Cranberry EMT Saves Lives, Rocks Out with Celtic Band

When Shawn MacIntyre isn’t saving lives, teaching CPR or fighting fires, he’s putting his vocals to work as the lead singer for the Celtic band, The Hellfire Club. 

The Ross Township resident and Cranberry EMT, doesn’t find it hard to keep busy.

Becoming an EMT

As a 3-year-old child, MacIntyre’s mother, a cardiac technician at Shadyside hospital, and father, an ambulance driver, had the know how to save him while he was in cardiac arrest.

“I kind of feel like I have to pay something back a little bit,” said MacIntyre, who instructs CPR in Cranberry Township, worked part time for Ross Township and is also a volunteer firefighter.

When Pittsburgh’s first EMT station opened next to his elementary school, a young MacIntyre was entranced.

“I loved it. I always wanted to be on the rescue truck,” MacIntyre said.

Now, like his parents, MacIntyre has saved lives, working as an EMT for 19 years.

Nurturing a Love for Music

With an Irish mother and Scottish grandparents on his father’s side, Celtic music was part of MacIntyre’s upbringing.   

“I pretty much grew up with it. My grandmother sang songs when I was little. My mother sang songs,” he said.

Although music was a passion for MacIntyre, he was more comfortable listening to it than performing on his own.

Working as a roadie for Pittsburgh-based band Rusted Root for five years, MacIntyre worked behind the scenes and avoided the stage.  

After some encouragement from his wife, Sunny, MacIntyre’s stage fright is gone.

“I think he’s really come into it. It’s an integral part of who he is now,” MacIntyre’s wife said.

The Hellfire Club is Born

Started last October, The Hellfire Club has four members and practices two to three times a month. The band plays both covers and originals.  

The band's name is wrapped in 18th century scandal. 

Back then, well-to-do men, often politicians, visited what were called hellfire clubs all around Britain and Ireland to take part in acts that were less than holy, sometimes visiting with women that were not their wives.  

Scott Grady, the vocalist and guitar player, has known MacIntyre since they were skateboard punks living in Shadyside together.

“He’s just a well-rounded kind of guy. He’s very creative,” Grady said.

According to Grady, punk rock music is similar to Celtic music, because it speaks to the common person. MacIntyre is equipped for having had to work hard his entire life for what he has.

“Shawn didn’t grow up with a silver spoon in his mouth. He had to fight for what he has,” Grady said.

Songs that speak to the common man are what The Hellfire Club is all about, focusing mostly on traditional, pub and modern tribute songs. The band recently performed both a sea shanty and an old slave song during a concert at Hambones in Lawrenceville.

While the band’s sound is more rock influenced, MacIntyre said, “We’re not Flogging Molly.”

MacIntyre said The Hellfire Club’s main influences are bands like Great Big Sea, Lumineers, The Pogues and Mumford and Sons.  

Band member George White, also a resident of Cranberry, plays multiple instruments including the mandolin, banjo and bouzouki. Jenda Domaracki, who is Polish, has a passion for Irish traditional music and carries the band’s heartbeat with her various percussion instruments.   

MacIntyre, the band’s lead singer, never has a dull moment. He works as a part time bouncer for a music venue, is a volunteer fire fighter and has a knack for medieval fencing.

He wife laughed out loud when he said, “I’ve always had a lot of energy.” 

While MacIntyre’s schedule is often packed, he and his wife bond over a mutual love for medieval reenactment.

“I’ve always enjoyed being busy,” MacIntyre said.