CelticFest Performer Bios

Bad to the Bow is part of The Coast String Fiddlers Association, a community non-profit organization from the Sunshine Coast of BC, which promotes the education and performance of traditional fiddle music for youth.   Bad to the Bow was formed in 2002 to accommodate the young beginner players in the association. Now, eight years later, the group has grown in size and talent.

Bad to the Bow is currently made up of 25 school-aged fiddlers and also includes family participation, with parents and older siblings making up the accompaniment section on bass, cello, piano, guitar, penny whistle and percussion.  As well as rehearsing together once a week, all the fiddlers are also enrolled in weekly private lessons.   They are under musical direction of Chelsea Sleep and the group is run by a dedicated group of parent volunteers.

While the CSF focuses mainly on promoting traditional Celtic music, Bad to the Bow keeps up a large repertoire of fiddle tunes from nearly every corner of the fiddle-world, including Canadian and American Old-tyme, Bluegrass, Cape Breton, Irish, Scottish, French Canadian, Métis, Klezmer, Breton, Scandinavian, contemporary fiddle music including tunes written by Canadian composer Oliver Schroer, and tunes composed by members of the group itself.  The group has received instruction from numerous professional musicians from all over the world, including Iain Fraser, Adrian Dolan, Calvin Cairns, Mairi Rankin, Daniel Lapp, Jaron Freeman-Fox and Ivonne and Kalissa Hernandez.

Bad to the Bow participates regularly in both CelticFest Vancouver and the Pacific National Exhibition, among dozens of other local events.  This past year the group was honoured to perform as part of the Olympic Torch Relay celebrations in Gibsons.

www.gotrosin.ca
www.coaststringfiddlers.com

Blackthorn is a Celtic band that saw its inception back in 1988 when a small group of ex-pats found a common interest in a music that wasn’t all that common in Vancouver at the time. Since then, the group has traveled a long road through the streets of traditional and not-so-traditional Celtic music, expanding their repertoire and musical skills along the way.

Blackthorn’s repertoire celebrates the traditional music of Scotland and Ireland as well as folk music of English and French Canada. This means that they are not only in demand for Robbie Burns and St Patrick’s Day events but also Highland Games, festivals, céilidhs, concerts, conventions and private functions throughout the year.

Blackthorn can rip up a reel, bounce along with a jig, pull your heart strings with a mournful ballad and have you laughing and singing along to a favourite old tune all in the course of a performance. They play in their own style, with their own interpretation of the music and it is very apparent when watching them, that they have fun and enjoy what they are doing.

www.blackthornband.com

FiddleStix are a Vancouver duo who has been serving up high energy fiddle music together for over four years.

Cary Grigg is a champion Métis fiddler who has won first place awards in BC Old Time and Western Canadian Métis competitions. Originally from Kamloops BC, Cary trained in Suzuki violin as a child and played with the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra from 1988-1996. He has over thirty years playing experience and is way beyond his "10,000 hours" of practice! He also plays accordion, sax, melodian, guitar, piano and other instruments. Cary's fiddling style is very unique, blending Irish, Scottish, Métis, East Coast, Swing and his own fiery brand of playing. For several years, he was the featured fiddler in The Streels, a Vancouver-based band who played Celtic/Newfoundland music. Cary plays with various professional Vancouver Celtic musicians when called upon to lend his fiddle magic.

Janet Noade can trace her roots back to the first French settlers of Acadia as well as to some of the Mi'kmaq aboriginal grandmothers of Mi'kmaki, (known presently as Nova Scotia on the east coast of Canada). On the paternal side of her heritage, she is descended from a bloodline of Irish hereditary healers. Being from a poor family of music-loving Maritimers, her only instrument growing up was a set of kitchen spoons. She's been playing them so long she doesn't ever remember starting! Janet is a self-taught musician who plays spoons, bones, guitar, piano, drums and other percussive instruments. She is also a poet and visual artist as well as a singer-songwriter.

After meeting at a Celtic music session in Vancouver in 2005, Janet and Cary began to work together and eventually formed FiddleStix. FiddleStix perform regularly at Farmer's Markets, cafés, corporate events, and private functions. FiddleStix are avid buskers and were chosen to represent some of Vancouver's best street music in Translink's Busking Program during the 2010 Winter Olympics.

www.myspace.com/fiddlicious

In 2010 Fiddlin’ Frenzy released their second CD with Canadian fiddle master Calvin Vollrath, which contains 9 of the 12 tunes composed by Kai and Lia. They also performed at 15 different events at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics!

