Fresh off the March leg of their tour, Enter the Haggis' folk-rock anthems will reverberate through the walls of the historic Mauch Chunk Opera House April 9.

"We've played Jim Thorpe over half a dozen times," said fiddle player, guitarist and vocalist Brian Buchanan. "We have a few hard-core fans in the area and there's always a story after we leave. It's always one for the books."The Toronto-based, five-man band includes Buchanan, Craig Downie on bagpipes, harmonica and trumpet; Trevor Lewington on guitar; Mark Abraham on bass; and Bruce McCarthy handling percussion. Enter the Haggis combines old world tavern singalongs with full vocals and a rock guitar foundation to create their fresh take on the Celtic folk genre."Most songs are built around a core of melody and lyrics, then guitar is added. Sometime we get right to the end of a song, like 'Basement,' and it's not till the end we realize it needs a fiddle part," said Buchanan.With a name that is a nod to Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon," the band has garnered fans since 1995 with memorable performances, musical proficiency and a party vibe that can be felt even through the album recordings."The music was always meant to be danced to. It's natural for us," said Buchanan.Haggis has released eight studio albums over a 16-year career and has entered the U.S. National Billboard Heatseekers charts in the number nine spot."It's best to exaggerate the strengths of Celtic and rock music," Buchanan said. "There are plenty of times you hear a song that's just bad pop with bag pipes."Buchanan admits those examples can also be found in the band's early work, "but little by little you just find out what works."Original pieces such as "One Last Drink," "Down With The Ship" and "Gasoline" can be heard in the films, "Goon," "10 mph" and "Addicted to Plastic."Haggis toured extensively in Canada during its early years, finally breaching the border in 2004 with a feature-length performance documentary called "Live at Lanigan's Ball," which aired on PBS.After its television debut, the band was taken in by Celtic and folk festivals across America, Canada and Europe.Enter the Haggis has written and recorded a discography spanning from 1998 up to the newest project, to be released in October, titled "Broken Arms."In 2014, the members departed from their Celtic heritage and recorded an album under the name Jubilee Riots."It was a Haggis album, but we realized it had a life of its own. We made the decision to put it out as its own thing," said Buchanan. "When we got back together to record 'Broken Arms' it sounded like the older music, so it's a Haggis album."Buchanan chuckled sheepishly."We apologize to all the fans with Jubilee Riot tattoos. I know there's a few of them."Enter The Haggis has compiled a massive following by working hard to develop relationships with the fans, known as "Haggis Heads.""We've had the luxury of a rabid fan base so we've gotten to grow up over the years with them," said Buchanan.Because of the strong public connection, the band's last three albums - "Broken Arms," "Cheers and Echoes" and Jubilee Riots' "Penny Black" - were entirely financed through crowdfunding platforms, which raised over $150,000.Buchanan said that fans coming to the historic opera house can expect a loud, energized show."We'll play old stuff, new stuff. We'll be trying to get the crowd involved any way we can," he said. "It'll be a pretty big party."Tickets for the 8 p.m. show can be purchased through the opera house in person, at 570-325-0249 or at mcohjt.com.Coming up at the opera houseThis Saturday at 8 p.m. it's "Cash is King," a tribute to Johnny CashNext Thursday at 8, Keller Williams KWahtro comes to town with an engaging live performance.