“Music functions on a whole lot of different levels,” said Daithi Sproule from Altan. “But an interesting thing about music is that it is funny to look around and realise that music is everywhere. And it wouldn’t be everywhere if it wasn’t for the some reason. It’s in lifts, and it’s in shops…” He smiled, and tapped his finger against the table. “…And there is actually music for people who aren’t very musical. Muzak! Yes!”

Nancy Kerr & James Fagan

James Fagan and Nancy Kerr are two of the brightest stars to have emerged from the nebula of talented young musicians that has swirled around the universe of the British folk scene over the past decade.

In 1969, in Boston Massachusetts, a young musician made a decision about the future of his life.  Fiddle player Jerry Holland explains “At the grand old age of fourteen, I just knew, someday I was going to live in Cape Breton.  At twenty one, I saw my dream come true as I celebrated my birthday there.  In this place I had got, I waited for my furniture to be delivered.  For 33 years since, Cape Breton has been and always will be my home”.

CELTIC COLOURS: There Is No Getting Away From It

Nine long days and nights, 45 concerts, over 250 other events in 33 communities around Cape Breton Island, Celtic Colours is certainly not for the faint-hearted!  But it is a gem of a festival that proudly boasts its Celtic roots and showcases the music of the island which is very much alive and kicking.

Pamela Irving talks with Donegal fiddler and musicologist Liz Doherty about Cape Breton music after an intermediate / advanced fiddle workshop she gave at the Celtic Arts Centre in Judique.

Talk to professional fiddlers, and you’ll soon see the range of what they do. There’ll be solo  performing, of course, band work, tuition, recording, film and TV contracts, judging competitions, composing, researching, and maybe even instrument-repairing. A few fiddlers, though, will tell you how they also move into other genres, perhaps to back a rock or jazz singer. Some will have had (or still have) a career in classical music as well; Irish fiddler Mairéad Nesbitt, formerly of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, comes to mind. One Scottish fiddler who fits exactly into this ‘mixed genres’ category is Douglas Lawrence.

It’s a few years now since Pete Coe celebrated 30 years on the road, and though not unique among many of the singers of his generation, he is distinctive.  Nowhere do you find all the threads of song, dance, musician, caller and organiser woven together into such a rich tapestry.  The tag of ‘one man folk festival’ is well earned!

Rummage through any collection of British folk music, read the sleeve notes and you will find that the name Bill Leader will be present on a huge number of them.  From the 1950s to the early 80s, Bill Leader’s recordings are monumental.