Eileen Ivers. The violin player a New York Times reviewer once described as “the Jimi Hendrix of the violin.” And, I’ve gotta say, after watching and grooving to many videos on her YouTube channel, like Jimi, she is, without a doubt, a passionate virtuoso of a musician.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Eileen last week (which was a blast, BTW) and told her I had expected smoke to begin escaping from within her instrument! This woman is so joyful – and a wee bit impish – jumping in the air, darting to and fro across the stage, all the while her bow burning across those strings. It made me wonder how many string sets the woman needs to bring for each concert? So I asked her. Laughing, she said, “There are quite a few sets.”

And the band, Universal Roots – wow. These four musicians are as consumed by the music as Eileen is (as it should be, right?) – three have been with her for a decade; Colin for about three years. Anyway, they are Buddy Connolly (accordion, whistles and keyboards), Colin Forhan (guitar, tenor banjo, concertina, beat box, vocals), Lindsey Horner (upright and electric bass, baritone saxophone) and Dave Barckow (percussion, guitar, vocals) – together they will be heating up the Boothbay Harbor Opera House this Friday, Aug. 16 in a 7:30 p.m. show. And, I swear, hearing Eileen Ivers live … I fully expect to be blown away ... and off my chair. There. I’ve said it.

Ireland, its history, the people, music, literature, poetry, have been an influence in Eileen’s life since childhood. Her family, also of Irish descent, spent two months of every summer out of the Bronx and across The Pond in Ireland.

“It was like having a foot in both lands. It was a great upbringing,” she said. “I developed a love of the Irish people and admired their resilience. That experience fuels your playing, your style. If you feel the music you can’t help but play it in an emotive way.”

And now the time machine ... In the mid-late ’80s, Eileen and very good friend Joanie Madden co-founded the Irish-American group Cherish the Ladies (that should be ringing a bell for Opera House concert goers).  In the mid-1990s, Eileen was one of 11 band members playing for Riverdance. Funny story: A designer had created a “look” for the show – gowns and clogs. Related Eileen: “I came to a meeting in jeans and Doc Martens,” she said, laughing. “They told me about the gowns and clogs and I said that’s not going to happen. So, I compromised: I wore a dress with purple Doc Martens bought just for those performances!”

Also during the ’90s, she spent one year on the road with Daryl Hall and John Oates touring the world. “It was an eye-opener. I learned a lot about being part of a really tight band,” Eileen recalled. “But I’d always grab an Irish session whether we were in Sidney or Tokyo.”

That tour, she said, fueled her as a player and performer and broke through that fourth wall; Charlie, the sax player, had a wireless mic and would go into the audience and play. Eileen observed and thought she could do likewise with her Irish music.

Riverdance was Broadway bound in 1999 but, said Eileen, “I was really yearning to do my own thing, form my own group. I knew it was time to leave.”

Her first band was Immigrant Soul, founded that very year. For the last decade, the band has been Universal Roots. “We’ve played together so long we have this sixth sense on stage; you realize how special it is,” she said. “I don’t take it lightly. It’s incredibly important to put everything into each performance. It’s an absolute blessing to do what you love. One thing I learned from the Hall & Oates year: To get a super tight band you have to know arrangements cold. Then we can go longer if we want to; spontaneity in live shows is why people go to shows. It’s why I go.”

And we feel that energy in the audience, don’t we? It’s so exciting because we know that’s what a band is doing.

The band’s favorite tune – and we will hear it Friday – is a new piece, written inspired by slides and polkas from West Ireland. “There’s a lot of joy in that style and particular groove. We all love it and it’s different every night. It’s hard to not feel joy after that performance. You feel the power of the music in that one six-minute medley of five (original) tunes.”

The show will include original tunes Eileen pulls from traditional Irish songs shining a spotlight on Ireland’s people, their songs, stories and poetry in two sets, some spanning 200-300 years; some slow aires, poems that Eileen feels tells the story about what the people went through during the great famine and the horrific stats from that time. and their resiliency and how they came to distant shores and influenced music there.

“We’re looking forward to our show in Boothbay. And as you all know, the opera house is an amazing venue with wonderful acoustics. Hopefully everyone will feel like they’ve been on a journey and experience joy … get them out of their world for two, two and a half hours …,” said Eileen. “It’s all about the joy.”