Wendy_MacIsaac

Beòlach

Beòlach

Canadian instrumental folk music group

Beòlach is a Canadian instrumental folk music group from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.[1] They are most noted for their 2020 album All Hands, which was a Juno Award nominee for Traditional Folk Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2021[2] and won two Canadian Folk Music Awards for Traditional Album of the Year and Instrumental Group of the Year at the 16th Canadian Folk Music Awards.[3]

Formed in 1998 by fiddlers Wendy MacIsaac and Màiri Rankin, pianist Mac Morin, guitarist Patrick Gillis and piper Ryan MacNeil to play a set at the Celtic Colours festival,[4] they released the albums Beòlach in 2001 and Variations in 2004, and toured extensively to support the albums, but then went on hiatus as the band members pursued other projects.[5] They began performing as a group again in the late 2010s.[6] Matt MacIsaac replaced Ryan MacNeil on pipes at this time; while Gillis has also not rejoined the band as a full-time member, he performed some guitar parts as a session musician on All Hands.[1]

In addition to their Juno and CFMA nominations, the group received four East Coast Music Award nominations in 2021, for best instrumental album, roots traditional album, group recording and fans choice entertainer of the year.[7]

References

  1. [1]
    Dan MacDonald, "Beòlach releases long-awaited CD". Halifax Chronicle-Herald, January 10, 2020.
  2. [2]
    Holly Gordon, "The Weeknd, JP Saxe, Jessie Reyez and Justin Bieber lead 2021 Juno Award nominations". CBC Music, March 9, 2021.
  3. [3]
    "Pharis & Jason Romero Head CFMA Winners List". FYI Music News, April 11, 2021.
  4. [4]
    Wendy MacIsaac, "Wendy MacIsaac: Beòlach and Beyond". Fiddler Magazine, September 1, 2005.
  5. [5]
    "Beolach not breaking up". Cape Breton Post, June 30, 2006.
  6. [6]
    "Celtic super-group coming to Mission". Mission City Record, October 13, 2017.
  7. [7]
    Elizabeth Patterson, "Cape Breton group Beòlach earns four ECMA nominations thanks to latest album". The Telegram, March 2, 2021.


Stub icon

This article about a Canadian band or other musical ensemble is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Wendy_MacIsaac, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.