Great Canadian Ceilidhs

The Baddeck Gathering Ceilidh SOLD OUT on our opening night! Wee-hoo! Welcome, folks from around the globe! We had lots of Canadians, Americans (glad to see you all back!), and on top of that were folks from England, Switzerland and even Argentina. Imagine!

Great entertainment was provided by Melody and Derrick Cameron, a husband and wife team living in Mabou who have a number of cds to their credit as well as being continuously active in performing and educating about the Cape Breton music traditions and history.

Friday the 2nd, we welcomed the lively combo of Mike Hall and Jennifer Bowman to our well-worn ceilidh stage. Visitors from all across the USA and Canada, and beyond including London, England and Sweden were treated to Mike's driving tunes.

Kevin from Boston sat in on guitar for a couple traditional Cape Breton sets, and accompanied Mike while Jennifer danced a step solo, and while Mike and Jennifer played twin fiddles as a finale. Kevin has a background in classical, jazz and some bluegrass. He fit in wonderfully though for his first Cape Breton session! Great job, Kevin! Come back again! Keep plugging, keep listening, you're full of music. We enjoyed a bit of his solo jazz as well. Lovely stuff.

And we've only just begun...

See you at the ceilidh!

Gearin' up!

I hear a fiddler in the next room polishing a few new tunes she gleaned over the winter;

I hear the *ting ting ting* of the piano tuner, making certain every string of the piano is tuned and ready for action;

I hear the clickety clickety of a dancer rehearsing a new step;

without a doubt, it is almost time for the start of the 2010 Ceilidh season!

In just a few days, Melody and Derrick Cameron will ignite the fires of this year's series in their eloquent and driving way. Thursday July 1st marks the start, and thenceforth throughout the summer, every night at St. Michael's parish hall will be packed and bouncing with different musicians, all of them recognized and beloved, locally and beyond.

It isn't an event to missed - but don't take my word for it - see for yourself!

If you are travelling through Cape Breton, you simply have to make room in your schedule for at least one of our ceilidhs. You will leave with a smile having heard toe-tapping traditional Cape Breton fiddle and piano music, received an education in Celtic culture, seen dancers, drank tea and enjoyed local baked goods.

A must-do event if this is your first time in Cape Breton.

It is definitely an evening well spent!

There is an intermission for beverages and treats, as well as a selection of cds and other crafts for sale.

Come out and see what others are talking about, and what you may have missed if you've never been!

See you at the ceilidh!

September's chilled air, St. Michael's hot tunes

Well, we enjoyed our annual wee break before Labour Day.

We are back at it now though, and fired up after the rest!

Mike Hall and Jennifer Bowman got the autumn lineup started and we had a great night.

Winning the "Who Came the Farthest?" Prize was a woman from London, England. Author Glenn Gray gave us a few of his publications to use as giveaways at the ceilidh. They are full of local antics and humour.

The last week of August, we had a young lady grace us with an etude on the piano. Kira, of St. Catharine's Ontario, had just finished her Royal Conservatory exam on piano before leaving for her Nova Scotia vacation. Good job, Miss! Keep it up! You have many musical days ahead of you.
We have found music to be tremendously beneficial as well as simply pleasurable. Though it requires time and work to excel, it is well worth it, for the enjoyment it brings to ourselves and others, and the beauty it contributes to the human experience, not to mention how it strengthens mental fortitude, intellect, and muscle training and coordination.

Simply put, we love it, and couldn't imagine life without it. Judging by the sea of beaming faces we see every night, we are not alone in this estimation.

Maybe your face will soon be beaming at one of our ceilidhs?
Comment and let us know if you have been to Baddeck Ceilidh, and what were your thoughts?

See you at the ceilidh!

Out on the Ocean

More stories from our visitors! We love it!


As an admiral of the Canadian Navy posted in Halifax for 25 years, Gordon learned a few maritime songs. Out on the Mira, by Allister MacGillivray, is one of those songs. He is requested to sing it regularly at a session he frequents in Halifax, and as he had just been out on the Mira in his kayak, quite literally, the day before, he saw fitting to sing it for us this Wednesday night. Marion Dewar provided her ready and able accompaniment to make the presentation of the selection.


Mike Agranoff is a character of a fellow, storyteller, and musician, who was visiting our ceilidh from New Jersey. A multi-instrumentalist, he chose from his bag of tricks to tell for us the classic Irish mythological story of the Selkie. According to traditional lore, the selkie is a part-seal, part-human creature, who occasionally sheds her seal skin to visit the land of men.


In this tale, for which Mike provided emotive and often eerie accompaniment on his English concertina, a fisherman fell in love with her. In order to keep her on land, albeit against her will, he stole her seal skin, and compelled her to make a home with him. Even after having a family with the fisherman, the poor creature was never content out of the sea. Finally the day came that she found where he had hidden her skin, and without remorse or goodbyes, she fled back to her watery home. The poor fisherman was just left to his tears.


