Ashley Dwayne MacIsaac is a Canadian fiddler, pianist, singer and songwriter from Cape Breton Island. He has received three Juno Awards, winning for Best New Solo Artist and Best Roots & Traditional Album – Solo at the Juno Awards of 1996, and for Best Instrumental Artist at the Juno Awards of 1997. His 1995 album Hi™ How Are You Today? was a double-platinum selling Canadian record. MacIsaac published an autobiography, Fiddling with Disaster in 2003.
The music of Canada's Maritime provinces has included many artists from both the traditional and pop genres, and is mostly European in origin. The traditional genre is dominated by the music brought to the region by the European settlers, the most well known of which are the Scots & Irish celtic and Acadian traditions. Successful pop acts from all genres have had degrees of national and international success since the beginning of recorded music period. Performers as diverse as Hank Snow, Stan Rogers, Anne Murray, the Rankin Family, Barachois, The Men of the Deeps and April Wine have all experienced tremendous success as popular music acts with considerable national and international tours and record sales.
Hugh Alan "Buddy" MacMaster was a Canadian fiddler. He performed and recorded both locally and internationally, and was regarded as an expert on the tradition and lore of Cape Breton fiddle music.
In the province of Nova Scotia in Canada, Celtic music has played a significant role, both in its traditional forms and fused with other musical styles. Nova Scotia's folk music features traditional tunes brought over from the Scottish Highlands in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, as well as localized forms such as Cape Breton fiddle music. In recent years, a wide variety of other musical genres have emerged in Nova Scotia, which has produced several country music stars such as Hank Snow, Wilf Carter, Anne Murray, and Rita MacNeil.
Natalie MacMaster is a Canadian fiddler from Troy, Inverness County, Nova Scotia, who plays Cape Breton fiddle music. She has toured with the Chieftains, Faith Hill, Carlos Santana and Alison Krauss, and has recorded with Yo-Yo Ma. She has appeared at the Celtic Colours festival in Cape Breton, Celtic Connections in Scotland and MerleFest in the United States.
Mary Jane Lamond is a Canadian Celtic folk musician who performs traditional Canadian Gaelic folk songs from Cape Breton Island. Her music combines traditional and contemporary material. Lamond is the vocalist on Ashley MacIsaac's 1995 hit single "Sleepy Maggie", and had a solo Top 40 hit with "Horo Ghoid thu Nighean", the first single from her 1997 album Suas e!. Her 2012 collaboration with fiddler Wendy MacIsaac, Seinn, was named one of the top 10 folk and americana albums of 2012 by National Public Radio in the United States.
Cape Breton fiddling is a regional violin style which falls within the Celtic music idiom. The more predominant style in Cape Breton Island's fiddle music was brought to North America by Scottish immigrants during the Highland Clearances. These Scottish immigrants were primarily from Gaelic-speaking regions in the Scottish Highlands and the Outer Hebrides. Although fiddling has changed considerably since this time in Scotland, it is widely held that the tradition of Scottish fiddle music has been better preserved in Cape Breton. While there is a similar tradition from the Irish-style fiddling, that style is largely overlooked as a result of the strong Scottish presence in the area.
Celtic music is primarily associated with the folk traditions of Ireland, Scotland, Brittany and Wales, as well as the popular styles derived from folk culture. In addition, a number of other areas of the world are known for the use of Celtic musical styles and techniques, including Newfoundland, and much of the folk music of Canada's Maritimes, especially on Cape Breton Island and Prince Edward Island.
Gordon Francis Sampson is a Canadian singer-songwriter and producer from Big Pond, Nova Scotia.
John Paul "J.P." Cormier, is a Canadian bluegrass/folk/Celtic singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. To date he has won thirteen East Coast Music Awards and one Canadian Folk Music Award.
Symphony Nova Scotia is a Canadian orchestra based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Its primary recital venue is at the Dalhousie Arts Centre's Rebecca Cohn Auditorium.
Glenn Graham is a Canadian musician, composer, author, and academic from Judique, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.
Blazin' Fiddles are a contemporary Scottish fiddle band from the Highlands and Islands. They formed in 1998 to showcase Scotland's distinct regional fiddle styles. The band have a number of awards, including; the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards Live Act of the Year, Album of the Year and Folk Band of the Year. Their records are released on their own indie Blazin' Records label. They have been described as "...the Led Zeppelin of the Folk World."
Madison Violet is a Juno-nominated Canadian music duo composed of singer-songwriters Brenley MacEachern and Lisa MacIsaac. The group has been notable for various folk and pop award nominations and wins.
The Stanfields are a Canadian rock music group, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Described by some sources as "the bastard children of AC/DC and Stan Rogers", the band blends a hard rock style with elements of traditional Atlantic Canadian folk music. The Stanfields are known for their powerful live show, and they have toured mostly in Canada and Germany.
Ray Legere is a Canadian bluegrass fiddler, mandolinist, guitarist and band leader from Sackville, New Brunswick.
Còig is a Canadian folk music quartet from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. The group consists of Darren McMullen, Rachel Davis, Jason Roach and Chrissy Crowley.
Gordon Stobbe C.M is a Canadian fiddler, multi-instrumentalist, and composer based in Seaforth, Nova Scotia. Stobbe was born in Saskatchewan, but has made his home on the East Coast of Canada since 1977. His musical interests and passion lie in the field of Canadian traditional music, especially as it is expressed in a wide variety of fiddle styles. He plays several instruments, including fiddle, mandolin, guitar, clawhammer banjo, piano, accordion and percussion.
Beòlach is a Canadian instrumental folk music group from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. They are most noted for their 2020 album All Hands, which was a Juno Award nominee for Traditional Folk Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2021 and won two Canadian Folk Music Awards for Traditional Album of the Year and Instrumental Group of the Year at the 16th Canadian Folk Music Awards.
