When artists take residency
Program increases stature, development of festival
In 2001, my second year working as an information officer for the festival, Celtic Colours introduced its artists in residence program.
The idea behind the program was for the artists in residence - traditionally someone local paired with an artist from “away”- to take on a leading role in some specific aspect of the festival.
“Many festivals have artists in residence,” Celtic Colours co-founder and past artistic director Joella Foulds said at the time. “They increase the stature of a festival as they… help develop the culture and skills surrounding and associated with the music. [They] play a role that goes beyond performing to provide an educational and developmental dimension to the festival.”
Gaelic singer Mary Jane Lamond and Scottish guitarist Tony McManus were well chosen for the role in its first year, hosting concerts, consulting on programming, and leading workshops, as well as performing all week. As the program developed over the years, its boundaries expanded somewhat and in 2004, it was artists in residence Gordie Sampson, Corrina Hewat and David Milligan who took on the challenge of presenting the first Unusual Suspects of Celtic Colours event.
“I feel that a festival is not doing its job if it’s not making new things happen,” explained Foulds then. “Our most important legacy is the brilliant collaborations that result when musicians get a chance to work together.”
And these things - development, presentation, creation have been the hallmarks of the program ever since.
Whether it’s composing and presenting tunes around a theme, or adding new songs to the Gaelic repertoire, or exploring connections between Cape Breton’s music and culture and that of other parts of the Celtic world, the artists in residence have made a tangible impact.
That legacy will continue this year as we welcome two Canadian artists in residence for the first time, songwriters Buddy MacDonald from the North Shore of Cape Breton and James Keelaghan, who grew up in Western Canada. MacDonald, of course, has been a fixture at Celtic Colours since it started, as host of the Festival Club, and one of the Island’s most popular singer-songwriters. Keelaghan first performed at Celtic Colours in 2004.
“Joella Foulds brought me in for a songwriter’s circle at one of the first Celtic Colours,” recalls Keelaghan, whose family took in a boarder from Cape Breton when he was 11 years old; the boarder stayed for seven years.
“I felt like I knew the place, if not as a second home, it was at the very least a place that I had felt bonded with. In subsequent returns to Celtic Colours I have always felt like I was a part of the community rather than a rogue Albertan.”
Keelaghan returned in 2008 as part of a songwriting project led by one of that year’s artists in residence, award-winning Scottish songwriter and singer Karine Polwart, which saw six songwriters from Canada and Scotland sequestered for five days, tasked with writing songs together around the theme of “coming home,” to be presented in concert later in the week.
“The ‘song house’ from 2008 remains one of my most productive weeks of songwriting,” Keelaghan says.
“Spurred by the talent of those involved, and by the tangible deadline of a public performance, it made all of us want to work especially hard.”
They thought that if they got through the week and had eight or nine songs they’d be in good shape and could fill in with songs from their back catalogue. By show time they actually had around 20 songs.
“I believe 16 of them made it to the stage,” he says, adding, “It was not a group of hack writers with nothing to say. It was some of the finest writers from both the UK and Canada.”
He is excited, as artist in residence himself this year, to be involved in a similar songwriting project, although this time around the songwriters are from various parts of Canada.
“It’s the same this year. There are no lightweights in this group, they are all writers for whom I have the utmost respect. Lynn Miles is, in my opinion, one of the finest songwriters this country has ever produced. Also possessed of a wicked wit, she is a lot of fun to be around. Bruce Guthro needs no introduction to Celtic Colours audiences. He is a powerful presence. Catherine MacLellan has songwriting DNA from her father, a fantastic voice and is probably the most thoughtful of all of us. Cara Luft I have known since she was 10 years old, and she is one of the best all around musicians I have ever met. J.D. Edwards has a natural way with a melody and an everyman approach to his songwriting.”
If things go to plan, Keelaghan expects, “the songs that come out of the Songs From Scratch top secret location are sure to be as fine as any you’ve heard from us.”
Once Songs From Scratch wraps up, James will be teaming up with his fellow artist in residence Buddy MacDonald for a sold out concert in North River and once again during the closing
concert. On previous visits to Celtic Colours, MacDonald says, the two have performed in the same concerts, but he is very much looking forward to this opportunity to spend a little more time together.
“I’m excited to be asked to be artist in residence, and to be able to work with one of my heroes,” says MacDonald. “He’s a great, and very important, songwriter in Canada, and internationally. So it’s pretty neat to get this chance to get to know James better and spend some time together, doing shows, and discussing our different takes on writing. It’s a great learning experience for me, and good for the festival and festival audiences.”
There are still tickets available for Songs from Scratch, Tuesday, October 10 at Our Lady of Fatima Church in Sydney River. And you can catch both artists in residence, Keelaghan and MacDonald, together in The Grand Finale concert at the
Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre on Saturday, October 14.
The 21st Celtic Colours International Festival runs from October 6-14, 2017, featuring concerts and cultural events in more than 60 communities all over Cape Breton Island. For tickets or more information visit celtic-colours.com or call 902-567-3000 (local), 1-888-3557744 (toll free). If you are in the area, why not drop by the Celtic Colours Box Office on Nepean Street in Sydney and browse the selection of merchandise on sale, including books, music, apparel, and hand-made craft items designed exclusively for the Festival.