TILLER'S FOLLY
Buchan Bluegrass
Tiller's Folly has just released their latest CD entitled Buchan Bluegrass and it's brilliant! This is their best CD to date. These local musicians have just returned from Scotland where they were lavished with rave reviews. But the highlight of their tour was participating in the Speyfest Pan Celtic Music Festival in Fochabers, Moray, Scotland.
They were so enthralled by the sights and sounds of the festival that Bruce Coughlan, the principal songwriter for Tiller’s Folly, and his friend Jim Smith penned a song called Ceilidh by the Spey. This lively tune describes the music and energy of the festival and it has become the official song of Speyfest. As a result Tiller’s Folly were treated like honorary citizens in Fochabers, Scotland.
Tiller’s Folly are true folk bards, they tell stories of history, events and people. Group member Laurence Knight said, “when we went to Scotland last year for the first time, it brought home to us how many people we have been writing songs about who are known as great Canadian pioneers, were actually Scotsmen.”
Speaking their Scottish tour, Bruce Coughlan said, “I’ve always felt a strong affinity for Scottish music. The intensity, the expressiveness and wild beauty flowing throughout its timeless lyrics and melodies have inspired and shaped my musical perspective since before I can remember.
“I wasn’t fully aware of the extent of this influence until Tiller’s Folly was invited to visit the Northeast of Scotland in the summer of 2004. There, surrounded by a collection of the finest Celtic musicians in the world, we watched, listened, jammed, performed and socialized to our heart’s content. Naturally, we were anxious to lend our own perspective to this vibrant music.”
This “coming together” of influences is essentially the inspiration behind Buchan Bluegrass.
Tiller’s Folly are: Bruce Coughlan on vocals, guitar; tenor banjo, whistle and bodhran; Laurence Knight on electric bass and vocals; Nolan Murray on mandolin, fiddle, viola and five-string banjo; and Eric Reed on guitar; mandolin, accordion and vocals.
There are some real gems on Buchan Bluegrass such as Barnyards o’ Delgaty, There’ll Never Be Peace Until Jamie Comes Home, The Ballad of John Rae and MacPherson’s Rant to name a few. The liner notes for each track are like a history book.
For more information about Tiller's Folly and to purchase Buchan Bluegrass, visit their website at: www.tillersfolly.com.
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MARY JANE LAMOND
Storas
In every culture there are those who preserve the language, song and traditions. Mary Jane Lamond is one of those people. This evident in her most recent CD entitled Storas (Gaelic meaning “a treasure”). This exactly what our traditions are...they are our treasures.
On the North Shore of Cape Breton Island, the rich heritage of the region’s Scottish settlers was kept alive through song. It was in Nova Scotia while visiting her grandparents throughout her youth that Mary Jane Lamond fell in love with Scots Gaelic traditions and song. While enrolled in St. Francis Xavier University’s Celtic Studies program, Lamond released her first album, Bho Thir Nan Craobh, a collection of traditional material that introduced her unique singing voice.
Despite the important role her music plays in preserving these songs, Mary Jane says, ”the primary purpose of the Gaelic music and song is to entertain. This is a huge oral literary tradition that is being lost at an alarming rate.”
She says, “I am involved with community things that help conserve it for younger people. But I’m also an interpreter, a singer and musician and in my music the challenge is to create something new and exciting that doesn’t destroy the heart of it.”
“A sharing of gold is but brief, but a sharing of song lasts long.” – Gaelic Proverb
For more information about Mary Jane Lamond and to purchase her CD Storas, visit her website at: www.maryjanelamond.com.
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CLEIA
New Live Songs
The local roots band Cleia recently held both a farewell show and a CD release party. You might wonder, why release a CD if it's your last gig? The answer is because the group decided to record their material for posterity sake when they learned that Norah Rendell, their singer and whistle player, had been accepted at the University of Limerick to study Irish flute for a year.
As it turns out their four-hour session recorded live off the floor was just too good not to release...and they were right. The result is the new CD, New Live Songs.
Their music is a combination of the diverse musical backgrounds of its members - Irish, gospel, funk, blues, bluegrass, skiffle and a little mariachi. It's all very pleasant to the ear and easy listening music with great harmonies.
On September 9, the Rogue Folk Club will present Cleia in what will be their last show for quite some time. Until Norah Rendell returns to Canada in late summer 2006, the group will go their own way with some joining other bands.
Members of Cleia are: Andy Hillhouse on guitar, vocals and mandolin; Karla Mundy on vocals and accordion; Neil Hammond on vocals, guitar, bodhran, harmonica and mandolin; Norah Rendell on vocals, whistle, flute; and Keona Mundy on flute and vocals.
This CD could become a collectors item. To order Cleia's new CD New Live Songs, call Keona Mundy at (778) 233-0706 or visit their website at: www.cleiatheband.com.
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