East Coast Music Awards
Category Life in Cape Breton
Tonight was the televised portion of the east cost music awards which were described by one presenter as the grammys with more alcohol. There are enough musicians in the Maritime provinces to rate their own music awards program. Some of the awardees are known outside the area such as Sarah McLachlan , Great Big Sea, and George Canyon (the runner up from the first season of Nashville Star), but there are hundreds of other bands that range from indie to francophone that well represent the area. With a population of under 150,000 people, Cape Bretoners make up a disproportionately large part of the acts. From guitar virtuoso, J.P. Cormier, to song writing phenom Gordie Sampson, to traditional stars the Cottars, there are so many bands on this island that it would take you a year to hear them all. Certainly the highlight of this evening's concert was the tribute to Buddy MacMaster by his niece, Natalie. If you have never seen either of these two famous fiddlers in concert, you have missed a piece of musical history. Natalie travels the world with her band performing in many venues and we have seen her more often over the years in Washington at WolfTrap and the Birchmere than we have here, but her uncle Buddy rarely leaves Cape Breton, so you need to travel here to see him. Thankfully, that is not difficult as he seems to play somewhere 4 to 5 nights a week during the summer and is one of those performers that never seems ready to leave the stage. If you have never experienced the music of Cape Breton this link http://www.redshoepub.com/audio/MairiRankin2.ram is the best example I know of on-line.
Tonight was the televised portion of the east cost music awards which were described by one presenter as the grammys with more alcohol. There are enough musicians in the Maritime provinces to rate their own music awards program. Some of the awardees are known outside the area such as Sarah McLachlan , Great Big Sea, and George Canyon (the runner up from the first season of Nashville Star), but there are hundreds of other bands that range from indie to francophone that well represent the area. With a population of under 150,000 people, Cape Bretoners make up a disproportionately large part of the acts. From guitar virtuoso, J.P. Cormier, to song writing phenom Gordie Sampson, to traditional stars the Cottars, there are so many bands on this island that it would take you a year to hear them all. Certainly the highlight of this evening's concert was the tribute to Buddy MacMaster by his niece, Natalie. If you have never seen either of these two famous fiddlers in concert, you have missed a piece of musical history. Natalie travels the world with her band performing in many venues and we have seen her more often over the years in Washington at WolfTrap and the Birchmere than we have here, but her uncle Buddy rarely leaves Cape Breton, so you need to travel here to see him. Thankfully, that is not difficult as he seems to play somewhere 4 to 5 nights a week during the summer and is one of those performers that never seems ready to leave the stage. If you have never experienced the music of Cape Breton this link http://www.redshoepub.com/audio/MairiRankin2.ram is the best example I know of on-line.