Strathspey Notes: Kyle and Colin MacDonald, Rita Rankin and Buddy MacDonald

Strathspey Performing Arts Centre is proud to debut its’ first ever Classic Concert Series, also known as “Strathspey Notes”.  Strathspey Notes is a Strathspey Production involving a series of 6 concerts – 3 will take place in Spring and 3 will take place in Fall.  Expect to hear a variety of musical combinations from Jazz and Blues to original folksy compositions to good old-time Scottish music.  There will be songs, tunes, dance, and unique instrumental pieces.

Highly renowned Cape Breton Island singer-songwriter Buddy MacDonald will brilliantly host all concerts, sharing his unique entertainment talents as gracious Master of Ceremonies but also as a performer you will not want to miss. Buddy will be joined on June 24 by 2017 ECMA nominee Kyle MacDonald, Colin MacDonald, and Rita Rankin.

Kyle MacDonald from Foot Cape, Cape Breton grew up surrounded by a community of fantastic fiddle players. As a youth he spent many hours with the late Dougie MacDonald and performed widely on the Island with his two brothers, (Keith and Colin) calling themselves “All Fired Up”. His development as a fiddler benefited from his early age affiliation with the Cape Breton Fiddler’s Association, and he was lucky to have experiences learning from players such as Ed Rogers, John Campbell, Stan Chapman, Jerry Holland, Carl MacKenzie, David Greenburg, Winnie Chafe, and Buddy MacMaster. Marianne Jewel instructed Kyle throughout his teen years deciphering the Gaelic style of fiddle playing local to the Mabou area. It was during this time that he gained confident literacy in note reading, and developed his playing in a variety of key signatures.

Colin MacDonald is multi-talented musician from Foot Cape, just outside Inverness, and the Gaelic Director at the Gaelic College. Not only fluent in Gaelic, he stepdances, plays guitar, piano, and drums, and along with his brothers, performs in the band All Fired Up. He studied Gaelic at Dalbrae Academy, Cape Breton University and Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, as well as working with a Gaelic-speaking mentor in the Bun’s Bàrr program.