CelticFest Performer Bios

This is the band that others measure themselves against. Over the years new members have brought with them new ideas, new music, new instruments, attitudes and influences, leading to continued creativity, freshness and enthusiasm. After 30 years they still lead the way for Scottish music, always involving their ever widening audience as they travel the world.

Under their banner Forward with Scotland’s Past, Battlefield Band have been performing on the international scene for more than three decades, inspired by their rich heritage of Celtic music and fired by the strength of the modern Scottish cultural scene. The band, who pioneered the integration of bagpipes with fiddle, keyboards, guitar and voice, mix the old songs and tunes with new self-penned material, playing them on a unique fusion of ancient and modern instruments:
bagpipes, synthesizers, fiddles, guitars, cittern, bass, whistles, and bouzouki.

Founded by a group of friends in 1969 and named after the ‘Battlefield’ area of Glasgow, Battlefield Band now perform throughout the world, playing to audiences in Europe, Australia, Asia, the Middle East & Canada, as well as more than 60 cities annually in the United States. Their music is played regularly on National Public Radio’s Thistle and Shamrock program, and they are frequent guests on Minnesota Public Radio’s A Prairie Home Companion.

In September 13th 2003, Battlefield Band was awarded Best Live Act at the first annual Scots Trad Music Awards.The awards celebrate Scotland’s thriving traditional musical scene; the nominees chosen by a panel of Scotland’s traditional music experts, and the winners chosen by popular public vote via post and email to the BBC, with voting open to audiences around the world. Still leading the way after 30 years!

www.battlefieldband.co.uk

"Three sensational fiddlers from three distinct Celtic traditions.  Breathtaking!"  Boston Herald

"Mesmerizing, plaintive, celebratory and winsome in turn...Celtic Fiddle Festval ratchets up the temperature as they ricochet through everything from magnificent Québecois tunes to Breton marches to the Irish tradition.”  So writes Irish journalist Siobhán Long in The Irish Times.  Sold-out tours and standing ovations give further testimony to the electricity and excitement generated by these three great individual fiddle stylists.  Kevin Burke (Ireland), Christian Lemaître (Brittany, France) and André Brunet (Québec) combine their talents, musical traditions, and spontaneous humor for an evening of dazzling energy and subtle grace.   They are joined by acclaimed English musician Ged Foley on guitar, providing both driving accompaniment and delicate solos. 

Carrying on a tradition begun in 1992, when Irish fiddling great Kevin Burke (from Patrick Street) teamed up with Scottish fiddler, the late Johnny Cunningham, the current lineup features Kevin along with Christian Lemaitre, an unsurpassed master of traditional Breton fiddle, and the dynamic young Quebecois player Andre Brunet, formerly of La Bottine Souriante. 

Called "three of the finest folk violinists anywhere" by The Washington Post, Celtic Fiddle Festival released their fifth CD, Equinoxe, in February 2008.  A harvest of international tunes, the new album celebrates the possibilities of the violin in all its globe-trotting variations.  It is their first on Burke’s new Loftus Music label, after a string of acclaimed recordings on Green Linnet. 

Together, these virtuosic musicians play with such relentless precision and passion that the tunes transcend all cultural and geographical barriers, leaving the audience with a memorable musical experience. 

http://www.herschelfreemanagency.com/celtic/celtic_fiddle_festival.html

Steafan Hannigan, All-Britain Uilleann Pipe champion and virtuoso bodhran player, also plays a multitude of other instruments including bouzouki, whistles & flute. One of the most in-demand session players, he is a founding member of Sin E and also currently works with Pete Lockett. Throughout his illustrious career, Steafan has also worked with Band of Hope, Lammas, Uriah Heep, Gary Barlow, Waz, Afro-Celt Sound System, Bill Jones, Loreena McKennitt, Tickled Pink.

Born and brought up in Northern Ireland, he first discovered Irish music on attending a Planxty concert, and has never looked back! He is also the author of a widely acclaimed bodhran tutor book, plus a couple of bodhran videos, and more recently the first ever, “low whistle” tutor book.

www.steafan.com

"Timeline is an excellent example of the background that moulded Wendy MacIsaac into the person and the player that she is today, richly steeped in the Gaelic culture and the society of the rural Inverness County. To me, this is what makes her special. As an all-around package, Wendy MacIsaac is one of the best there is. Forget about thinking that her playing gets to the heart of the music, Wendy and her playing will get to your soul."
Dan MacDonald, Cape Breton Post

Wendy MacIsaac is a fiddler, piano player, and stepdancer from Creignish, Inverness County. She is recognized as one of Cape Breton's finest fiddlers, having toured the world with Mary Jane Lamond, Beòlach, The Chieftains and as a solo performer. She has performed in Italy, Brazil, the UK, Ireland, Iceland, Eastern Europe and all over North America.

Wendy began performing at age 5 as a stepdancer. At age 12, she began fiddle lessons with Stan Chapman. By age fifteen, Wendy was playing dances all over Cape Breton island and forming the sound that makes her so recognizable today. She soon began traveling further, to Boston, Detroit, and Toronto, to play for the popular Cape Breton dances in those areas.

