Matt Haverly isn’t new to the sounds of St Patrick’s Day. Amid all the drunken revelry and mispronounced cries of “Sláinte!,” a Celtic tune rings out like the battle cry for the storming of the Irish pubs. It’s a busy time of year for the Oregon native, a software developer at costco.com by day and a jammin’ fiddler and wire harpist by night, who’s been known to play seven-hour gigs on St. Pat’s Day with Celtic-punk band Ockham’s Razor. But the whiskey-soaked holiday isn’t the end-all for the Celtic musician, who can be seen playing traditional Celtic tunes on his harp year-round during his jam sessions at Irish pub A Terrible Beauty.

He’ll take accolades in the form of Jameson and Harp, but at the end of the day, being a Celtic musician isn’t a hobby—it’s a way of life.

What’s a St. Patrick’s Day show like for you?
So there is Celtic music, and then there is St. Patrick’s Day music, and it’s almost its own genre. When you are doing St. Patrick’s Day, you’re not really trying to be scholarly….The experiences really vary. One St. Paddy’s Day I actually had a seven-hour outdoor gig. I had a 104-degree fever the entire day, and the next day I had to go to the emergency room, but it was, like, the one gig you couldn’t miss.

How do you prepare for the holiday?
The funny thing with St. Paddy’s Day is usually the shows are so long, you are doing songs you have never even done before. [You play] everything you know, then you do everything some of you know, and by the end of the show, you are doing something that only one person in the band knows.

What kind of music do you play?
There are definitely some songs [that come up] that you would never do any other time. Like “The Unicorn (Song)” or “Whiskey in the Jar,” or … whatever’s overly popularized, the feeling of the Celtic.

How does the band cope before and after the show?
What’s funny is it seems like St. Patrick’s Day is a big shakeup. Right after St. Paddy’s Day, something happens, bands split up—there is so much pressure, they realize where all the cracks are, and they sort of retool.

Does a pint of Guinness help?
I like Jameson, and I like Harp. … When I am out I almost always order them together—when I get a Jameson, I get a Harp. Usually with Celtic music, drinks are almost always included as part of the pay; it’s almost like if you weren’t drinking offstage, you weren’t really getting paid…. Ockham’s Razor was actually sponsored by Jameson ‘cause they noticed that when we played pubs, they sold more Jameson than they sold at any other time.

St. Patrick’s Day Events
Seattle Irish Festival, Mar 17, 10–6; Mar 18, noon–6; Seattle Center (Haverly will play the fest)
Geoffrey Castle’s St. Patrick’s Day Party, Mar 17 @ 8, Kirkland Performance Center

For more outings, check out the Sauced blog’s St. Patrick’s Day Guide.