Coyote Run is known for their unique take on Celtic music. Drawing from his experience as a college professor of theater, lead Coyote David Doersch brings an element of drama, history and a stomping Celtic party atmosphere to everything this Williams-burg, Virginia band produces.

Their new Christmas CD, Tend the Fire, is no exception.

“I really like historical things,” Doersch explains to the Irish Voice. “I love the quirks of history. Bringing out the medieval feast traditions of the holiday gets you away from the more commercial aspects of the season we see today. In old Europe, the people lit fires at night to bring back the sun.

“The title of the CD, Tend the Fire, speaks to the early winter solstice roots of the holiday. Families got together to keep the fires burning to bring back the sun. What it produced were lovely times of togetherness that had nothing to do with the commercialism of the holiday that we have today.”

“The Boars Head” is a solstice song that has been infused with Irish grooves of “Itchy Fingers” to give this old song a unique Celtic flavor.

“The Boar’s Head feast was held during the solstice for a baron or a larger lord who was trying to flaunt his wealth,” Doersch explains. And you thought it was a brand of cold cut!

“Twelve Days After Christmas” is a Celtic take on an old song about a sparring couple who destroys the Christmas gifts during their fights. It keeps with the theme of making Christmas less commercial.

The CDs are the first recordings of Coyote Run’s wildly popular Christmas shows, which regularly occur each year around this time. You can catch the band when they play the New York Irish Center in Long Island City.

“Christmas with the Coyotes” is a special fundraiser for the center, and the shows will take place on Saturday December 2 at 7 p.m. and a matinee on Sunday, December 3 at 2 pm. Tickets, which are $40 per person, can be purchased at the door and include a cocktail reception before the show and buffet dinner to meet and greet the band after the show.

To avoid the long lines or to find out more about the center, log onto nyirish.org. To hear samples of Tend the Fire, log onto www.coyoterun.com.