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.
Battlefield Band are a Scottish traditional music group. Founded in Glasgow in 1969, they have released over 30 albums and undergone many changes of lineup. As of 2010, none of the original founders remain in the band.
Music is a part of the warp and weft of the fabric of Nova Scotia's cultural life. This deep and lasting love of music is expressed through the performance and enjoyment of all types and genres of music. While popular music from many genres has experienced almost two decades of explosive growth and success in Nova Scotia, the province remains best known for its folk and traditional based music.
Natalie MacMaster is a Canadian fiddler from the rural community of Troy in Inverness County, Nova Scotia, who plays Cape Breton fiddle music.
Cape Breton fiddling is a regional violin style which falls within the Celtic music idiom. 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.
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.
Puirt à beul is a traditional form of song native to Scotland, Ireland, and Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.
Scottish fiddling may be distinguished from other folk fiddling styles by its particular precision of execution and energy in the delivery, for example, the rendering of the dotted-quaver/semi-quaver rhythmic patterns, commonly used in the Strathspey. Christine Martin, in her Traditional Scottish Fiddling players guide, discusses the techniques of "hack bowing", "the Scottish Snap", and "snap bowing". These techniques contrast quite sharply with the most common bowing patterns of Irish fiddling. The style has a very large repertoire consisting of a great variation of rhythms and key signatures. There is also a strong link to the playing of traditional Scottish bagpipes which is better known throughout the world.
Tracey Dares MacNeil is a pianist from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. She performed in Natalie MacMaster's band for several years, including recording for MacMaster's mid-1990s albums My Roots are Showing, No Boundaries and Fit as a Fiddle.
Celtic Colours International Festival is a Celtic music festival held annually in October in communities all over Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada. First held in 1997, the festival has featured hundreds of musicians from all over the Celtic world and attracted tens of thousands of visitors to Cape Breton Island. For nine days in October, Cape Breton Island is home to a unique celebration of music and culture as the Celtic Colours International Festival presents dozens of concerts all over the island, an extensive line-up of workshops, a visual art series of exhibitions, and a nightly Festival Club. Over the years, artists have traveled from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, England, Brittany, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Cuba and Sweden as well as from across the United States and Canada.
Celtic Spring is an Irish-American dance and fiddle band from California, United States. The family band combine Irish Traditional Music with Irish and Cape Breton step dancing. The members of Celtic Spring are all members of the Wood family.
Sláinte is a toast in Irish and Scottish Gaelic meaning "health".
Mooncoyne is a Celtic band from Tacoma, Washington. Their music ranges from traditional Irish jigs and reels to contemporary Celtic ballads.
Hugh Alexander “Sandy” MacIntyre is one of the most respected artists in the tradition of Cape Breton fiddle music.
Traditional Gaelic music is the folk music of Goidelic-speaking communities in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man, often including lyrics in those languages. Characteristic forms of Gaelic music include sean-nós and puirt à beul singing, piobaireachd, jigs, reels, and strathspeys.
Celtae are a Canadian band formed in 2001 in Ottawa. They play neo-Celtic music. The band was founded by Nathan MacDonald of Cape Breton Island, and also includes Matt Holland of Summerside, Prince Edward Island and Tyree Lush of Gambo, Newfoundland and Labrador. Fiddler Jules Sisk left the band, and was replaced by Dana Arrowsmith of Sudbury, Ontario.
Lone Raven is a Celtic/World music band based out of Columbus, Ohio, created by musicians Craig Markley and Kara Markley. Lone Raven is one of the top Celtic bands in the midwest and performs an eclectic blend of traditional music from various areas of the world, as well as their own original compositions.
Canadian fiddle is the aggregate body of tunes, styles and musicians engaging the traditional folk music of Canada on the fiddle. It is an integral extension of the Anglo-Celtic and Québécois Frenchfolk music tradition but has distinct features found only in the Western hemisphere.
William Hugh "Bill" Lamey (1914–1991) was a renowned and influential Cape Breton fiddler. He was a pioneer in recorded performances of the music. As an avid collector of rare tunes, he amassed one of the most comprehensive and valuable collections of written Scottish violin music.
