Meet Harpers Ferry Highland Games Entertainment Director Ted Koch

Joining the Harpers Ferry Highland Games as entertainment director in 2026 is Ted Koch, a longtime musician and co-founder of the Maryland-based Celtic rock band Poehemia. Koch, 54, grew up north of Baltimore. Raised on trad (traditional folk) music and progressive rock, he first laid his hands on an electric guitar in middle school, igniting a love affair that continues to this day. Citing Steve Rothery, Carlos Santana, The Pogues and Gogol Bordello as influences, Ted describes his approach to Celtic music as equal parts emotion and high energy. He has toured nationally and internationally, both full- and part-time, since 1995. In 2016 Koch co-founded Poehemia with longtime friend Michael Kerr, embarking on an adventure, Ted says, “even Mr. Toad would admit has been a wild ride!”

What was your personal introduction to music?

I grew up in a musical family. We played instruments, sang and danced, and those who didn’t were superfans of music. So I was around music all the time—parties, family gatherings and so on. It was always there. Music was entwined with life, love, family. It wasn’t something we did—it was part of who we are and meant to be shared. Even now when I hear certain Irish standards, I have instant memories of my grandma’s face lighting up, cousins dancing, whiskey flowing. Beautiful!

When did you decide to make it your livelihood?

I made a good go of sport for a while—football (aka soccer)—and thought maybe that was my path. In last year of middle school a friend loaned me his electric guitar while he was away on summer holiday with his family. I remember bringing it home and playing it so much that I actually broke a number of the strings. It was then a mad scurry off to the local music store for replacements. While there I remember standing in awe of all the electric guitars hanging on the walls, like a kid let loose in a sweet shop.

I eventually wore my parents down and got my first electric guitar in high school. Soon after that I found myself in a band with some mates from school. We tried our hand at writing a few of our own songs and played them at parties. I wish we had recorded those; it would be really wild to look back on those early days. It was at those parties where I saw how music spoke to the ladies especially, and I was instantly hooked. My football boots we tossed in a closet, and there they’ve stayed ever since.

What are the origins of your Celtic rock band, Poehemia?

Some may be surprised to know that before we went Celtic, we were a budding progressive rock band in the Baltimore-Washington area—you know, complex, heady songs that ramble on with only prime numbers in time signatures, lots of longhaired lads wearing denim in the audience. But there was something about Celtic music that struck a chord with us. Solid, honest, straight-from-the-heart storytelling blended with some rather dark themes. Songs about resistance and resilience all wrapped up in deceptively tricky music, instruments with individual parts.

Being proggers and always up for a challenge, we dove in headfirst into creatively arranging this incredible historical material for a rock trio. Mind you, these are songs often played by bands two or three times our size with a lot more instruments. In the early days we got a fair bit of hairy looks from other bands when they heard fiddle, pipe and whistle parts on the electric guitar. But we stayed the course, stretching beyond conventional Celtic—hey, that’s a great name for a record! It’s actually making us better musicians—I say “making,” because we’re still learning.

So, we dropped a few Celtic songs into our prog-heavy and hard rock sets back in the early days, and the reaction was over the roof. The rest, as they say, is history…

Do any of the band members have Celtic family heritage?

Yes. I was born and raised here in the States, but my ma’s side of the family hails directly from Roscommon and Mayo counties. My ancestry profile has me well over 50 percent Irish, so some of da’s family must have also popped o’er the water for a few pints back in the day and gotten frisky with the locals!

But I really think at this stage we’re probably all honorary Celtic, especially after all the years of whiskey and haggis. Hey, there’s another great record title!

In your decade of touring, approximately how many shows have you played?

Oof! That’s hard to say. I really don’t think I could put a number to it. It’s been a lot, and I believe Poehemia is just getting started bringing music to the masses. In fact, I’m headed out the door shortly to a gig. I’ve played in other touring bands over the years in South America, Europe and the South Pacific. Music really is a universal language that crosses borders and reaches open hearts.

Did any of your hundreds of tour dates take you to a highland games?

Yes, indeed, quite a few. It’s really humbling standing next to some of these athletes who are the size of small mountains and witness them effortlessly compete in sport that has been around longer than the United States has been a country. It’s great to see so much enthusiasm for celebrating culture, especially the heavy athletics, and it seems to be growing bigger each year. Did I tell you I tried the caber toss once? You’ll have to ask [our drummer] Greg [Giannetti] how that all went down!

Had you experienced a highland games prior to touring with Poehemia?

Indeed. Although my family roots are Irish, I found myself at a few highland games over the years.

As the newly appointed entertainment director of the games, what are your duties?

I’ve been working with the committee to help select entertainment and coordinate the program this year. It has been a really great experience, working with an amazing team that is committed to bringing this important annual cultural event to Harpers Ferry. It’s been great to see interest from performers up and down the East Coast, so word is getting around. The location and time of the year couldn’t be better—that early autumn crispness, the leaves.

How will you leverage your experience as a performer and on the festival circuit?

Being a performer gives a certain perspective that can be helpful when coordinating events—backlines, sound, time between performances, other logistical considerations.

Do you have any plans for the games that you can share?

I’ll be taking it all in. Looking forward to the performances, the games, the vendors, the hairy [Highland] coos. And of course the haggis!