Rousing sing-alongs from Ireland…Tragic ballads from Scotland… Lively dance tunes from the English Renaissance and Celtic repertoire… all this and more can be heard in a typical performance by The Counterfeit Bards.

The quartet consists of Lee Agnew (vocals, guitar, tin whistle, percussion, and recorder); Anna Holloway (vocals, recorders, guitar, and bodhran); Lessa Keller-Kenton (vocals, recorder, fiddle, and percussion); and Leah Kenton (vocals, recorders, tin whistle, and hammered dulcimer.)

Based in Norman, Oklahoma, the Bards have performed at the OU Medieval Fair, the Oklahoma Renaissance Faire in Muskogee, the King Arthur Faire in Stroud, the "Global Oklahoma" Festival at Rose State College, and the Fall Peace Festival and the Unitarian Church Music Fest in Oklahoma City. They have also performed at Hastings Bookstore and Borders Books and Music in Norman, Full Circle Books and the Celtic Cup in Oklahoma City, and for private, commercial, and church engagements in Norman, Lawton, Edmond, Choctaw, Tulsa, and Oklahoma City.

The group members’ prior musical history represents a broad range of interests. Lee has been playing guitar for more than 30 years, including a ten-year stint in the "Friends of Tradition" string band. Anna has been playing recorder and singing folk songs since childhood, earned a Fine Arts degree with a focus in vocal music from the University of Oklahoma, and has given classical recitals in Norman and Tulsa. Lessa learned music through piano and violin lessons and church choir; as a dancer she has performed with Modern Dance Arts and the OU Ballet. Leah has studied a wide variety of music, dance, and drama for most of her life. From 1998 through 2000 she and Lee performed extensively with the Arthurian Order of Avalon.

"We respect our material, and the sources from which we learn it, but we’re not trying to be "authentic" – there’s no way we can be," Lee says. "We interpret and present the old songs and tunes as well as we can, in the hopes that people who live in the modern world can enjoy them as much as we do."

For traditional material performed for a modern audience, The Counterfeit Bards can be Counted on to Fit the occasion. Accept no substitute!