Dates confirmed on mainland Nova Scotia in Lunenburg, Berwick, Halifax, and Windsor, and on Cape Breton Island in Sydney and St. Peter’s – more dates to be announced! Summer fun is on its’ way!
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Carty Partys for Paddy’s
I love St. Patrick’s Day. Maybe it’s the Carty in me. Thanks Split Crow and Piper’s for having me. Antigonish is the world’s greatest place to party. (Photo: The Casket)
Les Francofolies d’Antigonish
Wrote and recorded these songs with students at St. Andrew Junior School! They put on a great show for the little ones from the Antigoinsh Education Center, with singing, dancing, choreography, theatre, and visual arts! Big thankyous to everyone at school and at ArtSmarts GénieArts Nova Scotia!
Happy Year of the Snake!
Burns & Chinese Classical
Big weekend in Antigonish! Played a cameo Robbie Burns day show at The Townhouse Brewpub! Thanks to friends Rob Davenport, Aaron Beswick, Philip Girvan, and Gharrett Patrick Paon for entertaining us with some poems. Haggis pot pie was 
eaten and Auld Lang Syne was sung drunkenly around the bar. Thanks Rose and Terry, world’s greatest publicans! (Photo : Corey Leblanc, The Casket)
Trying to learn Chinese folk music as we prepare for the monthly Antigonish International Potluck at the St. James United Church Hall! I love these scales and meandering melodies, notes bending like branches in the breeze. (Photo: Ning Wang)
On the Norwegian Dawn
My, my, did the trio have a grand old time, sailing the high seas on NCL Freestyle Cruise liner The Norwegian Dawn playing tonnes of tunes and songs! Sailing down the Saguenay Fjords was one of the most beautiful moments of a cruise that took us up and down the Eastern Seabord between Boston and Quebec City. (Photo : Myriam Cyr)
We stopped in Cornerbrook, Sydney, Halifax, St.John, Bar Harbour, Portland, Charlottetown, Gaspé, and La Baie. I played piano, guitar, and bones in the Grand Atrium with fiddlers Ward MacDonald and Gillian Boucher for seven weeks. Our repertoire certainly expanded, and we turned into fairytale characters… no wait! That was Halloween! Little Red Riding Hood, the big bad wolf, and grandma!
With Kim Cruzen in Boston, and JUMP! the sweet band from England! We made friends from all over the world. Here are two drawings I did on our last night, of Sharde Roux from South Africa and Christian Caraan from the Philippines.
New Celtic Umbrella Website!
With artwork by myself and design by Gillian Boucher! Sign up for the Celtic Umbrella email list and we will let you know when the album is ready!
KlezKanada 2012
What an incredible week at KlezKanada in the Laurentien Mountains! There was dancing every afternoon and evening, accordion lessons with the amazing Patrick Farrell, drum circle with Argentina’s inspirational Cesar Lerner, and delicious Kosher food for every meal! I played Yiddish school founder and singer Vela Zlabidovsky of Mexico City in a theatre and creation workshop led by New York’s Jenny Romaine and Daniel Roza. I also joined Daniel Blacksberg’s Big Ears Band, and performed some of my songs at the KlezKabaret. So many magical moments, late nights, and new friendships! I can’t wait to go back! Photos: Stephanie Finklestein & Itzik Gottesman
Festival Mémoire & Racines
Well, that was the biggest show of my life! It was amazing to perform alongside my third cousins, sisters Cassie and Maggie MacDonald , as well as my soul sister Gillian Boucher! After the first encore, the crowd wouldn’t let the host talk, they wanted more! So I ran back out on stage and sang my acapella song À bout de Souffle, and the girls joined me for a dramatic and soothing finish to one energetic concert! Merci Joliette, on vous aime! Photos : Guillaume Morin
Halifax Tall Ships Festival
Copious amounts of fun was had during Music Nova Scotia‘s Abandon Ship Festival. Novelist Tom Gallant welcomed Gillian Boucher and I onto his Schooner for tunes and dark & stormys. Played some zydeco-metal with Joe Murphy Blues Band and Lucky too!
