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THE MUSICT E N & T W O

NOVA SCOTIA

Concer t at the Barn188

The Fiddle Treeof Ot is Thomas

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PHOTO:©

OTIS TON

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PHOTO:©

WALTER HO

DGES

CONCERTAT THE BARN

P h o t o s b y W A LT E R H O D G E S

S t o r y b y T E N & T W O S T A F F

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(Previous page) Howie MacDonald is an icon of Celtic Music playing on Cape Breton.On this particular evening he sets toes to tapping while playing the tune Up On TheHill from his CD Auld School, during a concert in The Barn at the Normaway Inn.(Above) A detail of one of the classic fiddles designed by Otis Tomas, the Cape Bretonfiddle maker. (Facing page top) Allie Mombourquette is a talented upcoming young fid-dler from Cape Breton. She is completely absorbed by the joy of making music.(Facing page bottom) Jason Roach plays a Celtic beat on piano to Howie MacDonaldon fiddle. The music filled the barn and the audience with the rhythm’s of the Highlands.

ON CAPE BRETON you can literallyhear Celtic music every night of the yearin churches, pubs, restaurants, commu-nity centers and private homes. Eachgathering is called a ceilidh (pronouncedcaylee) and often involves step dancing.The fiddle is the foundational instru-ment of Celtic music along with pianoand guitar and Cape Breton’s fiddlers

have become known around the world.Last names like Rankin, Cottar, Beaton,MacNeil, MacLellan, MacIsaac, MacMasterand many others are known everywhereCeltic music is played. On the island, theRed Shoe Pub in Mabou near Margaree(owned by the Rankin sisters) is a typicalhome of great food and music everynight.

IIF THERE IS BODY to Cape Breton Island it’s in theHighlands and the coastline. If there is blood in Cape BretonIsland it’s in the music. Celtic music is everywhere, every day.Gloriously, there is no escaping it and no need to. It is thebackground to life on the island. For the most part, CapeBreton music is not a modern Celtic approach. It’s music theway it was played in the late 1700s and early 1800s by theScottish immigrants who came to Cape Breton Island duringthe forced evictions of the “Highland Clearances.” Scots cur-rently come to Cape Breton to learn how to play the musicof their homeland because Scottish music lost its way andfound it again in Cape Breton.

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(Previous page) Allie Mombourquette and Chrissy Crowley keep time with HowieMacDonald’s furious fiddle pace. Howie is the senior and the master of his craft. Thewomen are very talented, but the respect to Howie shows in their eyes. (Facing page)Chrissy Crowley is a very talented young fiddle player with Celtic music in her blood.She was raised on the music. It’s how she lives and breathes. You can see it in her eyes.

CELTIC COLOURS, is an annual nine-day festival that takes place at various CapeBreton locations in October. It’s literallyan island immersion into the music.Musicians come from all over the worldto take part in this homage to the music.

We experienced our own immersioninto Celtic music at a Friday night con-cert in The Barn at the Normaway Inn.It’s literally a converted barn on theNormaway property. Dave MacDonaldis the Celtic music-driven owner of theNormaway and MC of the shows thathighlight established and emerging tal-ents. They do it every week from Junethrough October. After a day spent flyfishing the Margaree and a great dinnerat the inn finished off with a glass oflocal Glenora whisky, this concert ismore than worth it. It will take you to aplace you’ve possibly never been before.

The concert we saw included twoyoung women at the start of their Celticmusic careers and an established talentwith a long resume. We’d never seen aCeltic music concert and The Barn justexploded with the energy from the fid-dles of Allie Mombourquette, ChrissyCrowley and Howie MacDonald. Thecrowed that filled The Barn was youngand old. Every single person kept time tothe music. Some young ones stepdanced. Some old ones step danced ifthey could. If they couldn’t, they kepttime by simply taping a finger on a knee.It was exhilaratingly clear the music

lived in their hearts. During an intermis-sion, I talked with Chrissy about hermusic and her future. One commentsaid everything I needed to know. I askedher what she does when she’s not playingmusic. She said, “I eat and I breathe.”The ultimate seduction is the power offocused passion, and there’s little doubtwhat Chrissy and Allie and Howie willbe doing tonight. Tonight, somewhereon Cape Breton, the air will be filled withthe sounds of Celtic music.

Normaway Innhttp://www.thenormawayinn.com/home.html

Celtic Music Cultural Centrehttp://www.celticmusiccentre.com/

Introduction to Celtic Musichttp://www.sfcelticmusic.com/Capebret/cbmintro.htm

Celtic Colours Festivalhttp://www.celtic-colours.com/

Red Shoe Pubhttp://redshoepub.com/

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(Clockwise from top left) Chrissy Crowley does a solo fiddle tune titled The Departurefrom her CD of the same name. The Barn at the Normaway hosts Celtic music concertsevery week from June through October. The concerts consistently show off the bestmusicians from Cape Breton and around the world. All the musicians tend to talk directlyto the audience and engage their listeners in the history and the stories behind theCeltic Music. In Howie MacDonalds case, he can’t resist telling a few funny stories. He’stelling the audience “The three things I like the most in life are Lobster Tail and Music.”