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2007 |
Shona Le Mottée
Fiddler Shona Le Mottée started playing at the age of seven on the Island of Jersey, in the English Channel. At age nine she moved to Vancouver, Canada where she continued to develop her music under fiddling greats such as Alasdair Fraser, Buddy MacMaster, Bruce Molsky, Daniel Lapp, and Martin Hayes. In September, 1995, Shona was chosen to join the internationally known Canadian Celtic-pop group, “The Paperboys”. During the 2 ½ years she was with the band, she toured extensively throughout North America playing on stages from Vancouver and San Francisco to Halifax and New York. She has performed at sold-out festivals and venues such as: The Boston Irish Festival, the Vancouver Folk Music and Celtic Festivals, the Toronto Harbourfront and Celtic Festivals, the Victoria Celtic Festival, the Owen Sound Folk Festival, the Kentucky Folk Festival, the Seattle Folklife and Bumbershoot Festivals, the Spectrum in Montreal, the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver, the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, and many more. Shona was also part of the du Maurier Concert Series, the Huron Carol Concert Series, and the MuchMusic Canadian benefit tour for AIDS. During the summer of 1997, Shona recorded the album “Molinos” with The Paperboys. It was released on the Stony Plain/Warner Canada label and won the Canadian Juno Award in March 1998 for “The Best Roots and Traditional Album – Group” category. Shona also recorded two music videos with The Paperboys which were broadcast across the country on “CMT” and “MuchMusic”. She has made appearances on radio and T.V. shows such as: CBC radio, Terminal City (CBC TV), Muchmusic in Vancouver, Toronto, Halifax, and San Francisco, the Vicki Gabreau Show (TV), the CMT Rockin’ Country Series (TV), Entertainment Desk in Toronto (TV), Breakfast Television in Toronto and Vancouver, and numerous other radio stations in Canada and the USA. In 1998/99, Shona performed with “Micheal Flatley’s Lord of the Dance” at the New York, NY Casino in Las Vegas and at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. More recently, Shona has performed and recorded with several local Canadian bands such as “Fear of Drinking”, “Tim Readman”, “Alpha YaYa Dialo”, “The Town Pants”, and “Mad Pudding”. Shona is also in great demand as a fiddle teacher. She has been teaching privately for over 13 years and was the founder and director of the Vancouver Scottish Fiddle Club which ran successfully for six years. During the summers of 2002 - 2004, Shona was invited to teach at the Coast Strings Fiddle School in British Columbia and the Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp in Denver, Colorado. At these schools she was on staff with some of the best fiddlers in the world such as: Bruce Molsky, Seamus Connelly, Richard Greene, Iain Fraser, Pierre Schryer, Andy Stein, and Sandy MacIntyre. Throughout 2006/2007, Shona will be teaching fiddle lessons in Vancouver and Victoria, BC. In March of 2005, Shona released her debut solo album, "Destination Grouville." |
2006 |
The Mid-Winter Celtic Festival welcomed fiddler Ashley MacLeod from Glengarry, Ontario! Ashley performed at the Ceilidh with her cousin Kelsey McDonell, and they gave a great performance for the capacity crowd! During the day, Ashley conducted a fiddle workshop attended by enthusiastic fiddlers from around Saskatchewan. This summer, Ashley released her latest CD "Hold Fast" [The motto of the Clan MacLeod] and you can get copies here. |
2005 |
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2004 |
Phil Flaherty
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Jennifer Roland
Stephen McAteer
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The Lighthouse Penguins The Lighthouse Penguins is a four-piece Celtic group from Saskatoon. Skye Lennox fiddle The Lighthouse Penguins deliver a turbocharged mix of infectious reels, jigs and songs while staying true to the spirit of the Celtic tradition. They performed at the Festival two years ago, and they have been delivering great entertainment since at ceilidhs, Highland Games, pubs, festivals, and dance parties across the prairies. |
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The Calgary band Seanachie has made a couple of appearances at the MWCF, and they always bring a great time and good music to the Ceilidh. City of Regina Pipe Band member Ann Gray performs on Highland pipes, smallpipes, whistles, mandolin and vocals, and front man Gordon McCulloch takes you on a journey you won't forget. Regulars include Peter Clark on bass and guitar, and Robin Tufts on any kind of percussion! Visit their web site, and check out |
Sadly enough, the 2001 MWCF was the last public performance for the Calgary-based band Scatter the Mud. Named after a great old tune, this was a favourite band across Canada, from PEI to BC. Their self-titled debut CD made a big splash on Canadian airwaves, and they had a couple more good ones to follow. The members are all happy (we're told) and prospering, and we'll have to be content with happy memories! |
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Kendra MacGillivray was born and raised in Antigonish, The Highland Heart of Nova Scotia. Music and dance have always been a major part of Kendra's life and along with her family, she has performed at various concerts and ceilidhs playing the music of her Scottish ancestors. One such pioneer was her grandfather, Hugh A. MacDonald, who recorded Scottish fiddle music in 1935 and 1936 on the Celtic Music Label. Kendra learned to play many of the tunes which he played and continues to keep the music alive through playing, teaching and promoting.
