Post by Joe on May 15, 2007 0:10:13 GMT -5
© 2007 Trail Daily Times
Tracking down musician Roseanne MacKenzie takes a bit of work: she has an agent in Charlottetown who refers calls to a manager in Boston, who says MacKenzie hasn't started her Western Canadian tour yet and can be reached at home in Cape Breton.
A telephone interview for 1 p.m. Atlantic time, won't work, the manager says, as MacKenzie will still be in school at that hour.
Of course, this globetrotting, rising Celtic star, with agents, managers, and a band named after her, is only 17 and has to pack her homework along with her fiddle when she hits the road.
The Grade 11 student is keen to finish high school so she can take up music full time. But in the meantime, she is determined to keep her options open by maintaining her grades. She missed 80 days last year, when her former band, the Cottars, was touring with the Irish music stars, the Chieftains.
"It has been a bit of a juggling act, but I try to maintain a balance between performing and school, and keep my marks up, in case I want to continue my education at some point."
Home is Baddeck, N.S., which is famous as the long-time residence of Alexander Graham Bell. But more importantly for an aspiring young Celtic musician, is its location just down the road from St. Ann's, where the world-renowned Gaelic College of Arts and Crafts is located and she was able to learn from the likes of Buddy MacMaster.
MacKenzie's parents loved music and enjoyed singing along and keeping time when the songs started at parties and family gatherings, but did not play any instruments. She fell in love with the fiddle when, as a seven-year-old, she saw Buddy MacMaster's winsome and talented niece Natalie performing on the Fred Penner's children's show.
"Right then, I decided I wanted to play and have been enthralled by the fiddle ever since. Growing up in Cape Breton, music is just such a big part of you."
With her [guitarist] older brother Jimmy, she teamed up with another sibling act, Ciaran and Fiona MacGillivray, when she was 11 to form the Cottars. With a big push from Irish Canadian tenor John McDermott, who performed in Trail last week, the group was soon recording and touring as far a field as Europe and Japan.
"(McDermott) has been a very big influence and a continual source of support for me," MacKenzie said.
After a messy break-up last year of the Cottars, of which she will say only, "it's best not to go there," MacKenzie was keen for more musical experience. Her handlers set her up with two Irish musicians, singer Pauline Scanlon and guitarist Donogh Hennessy, and rounded out the new group with Cape Breton pianist and fiddler Howie MacDonald, who has toured with Natalie MacMaster and the Rankins.
Of the blend of styles, Mackenzie said that while Cape Breton music has its roots in Scotland, it is also influenced by Irish music, and is ultimately a creation all of its own.
"We were so isolated and cut off from the world that we really developed a style all of our own. You almost have to be from Cape Breton to play it."
The group performs a mix of Cape Breton and Irish songs, with Mackenzie also singing back-up to Scanlon and throwing in some step dancing.
- Raymond Masleck
The Mackenzie Project performs Tuesday at the Charles Bailey Theatre at 7:30 p.m.
© 2007 Trail Daily Times
Tracking down musician Roseanne MacKenzie takes a bit of work: she has an agent in Charlottetown who refers calls to a manager in Boston, who says MacKenzie hasn't started her Western Canadian tour yet and can be reached at home in Cape Breton.
A telephone interview for 1 p.m. Atlantic time, won't work, the manager says, as MacKenzie will still be in school at that hour.
Of course, this globetrotting, rising Celtic star, with agents, managers, and a band named after her, is only 17 and has to pack her homework along with her fiddle when she hits the road.
The Grade 11 student is keen to finish high school so she can take up music full time. But in the meantime, she is determined to keep her options open by maintaining her grades. She missed 80 days last year, when her former band, the Cottars, was touring with the Irish music stars, the Chieftains.
"It has been a bit of a juggling act, but I try to maintain a balance between performing and school, and keep my marks up, in case I want to continue my education at some point."
Home is Baddeck, N.S., which is famous as the long-time residence of Alexander Graham Bell. But more importantly for an aspiring young Celtic musician, is its location just down the road from St. Ann's, where the world-renowned Gaelic College of Arts and Crafts is located and she was able to learn from the likes of Buddy MacMaster.
MacKenzie's parents loved music and enjoyed singing along and keeping time when the songs started at parties and family gatherings, but did not play any instruments. She fell in love with the fiddle when, as a seven-year-old, she saw Buddy MacMaster's winsome and talented niece Natalie performing on the Fred Penner's children's show.
"Right then, I decided I wanted to play and have been enthralled by the fiddle ever since. Growing up in Cape Breton, music is just such a big part of you."
With her [guitarist] older brother Jimmy, she teamed up with another sibling act, Ciaran and Fiona MacGillivray, when she was 11 to form the Cottars. With a big push from Irish Canadian tenor John McDermott, who performed in Trail last week, the group was soon recording and touring as far a field as Europe and Japan.
"(McDermott) has been a very big influence and a continual source of support for me," MacKenzie said.
After a messy break-up last year of the Cottars, of which she will say only, "it's best not to go there," MacKenzie was keen for more musical experience. Her handlers set her up with two Irish musicians, singer Pauline Scanlon and guitarist Donogh Hennessy, and rounded out the new group with Cape Breton pianist and fiddler Howie MacDonald, who has toured with Natalie MacMaster and the Rankins.
Of the blend of styles, Mackenzie said that while Cape Breton music has its roots in Scotland, it is also influenced by Irish music, and is ultimately a creation all of its own.
"We were so isolated and cut off from the world that we really developed a style all of our own. You almost have to be from Cape Breton to play it."
The group performs a mix of Cape Breton and Irish songs, with Mackenzie also singing back-up to Scanlon and throwing in some step dancing.
- Raymond Masleck
The Mackenzie Project performs Tuesday at the Charles Bailey Theatre at 7:30 p.m.
© 2007 Trail Daily Times