Wolf & Clover Reigns for St. Patrick's Day Weekend in Columbus

Updated: Jun 2, 2022

Wolf & Clover's album cover. Artwork credit: Joseph Melancon Photo credit: Bryan Canonigo. (Pictured from left to right: Matt McCabe, Jessica Bennett, Justin Belew, Julian Chalon.)

Wolf & Clover, a Columbus-based band that plays primarily Irish, Celtic, and folk music will be the leading band for St. Patrick's Day celebrations throughout Columbus this weekend. The band recently earned their first Global Music Award for their self-titled debut album in December 2018, and is in the process of developing their next album.

This weekend, Wolf & Clover will play several gigs around the city celebrating the crowning occasion of their genre every year. The band officially formed after several of the musicians started gigging together, and they quickly found that they all shared an interest of Irish and Celtic music.

The group's first Global Music Award came after they'd reached the sound that Payne is describing. Wolf & Clover earned a silver Global Music Award for World Music - making them one of the top Irish and Celtic ensembles in the world. Soon after they received word about their Global Music Award, the band was also informed they'd been voted into the Celtic Top 20 for 2018 on the Irish and Celtic Music Podcast by Marc Gunn. The podcast ranks in the top 1% of podcasts and receives over 20,000 downloads a week.

Meet the Band

Matt McCabe is currently Assistant Professor of Audio Technology at the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University. He has an extensive list of credits as a recording engineer of primarily concert hall music, and teaches audio engineering and production as well as composition and popular music courses at CSU. He is also a student of the Irish Language and has participated in immersion programs and coursework for the last several years.

Jessica Bennett has a wildly successful private teaching studio, and plays professionally as often as possible. Her passion for music has taken her all over the U.S. with competitions, recording projects, and performances as a soloist and ensemble member. Recently Jessica has recorded in Nashville and Franklin, TN for several country music artists, and serves as a string instructor and mentor for the violin ensemble of the Youth Orchestra of Greater Columbus.

Justin Belew has worked over twenty-five years as a professional musician for schools and churches. He has a full music production studio that he operates where he specializes in recording professional voice overs and jingles, “demos”, and boutique album projects of various budget sizes. Justin has recorded and performed with commercial and independent musicians alike. He is known for his ability to teach, play, and arrange for many different types of instruments. Belew plays over 200 instruments proficiently.

Julian Chalon has been playing guitar for over 25 years and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in guitar performance at Columbus State University. As a classical guitarist he has performed in the Southwest U.S., Italy, Croatia, and Spain, and received first place in the Mountain View Guitar Festival and Competition. In his downtime, he enjoys writing music for both classical and electric guitar.