Musicians

Mabou & District Musicial Itinerary (Example) July - September
Featuring much of the fantastic local entertainment listed below

Monday Nights - Adult square dances in Brook Village
Tuesday Nights - Joey & Karen Beaton host a Ceilidh at the Mabou Hall
Thursday Nights - Glencoe Family Square Dance
Friday Nights - The Red Shoe Pub
Saturday Nights - West Mabou Hall Family Square Dance
Sunday Afternoon - The Red Shoe Pub

Late Musicians
Who Played An Instrumental Role In Shaping The Style Of Our Music Today

Dan R. MacDonald (1911-1976)

Although Dan R. had a reputation as an outstanding fiddler, people remember him best for his composing. In the early 1970's it was estimated that Dan R., had written over two thousand tunes. Many of his compositions have become part of the standard Cape Breton repertoire, and other musicians have frequently recorded them.

John Allan Cameron 1938-2006

John Allan Cameron was born in Glencoe Station in Cape Breton, N.S. John Allan's was able to blend music and story telling and combine it with his quick sense of humour. John Allan Cameron is so called the "Godfather of Celtic Music". John Allan, introduced a brand that would become known as Cape Breton music in the 1960s when he started picking traditional Scottish pipe tunes on twelve-string guitar.

Donald Angus (1912-1982) & Elizabeth Beaton (1919-2011)

Musical tradition and talent is a well traced gift throughout the ancestry of fiddler Donald Angus Beaton. Donald Angus Beaton married Elizabeth MacEachen, a gifted Cape Breton Scottish piano player and together they entertained for many years throughout Cape Breton. Both deceased, many of their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren are carrying on their musical traditions and talents.

Dan J. Campbell (1895-1981)

Dan J. Campbell was a fiddler and pioneer recording artist from Glenora Falls. Father of renowned fiddlers and composers John (now deceased) & Donald Campbell . Dan. J was noted for finding and performing older tunes not commonly played.

John Morris Rankin (1959-2000)

John Morris Rankin, was a largely self taught pianist & fiddler and a member of the Mabou supergroup The Rankin Family. John Morris died suddenly in 2000 and The Strathspey Place Performing Arts Centre in Mabou has since dedicated its' stage the John Morris Rankin Stage, in memoriam of this late great jewel of Mabous' music scene.

Raylene Rankin (1960-2012)

All the Diamonds is the title of Rankin's latest solo CD that was released this year. It was her first solo CD in seven years. Rankin started her music career as a member of The Rankin Family in 1989. The band was made up of Raylene and four of her siblings, all of whom grew up in the small Cape Breton village of Mabou.

The Rankin Family was together for ten years and sold more than 2 million records, won six Juno awards, three Canadian Country Music Awards and 15 East Coast Music Awards. In 1999 members of the group went their separate ways to pursue different interests.

Willie Kennedy (1925-2014)

In Mabou, Kennedy came into his own as a fiddler playing often with fellow fiddlers such as Fr. Francis Cameron, Kenneth Joseph MacDonald, Flora Catherine MacNeil, Sandy Cameron, Gregory Campbell, Fr. Angus Morris, and later a whole new younger generation of fiddlers such as his neighbours, Mairi Rankin, Rodney MacDonald, and Allan and Stuart Cameron.
Willie was a true gentleman as anyone who knew him would confirm. He was generous with his gift and his talent. Willie was known for his “old time” fiddling style; a style he noted that often included grace notes and “tic tac toes”.
“I seem to have the old stuff in me so deep! I can’t grasp the new tunes as easily,” he once told Allister MacGillivray.
Willie was also proud that he owned one of Dan R. MacDonald’s fiddles and he made the most of it, playing many of Dan R.’s tunes in his own repertoire.
http://www.invernessoran.ca/entertainment/169-willie-kennedy-remembered

Mabou & District Musicial Itinerary (Example) July - September*Featuring much of the fantastic local entertainment listed below*

Late Musicians Who Played An Instrumental Role In Shaping The Style Of Our Music Today