At this time, Wendy also developed a strong reputation as a piano player and has accompanied just about all of the Cape Breton fiddlers of her generation.  In 1995 she began touring with the Cape Breton Summertime Revue and has made the road her second home ever since. Wendy has performed with the Chieftains, Capercaillie and Buddy MacMaster, to name a few. Her skills as a teacher are also in high demand at festivals worldwide, whether for fiddle, piano, or stepdancing; she is always happy to share her music and experience with others. 

While Wendy MacIsaac may draw inspiration from her past; her future looks brighter than ever.

www.wendymacisaac.com

Patrick Gillis is one of the finest guitarists Cape Breton has ever produced, having grown up with traditional music being played almost constantly in his home. His father, uncle, and two older brothers playing the fiddle gave Patty a great appreciation and understanding of Celtic music. Along with his love for the music, he brings a great amount of energy that can be heard in his accompaniment and in his solos. Being left handed and only having right handed guitars around, Patrick learned to play up-side down and backwards, because "no one ever told me the difference" he says... Some call it "donkey style".  Patrick has toured the States with Cullin, played in Howie MacDonald's Celtic Brew, played with Ashley MacIsaac, Natalie MacMaster, and Glenn Graham, and has played in different festivals throughout the U.S, Canada and Europe.

"The best Celtic guitarist in the world"
John Renbourn

To find a unique voice on so ubiquitous an instrument as the acoustic guitar is quite an achievement: to do so within a centuries old idiom where the instrument has no real history is truly remarkable. In little over ten years as a professional musician, Tony McManus has come to be recognized throughout the world as the leading guitarist in Celtic Music. From early childhood his twin obsessions of traditional music and acoustic guitar have worked together to produce a startlingly original approach to this ancient art. In Tony’s hands the complex ornamentation normally associated with fiddles and pipes are accurately transferred to guitar in a way that preserves the integrity and emotional impact of the music.

Having been nominated as Musician of the Year by both the BBC Folk Awards and The Scottish Traditonal Music awards, in 2002 "Ceol More" hit the Critic’s Album of the year list in Acoustic Guitar magazine and named "Live Ireland Awards" Album of the Year.

In a relatively short time Tony’s music has come to define a new role for the guitar in Celtic music.

He has come to represent Celtic music in the guitar world, making regular appearances at guitar specific events where just a few years ago jigs and reels would be unheard of. He is now invited annually to the Chet Atkins Festival in Nashville, has appeared at Guitar Festivals in Soave and Pescantina, Italy; Frankston, Australia; Issoudun, France; Kirkmichael, Scotland; Bath and Kent, England; Bochum and Osnabruck, Germany and has taught at five of Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Kamps in Maryville, Tennessee. He recently appeared at the famous Ryman Auditorium in Nashville in the “All Star Guitar Night” featuring Steve Morse, Bryan Sutton, Muriel Anderson, Béla Fleck and Victor Wooten and headlined by the legendary Les Paul.

He is an enthusiastic collaborator both as a leader and as a sideman having worked with, among many others Dougie McLean, Phil Cunningham, Mairi MacInnes, Liam O’Flynn, Martin Simpson, Kevin Burke, Alison Brown, Martyn Bennett, Natalie MacMaster, Patrick and Jacky Molard, Mairead ní Mhoanaigh and Dermot Byrne, The Nashville Chamber Orchestra, John Jorgenson, Jean Michel Veillon, Catriona Macdonald, Seikou Keita, Xosé Manuel Budiño, Ewen Vernal and Andy Irvine.

Whether on a stage, recording in the studio or behind a mixing desk Tony McManus brings a deep respect for traditional music to bear on all he does. Wherever his journey takes him next it is sure to be an exciting ride.

www.tonymcmanus.com

2008 marks Spirit of the West’s 25th Anniversary and we are thrilled to be co-presenting this band with Live Nation at the Commodore Ballroom (March 14 & 15). Very little introduction needs to be given to the members of this Canadian group. Formed in 1983, the band was originally conceived as a Celtic-influenced folk group and has now evolved into an innovative alt. Pop group employing combinations of electric and acoustic instruments and crossing many musical boundaries. This legendary group has twelve albums under their belt - 4 gold and 2 platinum – which have helped them build a dedicated following of fans from all over the world. Their recordings trace the group’s evolution from a spirited, Celtic folk trio to an aggressive, near-rock ensemble, and document a repertoire of declamatory topical, political and protest material, as well as humorous and drinking songs.

Songwriters John Mann (lead vocals, guitar) and Geoffrey Kelly (guitar, flutes, vocals) draw from a wide variety of musical influences including folk, punk, jazz and rock. Their sophisticated style of writing has often seen them praised as Canada’s best songwriting team. Spirit of the West’s high-energy, potent live show has received rave reviews not only in Canada but also from the U.K. and European media. SOTW has toured on the prestigious Road Side Attraction tour, has performed and recorded with the Vancouver Symphony, and, in addition to touring, all five members are all currently working on individual and solo projects.

www.sotw.ca