Cape Breton / Ontario - Traditional, Rock, Classical
Ashley MacIsaac
This colourful performer and masterful fiddler will turn up the heat at Mariposa Folk Festival this year. Ashley MacIsaac, one of Canada's pre-eminent entertainers, is a performer who does things with flair and panache, mixing traditional fiddle music with modern sounds. He has worked with an impressive array of talent including David Byrne, the Chieftans, Mary Jane Lamond and others, crossing the boundaries of folk, punk, garage rock and metal. Accompanying Ashley is the remarkable teenaged phenomenon, Quinn Bachand.
Ashley MacIsaac is appearing in
Canadiana Friday at 9:30pm
No Fool For Trying Saturday at 3:15pm
Concert Saturday at 9:00pm
Ashley MacIsaac is, in a sense, the musical representative of the pre-millenial generation of Eastern Canada. An ardent traditionalist with a penchant, nevertheless, for experimentation, this 35-year-old Nova Scotian native has been taught to play the fiddle the working-class, pub-stomp Cape Breton way: fast, furious and with phenomenal precision.
MacIsaac has unarguably put his own spin on the sounds he was brought up with. This headstrong approach has led to Ashley working with an impressive array of talent: David Byrne, the Chieftans, Mary Jane Lamond, and others. Along with nation-wide radio play for his first single, "Sleepy Maggie", featuring the dream-like Gaelic vocals of Mary Jane Lamond, and a regular slot on Canadian video channel MuchMusic, MacIsaac was soon recognized coast-to-coast as something of a minor national icon.
His ability to cross the boundaries of folk, punk, garage rock, and metal, all bound together by his astonishing fiddle-playing, branded him as an eccentric, an upstart, and in many cases, a pioneer. Additionally, his refusal to conform to a quick and easy "studio image" earned him a solid fanbase.
In 1998, MacIsaac released his follow-up to Hi!, How Are You Today?, a more traditional return to form entitled Fine!, Thank You Very Much. Other albums released over the past decade have seen Ashley explore all the genres one could imagine from such an edgy fiddler. A return to more traditional material and sound is probably what we’ll see at Mariposa but with a musical genius like Ashley MacIsaac, you never know exactly what you’re going to get!
Accompanying Ashley is the remarkable teenaged phenomenon, Quinn Bachand. Blessed with an acute ear and an innate sense of rhythm 14 year old Quinn Bachand is rapidly gaining world-wide recognition as a gifted guitar player and sought after accompanist. Although Quinn plays a range of styles including gypsy-jazz, it is his talents in the world of Celtic music that are drawing the most attention. A focused and intense musician, Quinn has the unique ability to bring out the best in each tune. Quinn has performed across Canada with Cape Breton fiddle sensation Ashley MacIsaac at various events including the Edmonton Folk Festival, Celtic Colours International Festival and the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Check out Quinn's website at