Press

"Fun with Fans, Celtic act Maidens IV thrives on getting audience to take part"
There a nine kids in the Justice family. It wasn't a challenge for them to pick out the four who would be in the musical group Maidens IV.
"We're the only ones who practice, "Havilah Justice said, laughing. "We had to kick out my older brothers long ago."

Havilah 24 is the oldest member of the group, and the third oldest child in the family. Joining her in the Maidens IV are three of her younger sisters - Heather, 23, Abigail, 19, and Tabitha, 16. "We play fiery Celtic music," said Havilah, who plays violin in the band." A lot of Celtic music can be slow and eerie. We step it up and really try to put a little fire into it."

Our residents have a chance to check out the group at 7:30 pm. Friday, Jan. 18, at the Firelands Presbyterian Church in Port Clinton. Maidens IV is coming to town as part of the Firelands Musical Arts Series.

Live shows actually are a major reason why the sisters decided to play Celtic music, Havilah said. "We all started with classical music, and one of the big reasons we switched is because when you get closer to your audience,” she said. With classical, the audience is removed a little bit. It’s more like an upper class thing. With Celtic, there’s more interaction. At shows, we can say things like,’didyou like that song? Would you like more of this?’

“We love watching the fans react to the music. Children have the most fun with it. Some of them can’t hardly stand still while we’re playing….We like music that’s very driving, and we really feel like you can tap your foot to it and have a lot of fun with it.”

The Justice sisters always have lived together in the family house, but that will change this year as Heather has plans to get married and move out. But the other three still will be under the same roof, and Heather has promised to come back a couple times a week to practice. Practice can be hard work for a lot of people (as it apparently was for a few members of the Justice family), but the in Maidens IV have no problem working hard.

In the group’s promotional materials, Havilah’s work ethic is described in terms outside the music world. Her short background section says she “takes competent charge of the Justice family livestock. She brings in goat milk morning and night, spins and knits wool from her sheep and makes goat milk soap. She recommends talking to a goat as the cure for many ailments.” That’s certainly not the type of the you often find in press materials for a band, but the story behind Maidens IV is different then most—In a good way.

The Band used to be called Maidens II back when it was a two-person group featuring Havilah and Heather. Then Abigail joined, and the group became Maidens III. When Tabitha came aboard, the current name was adopted. Havilah said the expansion is finished. No more Justice siblings will be added to the group__which is a good thing, she said. She likes the sound the quartet is putting out right now.
That sound can be sampled on the band’s two Web sites, myspace.com/maidensiv and maidensmusic.com. Several of the songs featured on those sites also can be found on Maidens IV’s most recent album, ”Emerald Fire” which includes 13 original songs.
It’s one thing to be able to play your intruments well__which all the justice sisters do---but it’s an entirely different talent to be able to compose quality original songs. Considering the relative youth of the girls in Maidens IV, it’s impressive that they do it with such success.

Havilah said the writing is a group process, with different members of the band coming up with various aspects to a song, and then melding it all together.
As for the future of the group, Havilah didn’t mention goals of a record deal, or acheieving fame and fortune. She said the focus is on playing as many live shows as possible. “We want to play more Irish and folk Festivals, “she said. We love playing with other bands and seeing the other talent that’s out there and just researching our genre. It’s amazing playing with other bands. You’ll see someone sitting in the audience, and you(would never guess) that person is so talented up on stage. Just instead of being a car mechanic or something else, they’re a violin player.” And, in Havilah’s case, that extremely talented violin player also happens to be talented at making goat milk soap. No one’s guessing that.