Our group, the Crimson Pirates, was born when original member, Dan O'Driscoll wrote, choreographed and directed the fight/stunt show, Buccaneer's Brawl at the New York Renaissance Faire in 1996. The cast comprised current CP members Robin Flanagan, Don Kilcoyne, Karen O'Hara, Dan O'Driscoll, Lionel Ruland. The stage show also included Angela Bonacasa, Joseph Kentner and Suzanne O'Hare. Two rival pirate crews fought over possession of a treasure map. Our multi-talented crew of fighters/singers/musicians also performed song sets for patrons throughout the faire.

Since that initial production at NYRF, we have gone through a number of crew changes - retaining several of our original band members. In 2017, we merged with longtime Crimson Pirates member Chris Leidenfrost’s band, the Roving Blades, and consolidated our repertoire. We will continue to present ourselves as the Crimson Pirates for pirate festivals/renaissance faires and as the Roving Blades for pub gigs and Celtic/Irish festivals.

Our rotating crew consists of Ann Alford, Emma K. Campbell, Spencer Corona, Diana DiCostanzo, Robin Flanagan, Lydia Hull, Lara Ianni, Emily Johnson-Erday, Don Kilcoyne, Kelly Kilcoyne, Christopher Leidenfrost, Kevin Maphis, Rick Nestler, Dan O'Driscoll, Karen O'Hara, Dan Pivovar, Zac Pierce-Messick, Emily Rouch, Lionel Ruland, Claire Elise Walton and Maddie Wright. Depending on member availability, venue and budget - we generally perform as a group of 4 to 6 singer/musicians. Since we have multiple members - we can field 2 groups at the same time.

In 25 years of performing - our intrepid little crew has appeared in 2 off-off-broadway productions: The Crimson Pirates: Dead Men Tell No Tales!.. and The Crimson Pirates 2: Born to Plunder!...  In addition - we’ve played at cabarets in Greenwich Village, 'invaded' weddings, a bat-mitzvah, summer camps and numerous drinking establishments - though mostly we play at renaissance faires and pirate festivals across the country.

Our original ‘home’ faire is the New York Renaissance Faire - but we’ve performed at the Blackbeard Pirate Festival (Hampton, VA), Bristol Renaissance Faire (Kenosha, WI), Colorado Renaissance Festival (Larkspur, CO), Florida Renaissance Festival (Deerfield, FL), Land of Enchantment Festival (Morrisville, PA), Long Island Pirate Festival (West Sayville, NY), Maryland Renaissance Festival (Crownsville, MD - our 2nd ‘home’), the Medieval Festival @ the Cloisters in Fort Tryon Park (New York, NY), Midsummer Fantasy Renaissance Faire (Ansonia, CT), New York Capital District Renaissance Festival (Altamont, NY), Park City Renaissance Faire (Bridgeport, CT) , Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire (Manheim, PA), Pirates in Paradise Festival (Key West, FL), Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival,(Newton, PA), Redland Renaissance Faire (Homestead, FL), Renaissance Pleasure Faire (Irwindale, CA), Scarborough Renaissance Faire (Waxahachie, TX), the Staten Island Medieval Faire, (SI, NY) and the Stockwood Renaissance Faire (Hurley, NY).

The Crimson Pirates have produced 8 CDs that are available for purchase at the venues where we perform. Our CDs are also available on CDBaby, iTunes and Spotify.