Mike Katz, Battlefield Band

Here at CelticFest Vancouver we are really looking forward to our Opening Night, and after you read this, you will be too. Once again we are throwing a party - The World’s Greatest Céilídh to be precise – featuring the Battlefield Band of Scotland with Tiller’s Folly, Stephanie Cadman, Qristina and Quinn Bachand, and Musical Host Jordan Seguin.

Last year at the Yale Hotel, we sold out our Opening Night Céilídh and there were line-ups round the block. This time we have moved to a bigger venue so we can fit you all in! It all happens on Wednesday March 12th at 7:00 pm at the Commodore Ballroom.

Before we go into any more detail we have to answer one key question: What is a Céilídh? Most people look at the word and their first question is not what is a Céilídh, but how do I pronounce that? If you are Scottish Céilídh (or Ceili) is pronounced “Kay-lay”, emphasis on 1st syllable. The rest of us tend to call it a “Kay-lee”.

In Gaelic, the ancient tongue of the seven Celtic nations, it means a visit. Over the years it has come to mean a house party, a kitchen party or a concert including music and dance. Céilidh music is usually traditional and may be provided by an assortment of fiddle, flute, tin whistle, accordion, bodhrán, and in more recent times modern instruments have been added. Céilídh dancing is traditional style dancing just for fun.

Before discos and nightclubs, there were Céilidhs in most town and village halls on Friday or Saturday nights; they are still common today. Céilídhs are extremely popular all over Ireland, Scotland and Atlantic Canada. At a Céilídh anything can happen. Dances often alternate with songs, poetry recitals, story telling and other types of “party pieces”.

At our Céilídh we present Scotland’s Battlefield Band who are famous the world over. Their music has deep roots in traditional Celtic music, and they really know how to keep it fresh. They mix the old songs and tunes with new material, playing them on a unique fusion of ancient and modern instruments: bagpipes, synthesizers, fiddles, guitars and lots more. They are the only band in the universe that plays songs from the time of Bonnie Prince Charlie, as well as songs by Prince. Their version of ‘Kiss’ has to be heard to be believed. Battlefield Band’s new album Dookin’, and Battlefield Band fiddler Alasdair White’s solo album An Clàr Geal had their entries accepted for the Traditional Folk category for the 2008 Grammy awards. Although they didn’t make it through to the final nominations, it is still an incredible achievement for Temple Records, their small independent Scottish record label.

Also we learned recently that the CBC Galaxie Network Folk/Roots Channel’s most-played, high-rotation International album releases for December 2007 - January 2008 includes Dookin’, the latest CD by The Battlefield Band at a very respectable #2. The Folk/Roots Channel plays “All Folk, 24-hours a day”.

We’re also pleased to announce that Battlefield Band’s fiddle maestro, Alasdair White, has won the World Traditional Music category in the 7th annual Independent Music Awards for his album An Clàr Geal. It was selected by various esteemed music industry judges including Joe Boyd, Charlie Musselwhite, Ray Davies, Angelique Kidjo & Mavis Staples.

Tiller’s Folly

Joining ‘The Batties’, as they are affectionately known, will be BC’s own Tiller’s Folly. For well over a decade, they have been consistently satisfying old fans and winning over new ones with their unique stories of BC history, strong musicality and engaging live performances and recordings. Bruce Coughlan, Nolan Murray and Laurence Knight are the force behind the band’s high-energy acoustic roots music – Canadian Celtic at its best! They’ll feature a special guest, champion step dancer and fiddler Stephanie Cadman who has thrilled audiences throughout North America, Europe and Asia with her award-winning Ottawa Valley-style stepdancing, along with her dynamic fiddling and wonderful stage presence.

Victoria’s amazing young sister and brother duo Qristina and Quinn Bachand are young in years, but they know exactly what it takes to leave an audience wanting more! They were recently invited to play at the Canadian launch party for YouTube after their musical videos became on of the most viewed items on this popular free video sharing website.

Qristina and Quinn Bachand

Our MC will be by the festival’s musical host, piper Jordan Seguin. Jordan is the youngest Pipe Major attached to an army band in the entire Commonwealth, as well as being a promising actor and a great piper.

Once again the show will be recorded by CBC radio for national broadcast on Radio 2’s Canada Live which presents live concert footage from Canada’s premier musical events. It will also be beamed to satellite radio, digital radio and internet listeners world-wide.

So come on down to the fabulous Commodore Ballroom, where Vancouverites have danced for decades, and join the party. We are sure you’ll agree it more than lives up to its title. It is The World’s Greatest Céilídh.

We are dedicating the night to our good friend Oliver Schroer. Oli is a brilliant musician who was scheduled to perform at last years CelticFest. Early in 2007 he was diagnosed with leukemia and is now receiving treatment. We encourage everyone to support Oli through this time of illness. To learn more about the Oliver Schroer Fund, the Orange Ribbon Project and the Bone Marrow registry for donors please go to http://www.oliverschroer.com/leukemia.htm

We are getting more and more energized about our 2008 festival line-up. We already gave you all a sneak preview in our last blog and we are sure your appetite is whetted. This time we wanted to focus on some of the events and people that are unusual or new to CelticFest Vancouver.

