Nearly a month after St. Patrick’s Day, the festive wearing of green, excessive consumption of beer and drunken dancing to the energized and vivacious sounds of traditional Irish music are mere memories.

Until next March, most of those who so emphatically participated in all things Ireland will forget the components of the holiday that allows anyone and everyone to be Irish.

With the passing of St. Patrick’s Day, iPods return to the sounds of Beyoncé and Good Charlotte, forgetting the driving drum beats, light fiddle notes and smooth accented vocals of Ireland’s revered traditional music.

Unfortunately true, the closest most people get to the magical music of the Emerald Isle is the soundtrack to Riverdance. That is, until the recent American release of Local Ground by the authentically Irish band Altan.

The impressive 10th studio album of the tradition-meets-folk music group displays all of the sounds heard on St. Patty’s but are available year-round, providing a culturally energized and musically creative listening experience.

Formed almost two decades ago in 1986, Altan, named for a lake in the north of Ireland, grew out of the meeting, collaboration and marriage of Frankie Kennedy and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, both schoolteachers. After recording a duo album in 1983 (which incidentally included an appearance by Eithne Ní Bhraonain, now better known as Enya), the couple decided that a career in music was feasible and set out to find a band with which to pursue musical greatness.

Playing with various musicians in pubs around Ireland, the duo grew to a quartet and released their first album, Altan. In the years since, the band has experienced the loss of Kennedy to cancer, as well as a few other changes in band personnel.

Today, Altan is officially composed of six members, with Ní Mhaonaigh and Ciarán Tourish on the fiddle, Dermot Byrne on the accordion, Mark Kelly and Dáithí Sproule on the guitar and Ciarán Curran on the bouzouki, a Greek-stringed instrument.

As expected from a group that has been together as long as it has, Altan has experienced remarkable maturation throughout the past 19 years.

Attributed to musical growth, the loss and addition of band members and personal experiences, Altan’s sound has undoubtedly evolved but not without remaining true to its initial direction.

Said Tourish, “It’s evolved for us tremendously within what we do. We always push and pull things, boundaries, do different things and experiment, but still holding onto what we have.”

Altan is most notable for its fusion of traditional Irish melodies with non-Irish instruments, such as the bouzouki and guitar, used to strengthen the strong dance beat prominently embraced by the band.

Local Ground continues the Altan’s pattern of success, presenting 13 engaging songs on the recording.

Opening with a strong beat and Ní Mhaonaigh’s smooth and clear vocals on “…irigh ‘s cuir ort do chuid éadaigh,” the group takes off running on their latest album.

Ballads are contrasted with upbeat reels, jigs and hornpipes, as showcased on the CD’s second track, “Tommy People’s / The Road to Cashel / The Repeal of the Union / Richie’s Reel.” Switching back and forth from slow to fast, mellow to animated, Local Ground features the best of each facet of traditional Irish music.

“Bó Mhín na Toitean / Con McGinley’s Gighland / Seanamhach Tube Station,” one of the album’s best tracks, strongly reflects the Scottish aspects influential in Altan’s music, starting with a noble march, continuing with a “highland” and strongly ending with a vigorous jig.

Receiving rave reviews in publications like New York’s “Irish Echo,” Local Ground “captures in the studio what the band’s live performances consistently display on stage: a combination of singing and playing unfettered by fashion and unsurpassed in mastery, taste and impact. Altan remains the gold standard in Irish traditional music today.”

Incorporating impressive musicianship with traditional Gaelic words and sounds, Altan offers a wealth of tradition steeped in variety and talent.

With Local Ground, Altan acts as St. Patrick’s Day, bringing out the Irish in everyone and encouraging the appreciation of Ireland’s amazing music all year round.

Grade: A