Post by Joe on Nov 17, 2006 5:13:02 GMT
Hi all,
Earlier in the week, The Cottars' musical director contacted me regarding some recent developments.
Most of his message was also written in the Halifax Chronicle Herald]; which Roger made known to me yesterday!
I'll post the article below; should the link ever become broken...
The Cottars emerge with new faces, new music
16-year-old New York musician Pettit, Dartmouth’s Timmins join MacGillivray duo
By STEPHEN PEDERSEN Arts Reporter
The breakup of Cape Breton’s whiz- kid Celtic band The Cottars after six successful years and three acclaimed CDs is official. But it’s not so much a breakup as a reconfiguration says fiddler Fiona MacGillivray.
Rumours of antagonism among the two pairs of siblings, Ciaran and Fiona MacGillivray and Jimmy and Roseanne MacKenzie, surfaced last April and continued throughout the spring and summer.
Part of the problem is practical: Jimmy suffers from Crohn’s disease and touring was becoming difficult for him.
Now Jimmy and Roseanne are pursuing projects of their own, while Ciaran and Fiona embark this week with new fiddler Claire Pettit and veteran sideman and guitarist Bruce Timmins on their first Maritime tour in the new configuration. Their first Nova Scotia concert is Friday in Convocation Hall in Wolfville.
“ We have a bigger sound now," 17- year- old Fiona said when reached by telephone at her home in Cape Breton earlier this week. “ We have another lead singer and ( the ability) to sing four- part harmony."
They also have acquired a new instrumental colour for Cape Breton music. Fiddler Claire Pettit, who is a native New Yorker, is a classically trained violist.
“ I’ve played classical viola since Grade 3," 16- year- old Pettit said in a break from rehearsals at the MacGillivray home. “ My dad is a professional bassoon player and my mother teaches flute. I liked the viola because it’s halfway between the violin and the cello."
She has played in the Allegro Chamber Orchestra ( a youth orchestra) in New York for a number of years, she said.
Still, Manhattan is a long way from the Mira. The cultural differences between New York and Cape Breton are even further apart.
But maybe not in Pettit’s case. She’s been a Cottars fan since their first CD and a fan of Celtic music even before that.
The Chieftains are the house band on her iPod.
Two years ago she met The Cottars backstage after a New York concert. Beverly MacGillivray ( Ciaran and Fiona’s mother) told her about The Gaelic College summer courses in Cape Breton culture.
“ I didn’t have a community in New York," Claire said. “ I had never experienced a ceilidh though I did have Irish friends and played for them.
But after hearing fiddle playing in Cape Breton I picked up CDs by Buddy MacMaster and Roseanne MacKenzie and played them over and over."
After a lot of listening, a lot of practicing and two summers at the Gaelic College, Claire says, “ I feel like Celtic music’s a part of me. I’ve always been swept away by it."
Ciaran calls Pettit “ an incredibly quick study on fiddle. Her playing is effortless and full of feeling on both viola and fiddle," he said. “ We did ( short) tours with Claire in August and September, in Boston and California and Western Canada. We’re very happy with the outcome."
The new sound of The Cottars includes some new instruments.
Ciaran graduated from high school in June.
Since then he’s enthusiastically taking a year off from school, putting all his time into practising music, making new arrangements with his dad, Allister MacGillivray, learning new instruments like the Irish flute and thinking hard about learning to play the Uillean pipes.
He picked up the bouzouki three months ago and has already worked it into three numbers The Cottars will play on their Maritime tour.
“ I play a lot of instruments, but none of them well," he joked.
For the Halifax concert in the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium on Wednesday, The Cottars will bring along their recording engineer with a view to making a new live CD.
The program for the Maritime tour includes Tom Waits covers Hold On and Georgia Lee from the Forerunner CD ( 2005), tunes from the first two albums, Made in Cape Breton ( 2002) and On Fire ( 2004) and new music not yet recorded ( spedersen@herald.ca)
Article © 2006 The Halifax Herald Limited
Edit: I corrected the link.
