Gaelic Storm’s road to success was a different one than that of most roots-music bands — and a lot shorter.

In 1997, before most Irish-music fans outside of the the group's Southern California home base knew who they were, and before they’d even recorded an album, Gaelic Storm got what turned out to be the most high-profile gig one could hope for—they were cast as the Irish “steerage-class band” in the movie “Titanic.”

Since “Titanic” became the top-grossing movie of all time—at least up until “Avatar” in 2009—that meant the band and their music were exposed to millions of mainstream moviegoers, which in turn meant that their reach immediately extended way beyond the traditional Irish-music audience. And that’s a much, much quicker route to high visibility than the usual method for roots-music acts—which is traveling all over the country in a van, playing in pubs, clubs and at festivals.

The band savvily exploited (in a good way) their newfound recognizability, and inked a record deal in ’97, releasing their debut album in 1998. Five more albums have followed since then, and the band has sustained a loyal following in the ensuing years. But, to do that, they’ve had to fall back to the old-fashioned way of keeping an audience—via hard touring: They do 125 to 150 gigs a year.

Part of their popularity outside traditional-Celt-music circles is that they don’t play straight traditional Irish music. They also weave in various pop, rock, and world-music elements. Drummer / percussionist Ryan Lacey is a big fan of African-derived grooves, so many of the group’s songs have an infectious, polyrhythmic, Afro-Celt feel.

The group started out playing a monthly gig at O’Brien’s Tavern in Santa Monica, California. However, the line-up has been through a few personnel changes since then. The current lineup consists of main singer / accordion player Patrick Murphy (Cork, Ireland); guitarist-singer Steve Twigger (Coventry, England); the aformentioned Lacey (Pasadena, Calif.); piper / whistle player Peter Purvis (Ottawa, Canada) and violinist Jessie Burns (Suffolk, England). Twigger is the main songwriter, and his knack for story-telling is the inspiration for many of the group’s songs.

The group’s latest disc, “Cabbage,” was released last August, and it’s a mostly rousing affair. The opening track is the anthemic “Raised on Black and Tans.” It’s a rollicking homage to a favorite (and tasty) Irish brew, but it’s also a nod to the group’s fervent Irish-American fan base—and a recognition that even having distant Irish ancestors is sufficiently strong enough to proudly claim Irish heritage.

Another foot-stomper is “Space Race,” which was inspired by a fan who commented how much cultural influence the small country of Ireland has wielded over the last few centuries. The song comically cites such Irish stock characters as “Rascals, rogues and losers/Rapscallions, roustabouts and a bucket full of boozers,” but it all comes back around to a hooky chorus about how America has all the astronauts. And, ensure that the song captured the signature Gaelic Storm exuberance, the band cut the track during a party in the studio.

Yet another lively Celt-rocker on the disc is “Red Hair, Green Eyes.” But the Irish lass in this scenario is not the demure, almost-angelic figure depicted in many trad-Irish songs. Instead, she plays the “violin with a bayonet” and has “long legs and the devil inside her.”

The disc also includes four instrumentals that showcase the band members’ talents when it comes to displaying their facility on their instruments.

Meanwhile, “Northern Lights” has a lilting, Caribbean groove, and the band even works up a cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Cecilia” that’s something of a hybrid of Celtic and country-music styles.

“Raised on Black and Tans” was released as a single, and met with considerable success - “Cabbage” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard World Chart, and peaked at No. 14 on iTunes’ Album Chart.

“There are somewhere in the region of 36 million Irish Americans, we have probably met several thousand of them,” Twigger told American Songwriter magazine, describing how that song seemed to strike a chord among listeners. “It amazes us how fervent their enthusiasm for all things Irish is. Some of them have never been to Ireland and are more Irish than any born-and-bred, ‘fresh off the boat’ Irishman.

“Some of the enthusiasm seems a little misguided to us, but we still enjoy the energy they bring to the shows. This song is a party song for anyone wanting to celebrate Paddy’s Day all year long. The song (received) a great reaction out there, the crowds are singing along and really joining in with the fun spirit, and why the hell not?”

Kevin Ransom is a free-lance writer who covers music for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at KevinRansom10@aol.com.