Celtic Hero John Allen Cameron Mourned

The Canadian 'godfather of Celtic music,' singer/guitarist/songwriter John Allan Cameron, died on Wed. (Nov. 22) following a five-year battle with cancer. He was 67. The mournful strains of a bagpipe resonated through a Roman Catholic church in Pickering, Ontario today as more than 500 people gathered to celebrate the life of Celtic hero John Allan Cameron. Cameron's widow Angela walked behind the casket as it was brought into the church in this community just east of Toronto. Pickering was Cameron's adopted home. A black-and-white image of the charismatic Cape Breton performer stood near the front door by a guest book where dozens of family and friends had expressed condolences. Famous names including rocker Tom Cochrane, singer Damhnait Doyle and hockey legend father Walter Gretzky were among the people spotted paying their respects to the accomplished guitarist and storyteller. Cameron was known as the godfather of Celtic music for taking the beloved reels and jigs of his home in Mabou, Nova Scotia to the international stage. His son, guitarist Stuart Cameron, was with him when he passed away at the Centenary Hospital in Scarborough, Ontario. "It was his time and he was a fighter and he never wanted to give up," says Stuart. "He lived life to its fullest." Through his four-decade career, John Allan Cameron recorded 10 albums for such Canadian-based labels as Apex, MCA, Columbia, and his own Glencoe label. His repertoire included Cape Breton fiddler tunes, Scottish and Irish folk songs, bagpipe music adapted to guitar, and music by such Canadian songwriters as Bruce Cockburn, Stan Rogers and Bob Ruzicka. His stature in Celtic music circles in Canada was akin to that of American Bill Monroe in bluegrass music. "In our household growing up, John Allan Cameron was as big as Elvis Presley, ABBA or the Beatles," recalls Nova Socia singer/guitarist Dave Gunning who helped to organize a Cameron tribute in Halifax, Nova Scotia in May 2005. "He was the first performer that I ever saw in concert. He had great taste in material." Born on Dec. 16, 1938, into a musical family in Glencoe Station, Inverness County in Nova Scotia, Cameron learned to play the guitar and by age 12 was playing local dances. His early influences included his legendary Cape Breton fiddling uncle Dan Rory (Dan R) MacDonald and his Gaelic-speaking mother Katie Ann and brother John Donald, who both played fiddle. Between 1957 and 1963, Cameron was in the Order of the Oblate Fathers and had an ambition to become a priest. Although he took his final vows, he received papal dispensation in 1964. He then studied at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, where he received an arts degree. He next received an education degree at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1967. Performing in Eastern Canada clubs and in folk festivals through the country, he was quickly heralded with keeping the tradition of Celtic music and language alive in Canada. This was almost two decades before the emergence of such Celtic-based Atlantic Canada acts in the `90s as the Rankin Family, the Barra MacNeils, Natalie MacMaster and, more recently, the Cottars. "I was performing this stuff before it became sociologically acceptable," Cameron said in a 1993 interview. By the mid-70s, Cameron was a household name in Canada. He appeared on CBC-TV`s 'Singalong Jubilee' and 'Ceilidh' programs. He had his own national series, 'The John Allan Cameron Show' on CTV from 1975 to 1976, and on CBC-TV from 1979 to the winter of 1981. In 1970, Cameron got a standing ovation at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, with fellow Nova Scotian Hank Snow telling him offstage, "Whatever you`re doing, boy, keep it up because it works." Cameron toured extensively throughout North America with Canadian singer Anne Murray in the `70s. She recalls he had the ability to speak Latin. "He used to speak on the set of 'Singalong Jubilee' and other places too, he would break into fluent Latin and do complete sentences." People outside Canada looked at Cameron performing Celtic music in amazement, especially in places like Las Vegas, Murray said. "They`d shake their heads," she recalls. "But he put on such a great show and he made people laugh. And you can`t help but clap your hands and stomp your feet. It`s undeniable, that music, and it elicits that kind of response from people." Cape Breton fiddler Allie Bennett, a long-time Cameron band member says John Allan could play music with anyone. "One time he shared a double bill with Chubby Checker in Charlottetown (Prince Edward Island). Chubby Checker would do a set and then John Allan would do a set. It worked though." In December 2003, John Allan Cameron was awarded the Order of Canada. By Ron Crowe From the Front Page dept. Members: Discuss Posted on 11/28/06; 3:58:19 PM PermaLink: # Trackback:

Blackmore's Night "Winter Carols" upcoming review and giveaway!!!

