Artist Category: Celtic | Page 2

Hanneke Cassel

With a career spanning over two decades, Hanneke Cassel has helped redefine what it means to be a modern fiddler. A driving force in the ever-changing landscape of acoustic music, Hanneke blends originality and innovation with the spirit of Scottish traditional fiddle. Fusing musical roots from the Isle of Skye and Cape Breton Island with Americana stylings, Hanneke’s playing has been described by the Boston Globe as “exuberant and rhythmic, somehow wild and innocent, delivered with captivating melodic clarity and an irresistible playfulness.” Beyond the strings of her fiddle, it is Hanneke’s hugely generous presence and passion that round out her magnetism as a performer on the world stage of fiddle music.

Cassel’s latest album Infinite Brightness lyrically and poignantly captures a brightness that shines with sorrow-tinted joy. Written on the heels of a global pandemic and in memory of friends who’ve died in recent years, the nine compositions on this album exude Cassel’s trademark energetic playing while carrying the gravitas of loss, grief, and a sense of hope that endures. Co-produced with bandmate Keith Murphy, who plays guitar and harmonium on the album, Infinite Brightness also features Jenna Moynihan, who contributes five-string fiddle, Tristan Clarridge on cello, and guitarist Yann Falquet (heard on “Dmitri’s Dream” and “Last Alleluia”).

Doug Lamey

Doug has studied, taught and performed Cape Breton fiddle for most of his life, inspired from toddlerhood by his grandfather, legendary fiddler Bill Lamey. Since then, Doug has performed at many concerts and festivals throughout North America. He recorded a CD in 2009 as a member of the band Tri (“Among Friends/A-measg Chàirdean”), which was released at Club Passim, and upon his move to Cape Breton in 2011, Doug celebrated with a solo album, A Step Back in Time. Doug’s playing has a solid rhythmic beat that’s the key to the great Cape Breton-style fiddling, and his love of the music clearly shines through. Doug currently resides in Baddeck, Cape Breton with his family and just this past winter released another solo album entitled True North, now available in person and online. Fiddler Magazine says “Amazing Cape Breton Fiddler.” True North is “Highly Recommended.”

Flynn Cohen

Acoustic Guitar and mandolin player Flynn Cohen has performed all over the world with many notable acts in traditional and contemporary acoustic music. He can be seen in concert with the American folk band LOW LILY (formerly known as Annalivia), and legendary Irish Accordion player John Whelan, as well as duo shows playing music from his four solo albums.

Flynn has also performed with Ruth Moody, Halali, The Sevens, Aoife Clancy, Cathie Ryan, Lawrence Nugent, Dylan Foley, Skip Healy, Joe Derrane and Frank Ferrel, John McGann, Matt Glaser, Brian Wicklund, Tony Watt and Southeast Expressway, Adrienne Young, Jake & Taylor Armerding, Laura Orshaw, Duncan Wickel, Gail Davies, Jilly Martin, Malibu Storm, Bruce MacGregor, Lissa Schneckenburger, Laura Cortese, Mark Simos, Matt Heaton, The Boxcar Lillies, Women of Ireland, The Vancouver Symphony, the Orchestra of Indian Hill, Revels, and Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble, among others. He has performed at the Library of Congress and the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., and at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York City.

A former guitar student of John Renbourn, Davey Graham, Scott Nygaard, and Paul Binkley, Flynn has degrees in Music from Dartington College of Arts in Devon, England and at Mills College in Oakland, California. He taught for many years in the Music Departments at Keene State College in New Hampshire and Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts and is currently an online guitar instructor with Peghead Nation.

Pine Tree Flyers

Four of the finest exponents of New England’s traditional music scene shine a renewed light on the tunes of the Northeast with excitement and respect. From festival stages and concert halls to raucous August nights at fiddle camp, the Flyers are here to make sure New England music has a seat at the table as a distinct and vital American tradition. All residents of the great state of Maine, Katie McNally (fiddle), Emily Troll (accordion), Benjamin Foss (guitar), and Neil Pearlman (piano) cut their teeth playing for contra dances and learning from the greats. Individually, they’ve toured the world playing Irish, Scottish, and Quebecois music and they bring this wellspring of knowledge and technical prowess to the American music that was born from these traditions.

Each member of the band brings years of experience and dedication to their craft: Foss and Pearlman have taught at Maine Fiddle Camp since they were teens, Troll plays in the acclaimed contra dance band Anadama, and McNally performed for over a decade with New England supergroup Childsplay. The Flyers have toured internationally and domestically, gracing the stages of festivals such as Celtic Connections, Celtic Colours, Festival of Small Halls, Ossipee Valley Music Festival and playing concerts and dances across the Northeast. They released their self-titled album in May 2024 and appear on the Celtic Colours Live, Vol. 10; both recordings feature founding band member Owen Marshall on guitar.

In the liner notes of their debut album, Amelia Mason writes “Practically every aesthetic choice the Pine Tree Flyers make is in service to New England music’s fundamental accessibility and appeal. In essence, they are repaying the music for its gift to them: a sense of joy, communion, and one’s place in the world.” While New England tunes may not be well known outside of the Northeastern United States, the Flyers are proving that their musical heritage is as vibrant and vital as any American folk tradition. Make way for…THE PINE TREE FLYERS!

Natalie & Brittany Haas

Sisters Natalie (cello) and Brittany Haas (fiddle) began their musical lives together, filling their childhood home with Bach suites and Old-Time tunes alike. It was on their own, however—following divergent paths through disparate musical traditions, countries, and cultures—that they both arrived as virtuosi and composers at the highest levels of contemporary string music. Fans of acoustic music can hardly mention one without referencing the other’s work. With HAAS, these singular musicians finally record together – in duo form – for the first time.

