Caithness musical duo release new CD album from Canada
Two former Caithness musicians have released a new CD of Scottish country dance music from their base in Canada.
Accordionist Alastair MacDonald from Wick and fiddle player Karen Steven from Reay are part of the Atlantic Firth Scottish Dance Band, which also includes fellow Scot, Ian Clark on guitar and Ottawa Valley native John Mitchell on piano.
The group spent the summer months recording a 15-track CD album of dance music. The album is the second to be recorded and mixed by Alastair at his recording studio in Petawawa, Ontario.
With Ian visiting relatives in the UK this week, there are some CDs available for anyone wishing to purchase them with local postage fees rather than international rates. A limited number are available to purchase at a cost of £15 including p&p. For details, contact Karen on k.l.steven@btinternet.com
The band have recently been enjoying playing for a number of different Scottish country dance events, socials and balls in and around the Ottawa area.
They performed to a sell-out audience at a house concert in one of Ottawa’s suburbs - a great warm up for the next performance. Plenty of sets from the new release were performed at the house concert, with video clips made and shared on social media.
Next weekend the band will play for the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society of Ottawa’s Christmas social. Around 100 dancers are expected to attend.
A programme of 12 dances, a warm-up set and three spares await the eager dancers, who will be joined on the night be members of Ardbrae Dancers of Ottawa and Renfrew Dance Scottish dancers.
Many kilts will make an appearance for the evening, according to Karen and Alastair, and as well as Christmas trees and lights, the hall will be adorned by a number of different tartan banners, to reflect the Scottish ancestry of many who will be in attendance.
Atlantic Firth’s new CD, ‘Ready, and...’ will be on sale during the evening event. It features a total of 61 tunes in 15 sets, including some self-penned numbers by Alastair and Karen.
