciation of all kinds of live music played from his heart. ...

"George ... is a well established singer in the vibrant Glasgow and West of Scotland folk scene. He has recorded folk sessions for BBC Scotland and made appearances at Glasgow's own Celtic Connections and the Glasgow West End Festival. To date, George has toured America, Canada, and Europe, and has developed of fondness for Germany, where he has a great following and his love of the country, its people, and its culture has encouraged him, as an eternal student to attempt to master the language. ...

"George loves being a part of and performer in Celtic Thunder. It is a new direction for him and the most exciting of his career to date. The oldest in the group, George has been blown away by the public reaction to Celtic Thunder. 'The response has been unbelievable from everyone,' he says. 'Folks have come on to our website with no interest in Celtic music, but our show is not just about that, and [they say] it's good to see a show of this caliber coming across having Celtic music or folk music in it, as well as the contemporary songs. The spectrum of the genre of music has attracted [everyone], from the young folks who are mad about Damian to the less young folk. they love the music.' ...

"'Dreams do come true if you hang around long enough,'" [Excerpts from the Celtic Thunder Street Team's George Donaldson Biography].

[This lens was created as part of a series meant to provide a place to link new fans of Celtic Thunder to all the various spots online every Thunderhead should know about and visit! These lenses are fan-maintained, so please do not leave messages here for any of the talented people involved in Celtic Thunder... they will not see them here.]

[Photography credit goes to Alan Arthur Katz]