Since 2005, they have had some great shows performing coast to coast at numerous festivals including CelticFest Vancouver, Mt. Lehman Country Fair, Seattle’s Northwest Folklife, Victoria and Nanaimo French Festivals and successfully put on their own concert through Abbotsford’s Festival of Artistic and Creative Expression. They have also performed several times for Rick Hansen's Wheels in Motion and BC Children’s Hospital Miracle weekend.

Fiddlin' Frenzy (aka Old Time Fiddle Kids) is Kai and Lia's duo. They play music spanning from Celtic, traditional, bluegrass, roots to classical music.  Both Kai and Lia have won first place in various categories at BC Provincial, John Arcand Fiddle Festival (the biggest in Western Canada), and Grand North America Fiddle competitions for several years. In 2006, they recorded their first CD, The Fox and The Fiddle, at the ages of seven and nine. They had been featured on CBC Radio and in many local papers and have been nominated for the Abbotsford Arty Award. They are also a “Face of Abbotsford” who represent Abbotsford’s arts and culture.

Both started learning classical music at age four but soon discovered the fiddle. These two young fiddlers are not just classical violin prodigies, they also do clog dancing, play piano, guitar and Lia is an accomplished cellist too. They both have composed their own music since they were seven. Fiddle master Calvin Vollrath said they are amazing. Some of the adjudicators have also praised them as the “musical kids." When they competed at Prince George in the adult Twin Fiddle category and came in first, they received a standing ovation for their astonishing harmonic performance. They were also chosen out of 400 members from the Vancouver Youth Symphony to perform at a Celtic event and boy did they wow the crowds!

www.myspace.com/fiddlinfrenzy

The Draycott Swamp Devils play a brand of original "west coast Celtic swamp music." It goes back to their roots in the Draycott Swamp, which lies not far from their home on the North Shore of Vancouver.Many a frog was caught in the swamp, many a gumboot was filled with the primordial ooze that grew the tadpoles and spawned the "Devils".

Peter Lepine (bass, harmonica and vocals) still lives near the swamp. At night, under a full moon, you can hear the toads croakin' to Neil Homulos' backbeat (drums and vocals), while Peter Orhnberger's porch organ (keys, guitar and vocals) shimmers like the moonlight itself.
Jay Knutson (guitar, bouzouki, vocals) watches over the swamp and keeps tab on the critters movin' in and out.

Occasionally when the stars line up just right in the heavens, the boys are joined by “The Angel Strings”, Sean Wharton and Noah Gauthier on fiddles.

Legend has it, that together these Swamp Devils conjure up a tasty foot tappin' Celtic rockin'-gumbo.  Come check it out for yourself and fall under the spell of the "valley voodoo".

www.canoesongs.com
www.myspace.com/draycottswampdevilss

The Ottawa Sun may have put it best: "J. Knutson is a sonic architect that designs bridges that close the gap between different styles and influences" 

For the past 25 years Jay has been attracting interest from both fans and the music industry. As the Toronto Globe and Mail stated "..this is a blessing for those who like traditional sounds with a modern sensibility".

Jay was a founding member of the seminal folk band Spirit of the West and went on to work with such Canadian luminaries as Connie Kaldor, Josée LaJoie, Hart Rouge, and Daniel Lavoie. He has been involved in the recording of over 35 albums, has won West Coast Music awards and been part of five Juno award winning projects.

Knutson is now an instructor at Simon Fraser University, teaching a music/physics course entitled Logarithm and Blues with Dr. Mike Hayden. For the last eight years he has been a musical/creative director for The North Shore Celtic Ensemble with Claude Giguere.

Jay has also maintained a profile in the broadcast community. Since graduating from BCIT in Broadcast Journalism in 1981, he has worked as a producer for CBC projects in Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver, and for 5 A.D. Radio in South Australia. He has worked as an announcer for Mountain FM, Squamish/Whistler and C-FUN in Vancouver, as well as production manager and newsperson for CKO.

