Traditional music in California owes its complexity to the diversity of peoples who found their way here. Off to California uses as its starting point the California Gold Rush of the mid-nineteenth century and the music the miners carried in their hearts to the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas. Together the musicians of Off to California have more than enough years of experience performing traditional music in northern California to exceed the life span of a grizzled old miner. Each member has played a variety of musical styles, but all share a special love for the music of the Celtic nations. The band takes its name from a popular Irish tune called "Off to California," which celebrates the thousands of Irish who left home in search of a better life in the Gold Country. The group also infuses its repertoire with traditional Appalachian tunes, French dance music, cowboy songs, Mexican corridos, Swedish tunes, Civil War ballads and other types of traditional music. A special feature offered by Off to California is "living history" presentations of the music, story and song of the California Gold Rush. Members of Off to California were selected to provide historical songs for the Gold Rush portion of the eight-part series The West, produced by Ken Burns and aired on PBS during the fall of 1996. They are also featured on the soundtrack recording of The West and appear on the Coloma episode of Huell Howser's popular California's Gold series. The group was pleased to be selected to perform at the 1998 Sesquicentennial Celebration of the California Gold Rush in Coloma.