The Cottars “Feast” Released Today on Rounder
Fans of THE COTTARS can ‘Feast’ on group’s new CD:
LAURA JEAN GRANT
–The Cape Breton Post
SYDNEY — It’s been four years since The Cottars’ last album and much has
changed for the group that rose to fame in Celtic music circles almost a
decade ago.
For one, there’s two new faces in the Cape Breton group: Bruce Timmons and
Clair Pettit joined original members Ciarán MacGillivray and his sister
Fiona MacGillivray more than three years ago after they parted ways with
fellow founding members, Rose and Jim MacKenzie in 2006.
“It’s been as smooth sailing as we could have ever hoped it could have
been,” said Ciarán. “We knew Clair for a couple years before the transition
and she’s a wonderful person to be around and a very talented musician as
well– and my parents actually had been friends with Bruce before I was
born, so it was quite convenient and it all fell together very, very
smoothly.”
The quartet are now ready to showcase their sound in the form of an album,
“Feast”, set to be released today in stores and online, on Rounder Records.
Ciarán said “Feast” is not a big departure from what fans heard from The
Cottars on three previous, critically acclaimed albums — 2002’s “Made in
Cape Breton”, 2004’s “On Fire”, and “Forerunner” in 2006 — with a mix of
vocals, piano, guitar, fiddle, Gaelic song, tin whistle, Irish bouzouki,
Irish flute, bodhrán and Celtic harp on the new CD. But, they have also
definitely introduced some new sounds and style.
“We feel like we’ve kind of broadened our horizons a little bit in that
we’ve taken the folk music and we’ve occasionally twisted it a little bit
and allowed certain other things to get in,” said Ciarán. “For example, one
of the tracks, that’s called “Fare Thee Well, Northumberland”, is very much
a folk-bluegrass kind of thing with a little bit of freedom for Fiona to
explore the vocal ranges of bluegrass,” he said.
Ciarán said the group sought out material that they thought would appeal to
fans, but also songs and tunes that they themselves felt very passionate
about and loved to play.
“This album was quite a lot of fun to put together, as a matter of fact, and
there was a great deal of fun involved in the studio. And we, for the first
time, have two original songs (“On a Pier” and “Hymn for N”) by my sister
Fiona, and we also tackled a Gordon Lightfoot song (“Song for Stephen
Foster”), which most people aren’t familiar with– not one of his big hits
but one that’s kind of been swept under the carpet a bit and we did our own
arrangement of that,” he said.
Local fans of The Cottars will be able to catch the foursome on stage during
the East Coast Music Awards, Festival and Conference, taking place in Sydney
March 4-7. The Cottars are scheduled to perform March 5 at the Joan Harris
Cruise Pavilion as part of the ECMA Concert Series.
Lakewind Adds Stonebrige Guitars to the Instrument List
Aselin Debison Releases “Homeward Bound”
The production on a new CD titled, “Homeward Bound”, for Cape Breton singing sensation Aselin Debison has just been released. Along with producing the recording at Lakewind Sound, Fred has two co-writes with Aselin. Early reviews have been excellent and the first single, “Close To You” is climbing the charts quickly.
Aselin Debison is back! After a few short years away from the lime light of the music industry, Cape Breton’s Aselin Debison is back with a new recording for summer 2010;“Homeward Bound”! The first single from the new recording is the Gordie Sampson, Chris Lindsey, Aimee Mayo co-written, “Close to You”, which is immediately infectious and compels listeners to sing along with the chorus.
Summer 2010 will mark the return of Aselin Debison with “Homeward Bound”; starting with the undeniable hooks of “Close to You”.
Carmel Mikol Release In My Bones – Title Track Wins Folk Category Great American Song Contest
In My Bones, produced by Fred Lavery at Lakewind Sound Studio just won the the Folk Category in the 11th Annual Great American Song Contest. Check it out here www.greatamericansong.com
The new album will be released March 30th, 2010 and celebrated with three release shows in Nova Scotia:
Sunday March 28th – 7pm
The Company House
2202 Gottingen, Halifax
w/ my band and guest performers Kim Wempe and Norma MacDonald
Thursday April 8th – 7pm
The Masonic Hall
24 Queen Street, Baddeck
Friday April 9th – 8pm
Wentworth Perk Coffeehouse
697 George Street, Sydney
Visit Carmel at www.carmelmikol.com
Sheppy Featured on Oiart.org
Staying Focused
Head Engineer, Lakewind Sound Studios, Cape Breton NS
By Robert Breen
As head engineer at Lakewind Sound Michael “Sheppy” Shepherd is one of the busiest audio engineers on the East Coast. Mike has won the ECMA (East Coast Music Awards) Engineer/Technician of the Year for two consecutive years after multiple nominations, and Lakewind Sound, with Sheppy at the board, has won numerous ECMA Studio of the Year Awards. Mike has worked with artists such as Damhnait Doyle, The Rankins, Natalie MacMaster, Matt Minglewood and a veritable “who’s who” of Maritime artists and industry legends.
Carleton Stone – Part 2
Working on the new Carleton Stone project this week. There are plans to release it for Summer 2010. Stay tuned for more information and photos.
Colin Grant Set to Release New CD
Come on out for an afternoon of tunes, great food and drink as Sydney fiddler Colin Grant and a host of talented traditional musicians will release his second album, “Fun for the Whole Family”. There will also be square sets and a closing blast from The Colin Grant Band.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=227162542770&ref=mf