Credited with putting cello on the map of contemporary Celtic music, Natalie brings a wealth of world influences to her instrument, fashioning a tone and rhythmic sense that transcends any single tradition. Along with her longtime collaborator Alasdair Fraser, with whom she has released seven albums, Natalie has charted a new course through the string music of Scotland, Ireland, Spain, and beyond—all without losing the influence of classical technique or her American roots, the combination of which have been on display since her earliest years, particularly in her remarkable ease in toggling between the worlds of traditional fiddle camps and Juilliard, where she studied classical performance.

Among the most influential fiddlers of her generation, Brittany has combined a world-renowned virtuosity with a musical sensibility all her own—a combination that has gained the attention, and elicited the admiration, of some of the greatest musicians in the world. Having studied under Bruce Molsky and Darol Anger, Brittany went on to join Anger’s Republic of Strings, Crooked Still, Tony Trischka and Steve Martin, Dave Rawlings Machine, and most recently her own quartet, Hawktail (formed alongside Paul Kowert, Jordan Tice, and Dominick Leslie). A mainstay of Chris Thile’s “Live From Here,” Brittany’s fiddle has made waves throughout American music, crossing genres and generations in a new approach to her instrument.

On HAAS, these two brightest lights of contemporary strings join forces as a duo all their own. It is a collaboration a lifetime in the making, and a music encompassing travels through time and through the world. From Nashville to Norway, the Celtic Isles to California, Natalie and Brittany have absorbed, adapted, and made their own world of music. The result? HAAS.

Elias Alexander

Elias is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer originally from Ashland Oregon. He makes music that blends traditional music from Scotland, Ireland and America with pop and electronica. He also tours with Scottish legends Old Blind Dogs playing pipes and whistles. In the past he has played with bands Soulsha, Fàrsan, The Bywater Band, MAC and Seven Nations, and performed at top festivals like Glasgow’s Celtic Connections, Cape Breton’s Celtic Colours, Festival of Small Halls (PEI), Austin Celtic Festival, KVMR Celtic Festival, and countless others. His music celebrates human creativity, liberation, and the multi-generational journeys we find ourselves on.

Sam Shackleton

Sam Shackleton, also known by his Gaelic moniker, Sorley the Bard, is a Scottish singer-songwriter and folk artist.

His music is greatly inspired by the rich inter-connected musical oral traditions of Scotland, Ireland, and the United States. Strongly influenced by the 1960’s folk revival, his unique sound is a mix of country, old time, traditional, folk, and blues with a Scottish spirit. He was born in Stirling and raised all over Scotland, from the Borders to the Highlands and his music is deeply inspired by the oral tradition, musical culture, and landscapes of Scotland.

Sam also holds a research masters degree with distinction in Scottish Ethnology from the renowned academic folk music institution, the School of Scottish Studies, specialising in folklore and ethnomusicology. He spends his days writing, performing, and busking across the world, sharing his unique and authentic musical style through his own writing and interpretation of the folk traditions, songs, and ballads that came before him. He views all of his music as part of the carrying stream of folk tradition.

Ensemble Sangineto

Ensemble Sangineto is an eclectic band which blends skillfully ancient harmonies and sonorities with modern rhythms. The wide-ranging musical experiences of the individual members converge to create fresh arrangements of traditional Irish, Scottish, Breton & Italian tunes and original compositions that display influences from many varied musical genres ranging from classical to folk, from Gregorian chant to
musical, from pop to Celtic music.

The delicate combination of the pure and magic tones of the harp and of the bowed psaltery with the guitar intermingle with the three voice-polyphonic texture evoking dreamlike and airy atmospheres, which are simultaneously joyful and light.

ENSEMBLE SANGINETO IS:

Adriano Sangineto: Celtic Harp, Voice

Caterina Sangineto: Bowed Psaltery, Flutes, Voice, Bodhran

Jacopo Ventura: Guitar, Bouzouki, Voice

Adam Hendey

Adam Hendey is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and composer living in Boston, Massachusetts. Known for his sense and skill as a sought-after accompanist in the city’s vibrant traditional music communities, Adam is also a prolific teacher, performer, and producer. Adam is a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where he studied Traditional Music as a Master’s student, and the Robert D. Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon, where he finished with Bachelor’s degrees in Music and Philosophy.

Ryan Young

2022 MG ALBA Musician of The Year nominee Ryan Young brings new and exciting ideas to traditional Scottish music, receiving international praise for his spell-binding interpretations on the fiddle. His debut album was recorded with four time GRAMMY winner Jesse Lewis (who has worked with the likes of Bela Fleck and Yo Yo Ma) and launched at Feakle Traditional Music Festival in County Clare, accompanied by renowned guitarist, Dennis Cahill (Martin Hayes; The Gloaming).

Focussing on traditional Scottish music, Ryan brings new life to very old, often forgotten tunes by playing them in his own unique way. His fiddle playing is brimming with fresh melodic ideas, an uplifting rhythmic drive and a great depth of dynamics and precision. His sound is very distinctive and takes the listener on an emotional and adventurous journey in any performance.

Ryan holds both a first class honours and a Masters degree from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He was twice a finalist in the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards and twice a finalist in the prestigious BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of The Year. He was awarded ‘Up And Coming Artist Of The Year’ at the Scots Trad Awards in 2017, nominated for the Horizon Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2018 and awarded Folking.com’s Musician Of The Year title, also in 2018.

Further MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards nominations include Album Of the Year, and Folk Band Of The Year. Ryan Young was also the only UK artist selected to perform at the prestigious World Music conference, WOMEX, in 2019.