We were really fortunate to have Kendra and Troy MacGillivray out to the Festival, and what a great show they put on! They also taught fiddle tunes at the workshop, and did impromptu Cape Breton dance instruction at the ceilidh! |
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Regina band Iron Brew played at a few festivals, including the year they released their CD "Are You My Sister?" Fronted by Gord Fisch [guitar/mandolin/lead vocals], and supported by Mike Quinn [bodhran/vocals], Barbara MacDonald [whistles/vocals], Iain MacDonald [Highland and uilleann pipes] and Tim "Captain Drummer" Dixon {percussion----sadly, Tim passed away in 2001], the band cooked up a frothy brew of hard-driving jigs and reels, mournful ballads, and just plain fun. You can still buy the CD online here.
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Saskatoon's Eileen Laverty broke onto the Canadian music scene after being a shy local star for years. Her beautiful voice and passionate lyrics are a soulful mix, and the hint of an Irish accent gives her package authenticity on top of her technical brilliance. Since appearing at the Festival, Eileen released her acclaimed CD Dancing With Angels, and she has toured Canada, toured Ireland with Mary Black, and had Mary perform one of her songs on her "best of" CD. Not bad! |
Elysian Dream Originally from Ontario, now resident in Tugaske, SK. "TC" and Dave do a lot of performing and touring, and they have multi-instrument show that's worht seeing whenever you get the chance. Paddy's great ballads and traditional instrumentation have been a part of the Saskatchewan folk scene for many years, and we were very pleased to have Paddy perform at one of the Ceilidhs.
These folks do a great show, and they have been a part of the Festival's "Celtic Fair" for a number of years.
They play the music you love to dance to, and they do it with great style and grace. These folks are always a favourite at the Celtic Fair.
What would a show be without Highland dancers? This dance school has been a great supporter of the Festival.
More local dancers who have always turned up in force to lead the way to the Walls of Limerick! |
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Ashley MacLeod
Former front man for "Scatter the Mud" was the main act in 2004, and we also had a set from Saskatoon singer and Festival friend Eileen Laverty. We were also thrilled to have 9-times World Highland Dance Champion Colleen Rintamaki. Colleen performed at the Ceilidh, and conducted a Highland dance workshop on Sunday.
In 2003, we had Jennifer Roland and her band out from Cape Breton, and she entertained at the Ceilidh and put on a great fiddle workshop. Jennifer is a lovely player, a great dancer, and a very solid entertainer, and her band was excellent.
2003 was also a great year for irish dance at the Festival. We were honoured to have former World and All-Ireland Champion Stephen McAteer at the Festival. From the Toronto area, Stephen has won many Canadian and north American titles,a nd was also part of the Riverdance show that toured North America. He was a fabulour worshop instructor, and an all-round great guy to have at the Festival. 
Iron Brew
The Sinclair School of Highland Dance