For nearly a decade, guitar legend Ritchie Blackmore, charismatic vocalist Candice Night and their fellow band of minstrels have crafted an enchanting renaissance/folk/rock sound that has earned them the devotion of fans around the globe. Now for the first time ever, audiences can enjoy the magic of Blackmore's Night performing holiday songs. Stay tuned for more info on the upcoming review and chance to signup for the giveaway! Forged by a common love of Renaissance and Middle Age music, former Deep Purple/Rainbow guitarist Ritchie Blackmore co-founded Blackmore's Night with vocalist Candice Night in 1997. Over the course of five high internationally charting studio albums-four gold records, awarded the Number One Vocal album of the year for two of their releases, music video awards, several live and compilation releases, and many sold- out tours around the planet, they have truly perfected their signature blend of renaissance and folk music with an effective rock and roll flourish. 2006 found the group being aired with their DVD ‘Castles and Dreams” on a one hour special for the fund drive at WLIW and PBS stations throughout the USA. This will continue throughout 2007.The spin off single from their DVD-”Christmas Eve ”charted on the Billboard AC charts last year at number 37-and the original version of Wish You were Here was number one in Europe for 7 months. We have included both of these Holiday songs on the new Blackmore's Night holiday album 'Winter Carols." The songs on “Winter Carols” are Candice and Ritchie's interpretation of many favorite carols, shared, performed and enjoyed for the past 400 years. Candice: "The holiday season has always embodied joy, love, peace, togetherness. We are entranced by the magic of the Season. The sentiments of the holidays are what we try to express in our music year round - so this CD is a natural progression. All the music we craft and create has always been about love, unity and friendship. These songs as a whole are beautiful unifying carols - feel the warmth of friendship. Everyone can join in!" Links to streaming video of “Christmas Eve”: http://www.rivedata.com/post/bnxmaseve061113.mp4 http://www.rivedata.com/post/bnxmaseve061113.wmv You can download the album cover here: http://www.specialopsmedia.com/assets/BlackmoresNight/assets.zip Tracklisting: 1. Hark The Herald Angels Sing / Come All Ye Faithful 2. I Saw Three Ships 3. Winter (Basse Dance) 4. Ding Dong Merrily On High 5. Ma-O-Tzur 6. Good King Wenceslas 7. Lord Of The Dance / Simple Gifts 8. We Three Kings 9. Wish You Were Here 10. Emmanuel 11. Christmas Eve 12. We wish You A Merry Christmas Buy it now here: http://www.amazon.com/Winter-Carols-Blackmores-Night/dp/B000JBXOHG/sr=8-1/qid=1164646357/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-7409230-8927146?ie=UTF8&s=music By Ron Crowe From the Front Page dept. Members: Discuss Posted on 11/28/06; 3:40:02 PM PermaLink: # Trackback:

Sunday, November 19, 2006

GreatBigSea.com: NEW SHOW, NEW CONTEST, NEW CALENDAR, NEW SOUNDTRACK!

GREAT BIG CHRISTMAS TICKET PRE-SALE! The Great Big Christmas is happening again this year at the St. John's, NL Delta Hotel on Thursday, December 28! Celebrate the holidays with Great Big Sea! All net proceeds will go to the Janeway Children's Hospital! Just for being a member of the GreatBigSea.com mailing list, you can buy your tickets to this show starting Friday, November 17 at Noon (12pm) NST at the GreatBigSea.com Store. Here's the all the information you need: • The show will be held on Thursday, December 28 at The Delta St. John's Ballroom: 120 New Gower Street • Tickets are $40 (base ticket price) • 19+ event • General Admission, standing (and dancing and jumping) room only • The GreatBigSea.com pre-sale means you can buy your tickets before they go on sale to the general public! While you're ordering tickets for the Great Big Christmas show, why not make a donation to Great Big Sea's charity of choice - The Janeway Children's Hospital - it's the only gift Great Big Sea wants this year! NEW CONTEST! Win a DVD and Calendar Prize Pack Now this is one exciting contest folks! Here's your chance to win one of 5 "Courage & Patience & Grit" DVD packs which include the new "Courage & Patience & Grit - Great Big Sea in Concert" DVD and an official 2007 GreatBigSea.com Calendar! All you have to do is write an essay, poem or short story answering a very special question! You can find the question and contest details at the Courage & Patience & Grit Contest page! What makes this contest so exciting is that the winners will be chosen by both Alan Doyle and Bob Hallett! That's right folks, both Bob and Alan will choose five grand prize winners - so you get the chance to have Bob and Alan read your entry - now that's COOL! Check out the Courage & Patience & Grit Contest page for details! Remember, you need to be a GreatBigSea.com member to join this contest, there's no cost and the benefits are worth it! The GreatBigSea.com 2007 Calendar Pre-Sale! Just in time for the holidays! GreatBigSea.com is now offering official GreatBigSea.com 2007 calendars filled with pictures of the boys from "The Hard and The Easy" tour! One of the great things about this calendar is that all the photos were taken by Great Big Sea fans! This calendar makes an awesome gift for a friend or for yourself!Check out the sneak peek of the calendar and then pre-order your 2007 GreatBigSea.com calendar! Shipping starts Wednesday, November 22! New Bob's Soundtrack Journal! From the Bay City Rollers to 10,000 Maniacs to The Grapes of Wrath, Bob sure has some interesting things to say. In his most recent journal entry, Bob talks about UK Supergroup OASIS! If you haven't been keeping up with Bob's Soundtrack journals, check them out now! GreatBigSea.com 2238 Dundas St. W., P.O. Box 59039, Toronto, ON, Canada, M6R 3B5 By Ron Crowe From the Front Page dept. Members: Discuss Posted on 11/19/06; 10:15:48 PM PermaLink: # Trackback:

Monday, November 13, 2006

Another hit for that Haggis jones

Mick Linden Featured! Our super-talented, spider-fingered, double-jointed flamingo(not Flamenco)-dancing bassist is a featured artist in the world's top bass player magazine, BASSICS. Mick gives an entertaining interview about his unique style and how it fits with BAD HAGGIS, and the accompanying free CD features Mick's BH song, "Nimble Attitude" from our WINE DARK SEA CD. To order the issue online, go to Bassics.com, and order Issue No. 40. Mr. Rigler It's been a busy summer...look for Eric's pipes & whistles to be featured on forthcoming CD's by FAITH HILL, KEITH URBAN, BETTE MIDLER, and MEATLOAF, as well as a national HALLMARK greeting card commercial set for the Valentine's Day season 2007 with singer JOSH GROBAN. On the Hollywood set, the BIG NEWS is Eric's appearance in the OSCAR-winning film, MILLION DOLLAR BABY. Eric and fellow piper John Allan were on location last June for the filming of the boxing sequence where Eric leads Clint Eastwood and Hillary Swank down the steps of the arena and into the ring. Make that 3 "Best Picture" Academy Award-winning films that Eric has performed on! Also out last summer is MUST LOVE DOGS with John Cusack and the new Ron Howard film starring Russell Crowe titled, CINDERELLA MAN featuring Eric's pipes and whistles in a boxing training sequence and throughout the end credits. Television audiences can hear Eric's pipes and whistles on two episodes of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and the new commercial for TITLEIST golf. Last year's work included solos on the soundtracks of LADDER 49, golfing legend BOBBY JONES--STROKE OF GENIUS, and Brad Pitt's TROY, as well as the latest studio album by singer Josh Groban, CLOSER. "What is the connection between Eric and Ruben Blades," you ask? Well, he's been touring with the legendary Salsa singer and Hollywood actor since early 2002. You might have seen Ruben´s latest film, ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO, also starring Johnny Depp, Antonio Banderas, Selma Hayek, and Willem Dafoe. Ruben's amazing new CD which features Eric on four tracks and was released in September 2002 on Sony Records is called, MUNDO, and won the 2003 GRAMMY for "Best World Album". Having toured with Ruben and his Costa Rican band, Editus, for two years now, Eric´s had the pleasure of playing in front of huge Latin audiences in Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Chile, as well as two tours of the USA. Many of the thousands who attend Ruben´s shows have never seen bagpipes, nor heard a fusion of Celtic music with Salsa and Afro-Cuban rhythms. Very cool experience!!! By Ron Crowe From the Front Page dept. Members: Discuss Posted on 11/13/06; 9:14:31 AM PermaLink: # Trackback:

Wednesday, November 8, 2006

Bad Haggis sweeps International Music Awards

BAD HAGGIS cleaned-up at the international music awards last night at The Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana, CA. The show, put on by the international music community, Just Plain Folks (www.jpfolks.com), represented artists from 100 countries, with 70 countries receiving nominations for submissions of over 350,000 songs, 25,500 albums, 1,000 videos and more than 500 song lyrics. Preliminary judging has taken a full year. A panel of 8000 judges reviewed the entries without knowing the names of the artists of more than 80 genres/categories from A Capella, Classical, Children’s, Celtic, and Gospel to Hip Hop, Rock, Heavy Metal, Industrial, R&B, Blues and many more. BAD HAGGIS, relatively unknown to most of the audience, opened the 5 ½ hour show with a theme from the film, BRAVEHEART, segueing straight into their signature song from the TRIP CD, “Bad Haggis”. Their performance tore the roof off and set a high standard for the rest of the 25 musical acts of the evening. The night only got better! Here’s a summary of the awards: “Best World Music Album”—Winner BAD HAGGIS for “Wine Dark Sea” “Best Celtic Instrumental Song”—Winner BAD HAGGIS for “The B-52” “Best Celtic Instrumental Album”—2nd Place BAD HAGGIS for “Trip” “Best Live Concert Video”—2nd Place BAD HAGGIS for “Span featuring Rubén Blades” The night finished with The Founders’ Awards which included unannounced nominees for “Best Album of the Year”, “Best Male Singer-Songwriter of the Year”, “Best Female Singer-Songwriter of the Year”, “Best Live Show of the Year”, etc. As if the night wasn’t enough of a success, BAD HAGGIS was announced “Best Group of the Year” and received a huge ovation from the audience of nearly 2000 people! A big thanks from the band for all of your support and interest over these last 8 years!!! ------------ Bad Haggis - we appreciate and love all you do, and we know the feeling is mutual! Congrats from all of your loyal fans here at Celtic Grove! By Ron Crowe From the Front Page dept. Members: Discuss Posted on 11/8/06; 2:40:00 PM PermaLink: # Trackback:

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Halloween Party at The Cavern with The Killdares - This Friday

The Killdares Fall Newsletter VOL. 2 October 12, 2006 In this Issue: - Halloween Party This Friday - Live performance on TexasGigs.com Did someone say The Killdares are having a Halloween Party? Yes, that's right folks! Well...The CAVERN is having a Halloween Party, and The Killdares are headlining, so it might as well be our party, right? So come to our party!!! It's gonna be a rockin' good time!!! This Friday, Oct. 27th, The CAVERN 1914 Lower Greenville Dallas, Texas 75206 Phone: 214-828-1914 Only $6.00, music starts at 10:00p, KDs go on at 12 midnight. ...and wear a costume...all the coolest people are doing it...The Killdares will be giving prizes to the best costumes of the night! Can't wait to see you there!!! See The Killdares...Live on TexasGigs.com Last Friday the band made a quick stop by the studio offices of TexasGigs.com for a rare acoustic performance, and an extended intimate interview. Go to TexasGigs.com today to see what they said, watch the video, listen to the songs...and even download the podcast. News Updates and More at Killdares.com For the latest news, visit The Killdares News Page http://rd.bcentral.com/?ID=4600295&s=69564991 Purchase The Killdares latest album "ANY GIVEN ELEMENT" and more at The Killdares' official online store http://rd.bcentral.com/?ID=4600296&s=69564991 Be a Friend! Join The Killdares at their official MySpace Page http://rd.bcentral.com/?ID=4600298&s=69564991 By Ron Crowe From the Front Page dept. Members: Discuss Posted on 10/25/06; 7:50:36 AM PermaLink: # Trackback:

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Young Dubs return to Colorado

From The Young Dubliners newsletter: Hey Dubsters far and near, we are about to leave Los Angeles (where Fall has plummeted the temperature into the low 70’s!) and head into the snows of Colorado for our last US dates before Europe. I just saw the weather forecast and it is snowing as we speak, yeuch!!! Not being a skier I see no reason to venture into the snow unless we are rockin out. I am glad to say that is the case. It’s back to the Little Bear in Evergreen for two nights Oct 20th and 21st. This has been the scene of many of our best shows and we plan to add to the legend this weekend. Word is that both nights are almost sold out so give them a buzz asap and grab yours!! As though that were not enough Colorado we have just been asked to stop off in Vail on our way back to CA on Sun Oct 22nd. This will be a slightly more intimate gig then we usually play in Vail but we are right there so why not. The venue is Mango’s and we will play at 8pm for al you Monday early risers. One last rocker before we head for Ireland. See ya in the Rockies K p.s. Remember you can still come to Ireland with us if ya hurry and call Hammond Tours - see the website homepage http://youngdubliners.com/ By Ron Crowe From the Front Page dept. Members: Discuss Posted on 10/19/06; 11:04:19 AM PermaLink: # Trackback: