Fiddlin Country

The Open Up the Summer Kitchen Celidh

cei-lidh: pronunciation [key-lee]
–noun Irish, Scot., and Canadian (chiefly Prince Edward Island).
a party, gathering, or the like, at which singing and storytelling are the usual forms of entertainment

The fourth annual Open Up the Summer Kitchen Ceilidh was held in Almonte on Sunday. Yes, fiddling remains alive and well in this part of the country, and Almonte is one of the centres where this fine tradition continues to thrive. I took a few video clips with our little camera (I guess I should learn to use the kids' proper video camera), so please excuse the quality, especially the sound quality, but I do want to share this experience with those of you who live in areas where such wonderful traditions are no longer extant. (I also blogged about the event two years ago here.)

First up, we have The Barley Shakers. These are the people that I jam with ... more or less. I make this claim modestly because I am only able to play about every fourth song when we get together, and even then I often struggle with the fast tempo. Nevertheless, they humour me and let me continue to hang around the edges. They play great Celtic-style tunes. This clip is only about a minute long.



Step dancing and fiddling seem to go together, and the group called Fusion usually attends festivals such as these, and they were in very good form on this occasion. To many, this form of dance is unfamiliar, but I guess it's related to Irish dancing and clogging although it isn't exactly either of them. This clip runs for over three minutes, but I hope you decide to peek at a bit of it anyway because they're really good.



Finally, I present Andre Brunet, last year's Canadian Fiddling Champion. This clip runs for just under two minutes. He's a great stage presence and enjoys himself immensely. He was the only non-local performer of the day, and even then he only lives a few hours away in Montreal.