Hailing from Florida and Canada, the members of Seven Nations began playing together in New York City in 1993. The band -- Kirk McLeod, Struby, Ashton Geoghagan, Scott Long and Dan Stacy -- draw the Seven Nations sound and lyrics from their Irish and Scottish bloodlines. The Celtic/folk and rock ‘n’ roll outfit has spent a better part of the ‘90s touring nationally and internationally, and their privately owned record label has sold more than 100,000 copies of their five albums.

Seven Nations’ most recent release, The Factory, is a jaw-dropping piece of beauty. The song "Twelve" is an achingly splendid ballad, laden with subtle guitars, soaring fiddles, tender highland bagpipes and frontman McLeod’s gentle voice. Full of hooks, addictive melodies and precise musicianship, Seven Nations may be the next frontrunners for the summer tour feel-good band of the new millennium.

Take the heartbreak of "Twelve," the full-throttle pub-stomp of "The Paddy Set" and the magnificent drive of "Daze of Grace" and you’ve got yourself a history lesson and a rock record rolled into one. Seven Nations prove that they are capable of making fine music, while providing their listeners with a little culture as well.

-- Country Stan

Country Stan is a staff writer and creative manager/A&R for Musicblitz. He is a former artist and repertoire manager with Loosegroove Records and worked with Curtis Management in artist development for Rage Against the Machine, L7 and Cypress Hill.