About Planet Reel
Since its first performance in Memphis in 1997, Planet Reel has performed in dozens of venues of all types—from concert halls to classrooms, and from church services to street festivals—for audiences of all sizes and ages. The ensemble is as much a friendship and a community as it is a band, specializing in traditional and contemporary Celtic folk music intertwined with rhythms and instrumental textures from around the world.
Barry Gilmore is the Upper School head at Hutchison School. His instruments include guitar, bouzouki, tenor banjo, hammered dulcimer, and bodhran. In addition to his music, Barry is the author of several books for teachers.
John Albertson (fiddle, viola, mandolin, and guitar) plays in the Memphis-based rock band Java. He also performs regularly in a number of world music ensembles.
Josh Culley has been performing on flute, accordian, bodhran, bouzouki, harp and whistle for over fifteen years. He has been a member of Celtic ensembles based in Boston, Washington, D.C., Memphis, and Nashville, where he currently lives with his family and performs in the ensemble Nosey Flynn. He has performed several albums of Celtic music, including two with members of Planet Reel, and brings a variety of world instruments and rhythms to the ensemble.
Robert Johnson has played guitar in a number of ensembles and can be seen regularly in Memphis with the ensemble Celtic World. Besides engaging in various musical endeavors, he owns and operates a woodworking business in downtown Memphis.
Planet Reel’s performances are an outlet for the members to explore music together. No set list from any concert has ever been an exact duplicate of another, and every performance the band has ever given has included new material. Sets of tunes and songs are constantly rearranged (often on stage) as the group explores new connections and sounds.
Planet Reel in 2002 with guitarist Gregg Hansen.