Celtic favorite to perform in Baldwin

Celtic music group Cherish the Ladies, a perennial favorite at the Walnut Valley Festival, will be in Baldwin on Thursday for a stop on its 37-city tour to promote its 11th album, Woman

Joanie Madden is spending time on tour editing a new DVD and coming up with ideas for a new album.

But even with the added duties, her band, Cherish the Ladies, remains focused on its Celtic music.

“At the end of the day, the music is going great,” she says.

Cherish the Ladies will be in Baldwin at 7:30 tonight as part of Baker University’s Artist and Lecture Series.

The five-member band has been together since 1983 and is a perennial favorite at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield. This is its first stop in Baldwin.

“It’s a new venue for us,” Madden says.

The band includes Madden, who plays the flute, alto flute, low and high whistles, and sings harmony vocals; Roisin Dillon, who plays the fiddle; Mirella Murray, who plays the accordion; Mary Coogan, who plays the guitar, mandolin, banjo, banjitar and octave mandolin; and Heidi Talbot, who does vocals.

The group is on a 37-city tour to promote its 11th album, “Woman of the House.” Many of the tour stops are at universities and art centers, and some are appearances with orchestras.

“We’ve really been going hard since November,” Madden says. “The hardest job is getting to the gig. It’s a lot of dates and a lot of cities.”

In addition to its own concerts, Cherish the Ladies has performed with entertainers including James Taylor, Joan Baez and Emmylou Harris. “Celtic Album,” a 1999 collaboration with the Boston Pops Symphony, was nominated for a Grammy in 1999.

Despite the added responsibilities, such as editing the DVD recorded during concerts in Glasgow, Scotland, Madden says the band feels fortunate to be making a living doing what they love to do.

She says that love for music should rub off on those who come to tonight’s concert.

“There’s something for everybody,” Madden says.