Mike also played a song of PEI origin, the Ballad of St. Anne's Reel. As if they had rehearsed all day, Jennifer and Mike played the song together in close complement, finishing off with the popular tunes, St Anne's Reel and the Mason's Apron.

We failed to mention a phenomenal storyteller last week- Bill Carrall, from Tarbot, Cape Breton. What an amazing epic poem he had composed and recited for us! If you think poetry is boring or slow, you certainly haven't heard Bill recite one of his compositions. Such witty use of language and vocabulary, one was at once on the edge of their seat, totally captivated and engaged listening, and laughing aloud at the humble and unsuspecting humour. A real treat, and a true rarity to come across a story teller of this caliber in our modern day, where most would fail to slow down long enough to learn or even enjoy such a craft as his. They are missing out!

What next? What will be tonight? Come and see!


See you at the ceilidh!

Belfast to Istanbul!

Lots of visitors have taken the stage in the last couple weeks of the ceilidh.


We've seen and heard from:


Ian Finn from Belfast. He is a lovely guitar player, who sang us a song, accompanying himself, and then finger-picked a lovely air. Very nice, indeed. As were his dear family: wife, son and 2 sweet daughters who were all travelling together in this Cape Breton holiday.


Lydia Thornton from Somerville, Massachusetts sang She Moved Through the Fair, which you can hear at her myspace page again to reminisce, if you were there, or if you weren't, find out what you missed! Lydia is focusing primarily on the singer-songwriter genre at present, though she has a strong familial heritage in traditional Celtic music and song. After listening to the other songs on her page, I recommend you having a listen as well. They were very enjoyable, and I am glad to have found this lovely gem of a songstress. Just click her name above! Find out for yourself!


Yeliz Christensen from Istanbul, Turkey. After dancing in our nightly square set, she sang one of her family's favourite traditional Turkish songs. Yeliz is a professional musician in Turkey; she sings and is a cellist.

You never know what you might miss at our ceilidhs! The musicians on the schedule may very well only be the beginning...

See you at the ceilidh!

A Welcome Judique Surprise

Due to the disruptions in the Newfoundland ferry service, Mike Hall was stranded on the Rock, having made a trip over on the weekend, and he was unable to return to play our Monday night ceilidh. Thankfully, we got a hold of Glenn Graham of Judique originally, and he was able to come and grace us with his driving fiddle style, with Jennifer Bowman accompanying him on piano.

Glenn is a strong proponent of Cape Breton music. His playing and knowledge of the music and related history make him an asset to the tradition, and his scholarship is readily evident in his informed explanations and demonstrations.

We also enjoyed some visitors- Ceilidh regulars, Rachel Davis, Anna MacDonald and Anita MacDonald. Anita gave a demonstration of the Cape Breton step dancing tradition for the visitors. Anita is one of the best dancers around, and is a tradition bearer well beyond her years, being still in her teens. Anna MacDonald, whose great dancing and dance instruction you might remember if you attended the ceilidhs last year, was visiting the area again and gave us a few of her dandy steps! Welcome back, Anna! You've been missed!

Then for a rollicking finale number, Rachel, Anita, Jennifer and Glenn played a group fiddle number with Buddy MacDonald accompanying on guitar.

If you missed the chance to buy some of Glenn's music directly from him at the ceilidh, don't fret! You can visit his website with one click on his name above. His music can be purchased under the Recordings tab here. He also has a 2 books in print: a tune collection of his own musical compositions, as well as a book exploring the roots of the Cape Breton style.

See you at the ceilidh!

Week Four - and the tunes keep pouring in...

Last night Susan MacLean came in to fill in for Marion Dewar on piano, joining Jennifer Bowman for the first time in a few years. A happy reunion! Jennifer and Susan played many Baddeck Ceilidhs together over the years, but haven't had the opportunity recently.

Susan's experience chording for many in her family, including her grandfather, Michael Anthony MacLean, and her uncles Carl and Hector MacKenzie and many many others, have given her a broad knowledge of the tradition and has armed her to sit ready, full of music, with any fiddler who finds themself in her company. Her sensitive style and solid timing provide a great support and foundation for the fiddler, and her humility allow the music to shine in its own natural beauty and worth, without flash or flaunt.

Two bright faces in the crowd turned out to be two very talented young people: sister and brother, Elizabeth and Ben Anderson, aged 15 and 11 respectively. Elizabeth and Ben were visiting Nova Scotia with their parents from Westborough, Massachusetts. Both violinists, they are regular attendees at the Boston Harbor Fiddle School, and are learning the Scottish fiddle style as well as becoming accomplished in their classical music studies. They played a medley together for the crowd, including Cape Breton tunes Dusky Meadow and Mortgage Burn, the first of which is purported to have been composed by Donald MacLellan, and the latter by local pianist Gordon MacLean. Susan accompanied them.

Also in the crowd were a couple from Dublin, Ireland, and the lady sang us a humorous song in Irish Gaelic, An Poc Ar Buile, about a cranky billy goat.
Go raibh maith agat as d'amhráin, a Bhean Uasal!

See you at the ceilidh!