First, he is not new, but he IS unusual. Shameless the leprechaun will be back throwing gold chocolate coins and spreading good cheer. It is a source of some embarrassment that he’s a good 6 inches taller than I am! But seriously though folks…. In addition to our usual 1 pm free open air shows on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (March 12th-14th) at Granville Square (200 Granville Street) we will also be presenting free shows at noon on the same days at the scenic and wonderful Canada Place (North End Pointe) with its stunning panoramic cityscape, ocean and mountain views.

Tony McManus

Friday evening (March 14th) at the Yale Hotel we will feature the world’s greatest Celtic guitarist, Scotland’s Tony McManus. Now I know the Yale has featured some of the finest guitarists ever on its hallowed stage over the years, but I promise you, you have NEVER seen anything quite like Tony. This is a must for ALL lovers of the guitar. His guitar playing will take your breath away.

Another first for the festival is the inclusion of Ottawa Valley style stepdancing, courtesy of the wonderfully talented Stephanie Cadman. She’ll be strutting her stuff at Canada Place on Wednesday March 12th, at the Commodore Ballroom that same night and will be teaching a workshop (the first EVER in Vancouver) at Tom Lee Music Hall on Saturday March 15th.

Making its debut on Thursday (March 13th) this year is an exciting event we call ‘The Battle of The Bards’. It is a fast-paced tour at some of downtown Vancouver’s finest Celtic Pubs for a head-to-head poetry face-off featuring the most famous Celtic writers! Inspired, in part, by the famous Dublin Literary Pub Crawl, three actors dressed in costume, take on the roles of Dylan Thomas (actor Damon Calderwood), Robbie Burns (actor “Toddish McWong“) and William Butler Yeats (actor Mark Downey) to share some of the great works which firmly placed them in the Celtic cannon. Not content to just have these legendary figures in one room, we put them to the real test in a competition fashioned after the hugely popular spoken word poetry slams.

The late night Festival Artists’ Lounge, on Friday (March 14th), made its debut last year and was a great success. This year we plan to make it bigger and better. We’ve invited all the festival artists to come out to play – and that’s exactly what they will do. It is a musical free for all in which anything can happen – spontaneous jam sessions, collaborations between Celtic artists from different bands, inspired musical virtuosity and lots of laughs. The best thing about it is that you are invited to come along. You’ll hear great players like host Tony McManus, Steafan Hannigan and Wendy MacIsaac & Patrick Gillis, and get a rare chance to witness

Wendy MacIsaac

what happens when musicians get together after-hours to have some musical fun.

The Music Workshops at Tom Lee Music City Stage on Saturday and Sunday (March 15th and 16th) are once again free and open to the public. This year for the first time we are featuring some astonishing international talent, including the guitar wizardry of the world’s greatest Celtic guitarist, Tony McManus, and the renowned multi instrumentalist Steafan Hannigan who’ll be demonstrating how to play both bodhran (Irish drum) and Irish pipes. Steafan has played with everyone from Bjork and Depeche Mode to Michael Flatley. If you come along, you’ll see why! The Cape Breton fiddle and guitar duo of Wendy MacIsaac and Pat Gillis will also be part of this year’s workshops, and they are guaranteed to make your jaw drop in amazement.

We have been amazed in the past by how much interest there is in bagpipes and bagpiping so this year we’ve added two new piping events. A Swarm of Drones, Vancouver’s bagpiping collective, will host a session tent in the festival’s Celtic Village KidsZone, where you can pop in and hear them play and ask questions about anything related to the pipes – including how they are made. The second event new event is the Lowland/Border Bagpipe Pipe Workshop. Join Robert MacDonald, of as he relates the story of the Border Bagpipe and its music. He will be accompanied by Irish, Northumbrian and Scottish small-pipers as he follows the pipes from Neolithic times to today via the Picts, the Emperor Nero, the Court of the Sun King and even the DaVinci Code!

And speaking of the pipes, once again we will feature the B C Regiment Irish Pipes and Drums at our opening ceremony and at our BIG St. Pat’s Night Out party at Richard’s on Richards on Saturday (March 15th). This year they have two great pipers from Belfast in Northern Ireland - Andrew Carlisle, who is winning championships and competitions on a continuing basis and Jimmy Knox, a Pipe Major with some 17 years Service with the Royal Irish Regiment.

Our BIG St. Pat’s Night Out party at Richard’s on Richards features Celtic Fiddle Festival -  an unbelievable line up of talent with the likes of Kevin Burke (Patrick Street - Ireland), Christian Lemaître (Brittany), André Brunet (La Bottine Souriante - Quebec) Joining them, will be guest artists Wendy MacIsaac (Cape Breton) and Chrissy Crowley (Cape Breton). As well, our friends with the BC Regiment Pipes & Drums will open the evening and the Penk O’Donnell Dancers will show you what stepdancing is all about.

Tim Readman, Artistic Director,

Edgewater Casino CelticFest Vancouver