Jay has also scored music for the National Film Board, Danish National TV and the CBC.

Knutson's live shows have always been his forté. As the Halifax Chronicle Herald enthused "He puts the soul back into music, fun back into instruments and conviction back into lyrics."

www.canoesongs.com

Leum! (which means jump in Scottish Gaelic) features Annie Brown on fiddle, Keona Hammond on flute, Alys Howe on harp, and Neil Hammond on guitar and bodhrán.  With dance tunes and songs, Leum! celebrates the West Coast’s laid-back perspective on Celtic style, capturing the beauty and emotion of traditional music.  Jump into St. Patrick’s Day on Granville Street with Leum!

www.alyshowe.com

This Celtic duo is led by Juno Award-winning fiddler/vocalist, Shona Le Mottée (formerly of The Paperboys and Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance). Born on the tiny Island of Jersey in the English Channel, Shona has toured extensively all over North America both performing and teaching her expressive and rhythmic fiddle style. Joining her is Tim Readman (formerly of Fear of Drinking) on guitar and vocals. Emerging from the north-east English folk scene, Tim has earned a reputation as an outstanding songwriter, guitarist, singer and interpreter of traditional and contemporary folk songs. Tim and Shona have worked extensively together for over ten years. Come and check out this funky Celtic-pop Vancouver group.

www.shona.ca
www.timreadman.com

The boundary-crossing, genre-blending stringband, The Rakish Angles, weave an intricate tapestry of Newgrass, Latin, Gypsy-Jazz and Oldtime music.  The quartet’s members come from musical backgrounds as diverse as Classical, Bluegrass, Jazz and Heavy Metal.  The Rakish Angles common influences include The David Grisman Quintet, Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli, Bela Fleck, Tim O’Brien, Edgar Meyer, and fellow Canadians The Creaking Tree String Quartet and Jayme Stone.

What makes the Rakish Angles unique is the collaborative spirit in which they put their pieces together – each musician composes original instrumental and vocal pieces for the group, and then they all come together to arrange the diverse tunes.  They recognize and encourage each other’s different strengths and backgrounds, which is heard both in the compositions and in the way each musician is given space to shine.

The Rakish Angles’ impeccably crafted debut album consists of thirteen pieces all written, arranged and produced by the band.  The album captures the exuberance, beauty and creativity of their live show.  The quartet has been nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award (2009), Western Canadian Music Award (2010), and was selected as a finalist for an Indie Acoustic Project Award (2009).  The Rakish Angles have shared stages with Tony Trischka, Doug Cox, Po’Girl, Celso Machado, The Red Clay Ramblers, Frazey Ford, Jesse Zubot, The Voyageur Guitar and Tanya Tagaq.  

Having played Folk, Jazz, and even Writers festival stages, as well as theatres, cafés and house concerts across western Canada, the Rakish Angles are beginning to garner nation-wide attention and airplay, and have had music used in film.  The quartet will be releasing their second album in the summer of 2011 featuring something new - the energetic four-part vocal harmonies of the band.

The Rakish Angles are: Boyd Norman (bass), Serena Eades (violin), Dan Richter (guitar) and Simon Hocking (mandolin)

www.rakishangles.com

Canadian folk-funk fusion phenoms, The Wheat in the Barley first hit the stage with what some have described as a Celtic/Slavic brew of high-energy instrumental music. Since then, after more than decade of delivering hundreds of electrifying shows, they have evolved into a true Canadian roots band drawing on our rich heritage coast to coast. Their creative arrangements are full of surprises, featuring trilling pennywhistles, rhythmic accordion, bluesy mouth-harp, passionate violin, searing saxophone and more, all against a backdrop of one of the finest rhythm sections in Southwestern B.C.  Their storied songs feature up to five-part vocal harmonies.

They have created fresh and innovative interpretations of French Canadian fiddle tunes and Maritimes songs, as well as original songs written by leader Steve Gidora and fiddler Nicole Scoffield, and rollicking instrumentals written by multi-instrumentalist Victor Smith. Multi-wind specialist Mark Dowding on flute, whistles, harmonica and sax adds a special edge and energy to all they do. Together, they light a roaring fire under a multi-cultural cauldron of folk music, funky rhythms and fun for all!

www.wheatinthebarley.com