“We picked up with Fuji this year, and we were just called two weeks ago to start working on some music for the Christmas commercial,” founding member Paul Bruno said. “They want us in the studio before Thanksgiving. That’s commercial No. 2, so that’s working out good.
“They said the response in the U.K. and Tokyo has just been phenomenal,” he added. “They loved the music, so they want to do more. So many bands try to get anything in a commercial and we just walked into it. It literally fell into our laps. It was the right place, right time. That’s how it happens.”
The four-piece outfit has been together two years, but the roots stretch back to 1996 when Bruno (guitar, bodhrán, accordion, vocals) and his brother, Derek Wade (lead vocals, harmonica, mandolin), were performing acoustically. The group was doing well, but the brothers, who use stage names, realized they’d taken it as far as they could as a duo and added Chris Wall (bass, vocals) and Bob Gilbert (drums, percussion).
“We were never going to be more than the Sunday afternoon gazebo band at the big festivals unless we turned it into a real band,” Bruno said. “We were getting there, we made it, but you’re never the big night show at the center of this big stage, and that’s what we wanted. We found these guys and amped it up and that’s been taking off ever since.”
Since adding the rhythm section, The Kreellers have managed to make the jump to the main stage, including recent festival spots performing right before Celtic heavyweights Gaelic Storm and Black 47.
“We set a goal,” Bruno said. “We’re trying to see how far we can take it for the next couple of years. Unfortunately, you just don’t go anywhere sitting in the basement. You’ve got to get out there, and it’s just amazing what happens once you get out there and things start moving.”
The Kreellers perform at Dublin Pub on Friday, Oct. 30.
“We’re playing a lot,” Bruno said. “It’s pretty rough sometimes, but we’re pushing and every year it gets better and better.”
CONTACT contributing arts and music writer Don Thrasher at donaldthrasher8@aol.com.
How to go
Who: The Kreellers
Where: Dublin Pub, 300 Wayne Ave., Dayton
When: 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30
Cost: $5
For more information: (937) 224-7822 or www.dubpub.com
Artist information: www.kreellers.com
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