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Ozere, May 15

2016 Canadian Folk Music Awards nominee Ozere takes inspiration from classical string quartets and world folk bands. With its unique instrumentation – violin, cello, mandolin, bass and occasional vocals – it can do both at once. Fiddler Jessica Deutsch’s compositions bridge her upbringing as a chamber musician and her experience playing many styles as a sidewoman, including Balkan, Celtic and Afro Cuban. This music takes you on a journey, from solemn suites inspired by the Middle East to knee-slapping reels that emit all the joy of an Irish pub session. 2017 promises to be an exciting year for Ozere; they’ll be at Celtic Connections in Glasgow, and touring in the U.S. and Canada over the summer.

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Lennie Gallant, March 11

A native of the Acadian village of Rustico, PEI, Lennie Gallant has recorded eleven albums (nine mostly in English and two in French), which have won him a host of awards and nominations from the JUNOs, the 2017 East Coast Music Awards, and Les Prix Eloizes. He was recently honored with a Canadian Folk Music Award for the year 2015 for his recording Live Acoustic at The Carleton. His album, “When We Get There” was nominated for a Juno Award and went to the International Space Station aboard Shuttle Endeavor with Canadian astronaut Julie Payette.

Over 30 artists have recorded his songs, including Measha Bruggergosman, Ode de L’Acadie, The Rankins, and Jimmy Buffet and his songs have appeared in feature films, television series, and numerous theatrical productions. Lennie has recently wrapped up the second season of his runaway multimedia hit musical, “Searching For Abegweit -The Island Songs & Stories of Lennie Gallant”, which ran for over 85 sold out shows in Charlottetown. He has just released a new double CD of 22 songs from that production, and many of the show’s visual images appear in the book, “Peter’s Dream”, a collaboration with sibling visual artist Karen Gallant that showcases 52 of her paintings paired up with his songs. Continue reading “Lennie Gallant, March 11”

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Scott Macmillan and Colin Grant, February 6

In July of 2015, award-winning composers and multi-instrumentalists Scott Macmillan and Colin Grant, sat down at Macmillan’s home in Brook Village Nova Scotia to start compiling new and old tunes from their collective traditional and original repertoires. Until that time, they had performed off-the-cuff performances together in venues ranging from the Doryman Tavern in Cheticamp to Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow, and the opportunity to arrange and compose yielded a wide spectrum of musical results. Tunes from Scott’s tune-book “Scoobie Tunes” which hadn’t yet seen action were spun into classical, jazz, funk, rock, and blues directions. While the resulting album Good2Go follows a traditional music path of tunes combined into medleys, the musical interplay between the two musicians speaks to the experience, chops, and element of good-old belly rubbing humor that keeps the tunes on a fun, lively path. Continue reading “Scott Macmillan and Colin Grant, February 6”