Richard
Edit II: removed broken link.
Joe
Earlier in the week, The Cottars' musical director contacted me regarding some recent developments.
Most of his message was also written in the Halifax Chronicle Herald]; which Roger made known to me yesterday!
I'll post the article below; should the link ever become broken...
The Cottars emerge with new faces, new music
16-year-old New York musician Pettit, Dartmouth’s Timmins join MacGillivray duo
By STEPHEN PEDERSEN Arts Reporter
The breakup of Cape Breton’s whiz- kid Celtic band The Cottars after six successful years and three acclaimed CDs is official. But it’s not so much a breakup as a reconfiguration says fiddler Fiona MacGillivray.
Rumours of antagonism among the two pairs of siblings, Ciaran and Fiona MacGillivray and Jimmy and Roseanne MacKenzie, surfaced last April and continued throughout the spring and summer.
Part of the problem is practical: Jimmy suffers from Crohn’s disease and touring was becoming difficult for him.
Now Jimmy and Roseanne are pursuing projects of their own, while Ciaran and Fiona embark this week with new fiddler Claire Pettit and veteran sideman and guitarist Bruce Timmins on their first Maritime tour in the new configuration. Their first Nova Scotia concert is Friday in Convocation Hall in Wolfville.
“ We have a bigger sound now," 17- year- old Fiona said when reached by telephone at her home in Cape Breton earlier this week. “ We have another lead singer and ( the ability) to sing four- part harmony."
They also have acquired a new instrumental colour for Cape Breton music. Fiddler Claire Pettit, who is a native New Yorker, is a classically trained violist.
“ I’ve played classical viola since Grade 3," 16- year- old Pettit said in a break from rehearsals at the MacGillivray home. “ My dad is a professional bassoon player and my mother teaches flute. I liked the viola because it’s halfway between the violin and the cello."
She has played in the Allegro Chamber Orchestra ( a youth orchestra) in New York for a number of years, she said.
Still, Manhattan is a long way from the Mira. The cultural differences between New York and Cape Breton are even further apart.
But maybe not in Pettit’s case. She’s been a Cottars fan since their first CD and a fan of Celtic music even before that.
The Chieftains are the house band on her iPod.
Two years ago she met The Cottars backstage after a New York concert. Beverly MacGillivray ( Ciaran and Fiona’s mother) told her about The Gaelic College summer courses in Cape Breton culture.
“ I didn’t have a community in New York," Claire said. “ I had never experienced a ceilidh though I did have Irish friends and played for them.
But after hearing fiddle playing in Cape Breton I picked up CDs by Buddy MacMaster and Roseanne MacKenzie and played them over and over."
After a lot of listening, a lot of practicing and two summers at the Gaelic College, Claire says, “ I feel like Celtic music’s a part of me. I’ve always been swept away by it."
Ciaran calls Pettit “ an incredibly quick study on fiddle. Her playing is effortless and full of feeling on both viola and fiddle," he said. “ We did ( short) tours with Claire in August and September, in Boston and California and Western Canada. We’re very happy with the outcome."
The new sound of The Cottars includes some new instruments.
Ciaran graduated from high school in June.
Since then he’s enthusiastically taking a year off from school, putting all his time into practising music, making new arrangements with his dad, Allister MacGillivray, learning new instruments like the Irish flute and thinking hard about learning to play the Uillean pipes.
He picked up the bouzouki three months ago and has already worked it into three numbers The Cottars will play on their Maritime tour.
“ I play a lot of instruments, but none of them well," he joked.
For the Halifax concert in the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium on Wednesday, The Cottars will bring along their recording engineer with a view to making a new live CD.
The program for the Maritime tour includes Tom Waits covers Hold On and Georgia Lee from the Forerunner CD ( 2005), tunes from the first two albums, Made in Cape Breton ( 2002) and On Fire ( 2004) and new music not yet recorded ( spedersen@herald.ca)
Article © 2006 The Halifax Herald Limited
Edit: I corrected the link.
Richard
Edit II: removed broken link.
Joe
