­­­Traditional Irish folk band Dervish will perform 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Dvorak Concert Hall in the Doudna Fine Arts Center.

The cost for tickets is $7 for students, $13 for faculty and $16 for community members. Tickets can be purchased online at the Doudna Fine Arts Center website.

Cathy Jordan, front vocalist of Dervish, said their music will take listeners on an emotional journey ranging from the three phases of traditional Irish music. “Goltraí makes you want to cry, suantraí makes you want to sing, and geantraí makes you want to dance with whimsical love and life lyrics,” she said.

According to the press release for the event, the band’s performance ranges from “high energy tunes, played with fluidity and intuitiveness, to beautifully measured songs, from charming lyrics of life and love, to inspiring melodies that lift audiences from their seats.”

They have been together going on 28 years with 13 albums, Jordan said. There are six members in the band: Shane Mitchell, accordion player; Liam Kelly, flute and whistle player; Brian McDonagh, mandolin player; Michael Holmes, bouzouki player; singer Cathy Jordan; and drummer and fiddle player Tom Morrow.

Jordan said the band carries its Irish pride to the states every March to celebrate and bring Irish culture across the ocean to America. They spend much of their time travelling across Europe, and they have also toured in Asia, South America and Australia, she said.

They have traveled to the Great Wall of China with former Irish President Mary McAleese, Jordan said. Not only does Dervish stay busy touring worldwide they still have plans for future projects, she said.

They have been acclaimed by BBC as “an icon of Irish music.” Pulse Magazine says “Irish music fans should walk over broken glass to see this band.”

Jordan encourages everyone to come out and enjoy the evening with them.

Lee Mayhood can be reached at 581-2812 or lmmayhood@eiu.edu.