Celtae was a Canadian band, formed in 2001 in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, playing neo-

Celtic music Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Northwestern Europe. It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and recorded music and the styles vary considerab ...

. The band was founded by Nathan MacDonald of

Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18. ...

, and included Matt Holland of

Summerside, Prince Edward Island Summerside is a Canadian city in Prince County, Prince Edward Island. It is the second largest city in the province and the primary service centre for the western part of the island. History Summerside was officially incorporated as a town on ...

and Tyree Lush of

Gambo, Newfoundland and Labrador Gambo is a town and designated place in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is in the northeastern portion of the island of Newfoundland on Freshwater Bay. It is in Division No. 7. It is the closest town to Mint Brook - the ...

.Edwards Stacey, Jean (January 19, 2003). "Newfoundlander finds musical home in Ottawa-based Celtic band", ''

The Telegram ''The Telegram'' is a daily newspaper published weekdays and Saturdays (as ''The Weekend Telegram'') in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. History ''The Evening Telegram'' was first published on April 3, 1879 by William James Herde ...

'', p. B3. Original fiddler Jules Sisk left the band, and was replaced by Dana Arrowsmith of

Sudbury, Ontario Sudbury, officially the City of Greater Sudbury is the largest city in Northern Ontario by population, with a population of 166,004 at the 2021 Canadian Census. By land area, it is the largest in Ontario and the fifth largest in Canada. It is a ...

.Hagerman, Brent (March 2003).
Celtae: No Regrets
, ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

''. Retrieved June 19, 2010. The album ''No Regrets'' was produced by Brian Talbot of the band Slainte Mhath. Critic Wes Smiderle of the ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the '' ...

'' wrote, "The tone is cheerful, end-of-the-work-week acoustic venting, with lyrical nods to the rigours of East Coast history, much like

Great Big Sea Great Big Sea was a Canadian folk rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year Irish, Scot ...

".Smiderle, Wes (August 3, 2002). "Celtae: No Regrets", ''

'', p. I4.

Members

* Nathan MacDonald – vocals, guitar * Tyree Lush – vocals, guitar,

button accordion A button accordion is a type of accordion on which the melody-side keyboard consists of a series of buttons. This differs from the piano accordion, which has piano-style keys. Erich von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs categorize it as a free reed aerop ...

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

* Matt Holland – bass * Dana Arrowsmith –

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

, vocals

Nathan MacDonald

Nathan Bishop MacDonald better known as "Nathan Bishop" is a singer-songwriter based in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Ontario, Canada. He was a founding member of Celtae, which was based in

, and also performs original music under the name "Nathan Bishop". MacDonald was born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Nova Scotia, Canada and raised in Glace Bay on

in Nova Scotia. His song "Merchant Marine" was used as the theme song for Paul Ciufo's CBC radio drama, ''On Convoy''. The same song was included on Avondale Records' 2004 release, ''Singalongs & Shanties 2''. MacDonald is a baritone singer who performs music on guitar, but is also known for his bodhran playing. He has an eclectic musical history. MacDonald has performed at major festivals throughout Canada including the Canadian Tulip Festival, The Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival, The Regina Mosaic Multicultural Festival and more. He has also performed at prestigious venues such as the National Arts Centre, in Ottawa, The Savoy Theatre in Glace Bay, Cape Breton, and Centre Point Theatre in Ottawa. The Nathan Bishop project has been a sharp departure from his previous Celtic roots. The ''

'' referred to these compositions as "funky folk". In September 2008, Nathan Bishop moved to Toronto and began construction of Uptown Underground recording studio. On June 1, 2011, he released his debut solo album "Lovers, Leavers, and Believers" under his Uptown Underground record label. Two songs from this album were chosen to be used in the 2011 Manuel H. Da Silva film ''The Unleashed''. A demo version of Bishop's song "Without You" was a finalist in the 2008

International Songwriting Competition The International Songwriting Competition (ISC), founded in 2002, is an annual songwriting contest for both amateur and professional songwriters. There is no physical event to attend as the competition is held online, and anyone in the world can en ...

. Bishop's refers to his music as 'Chop Music', a post-hip hop form of roots rock.

Education

While attending the

University of Guelph , mottoeng = "to learn the reasons of realities" , established = May 8, 1964 ()As constituents: OAC: (1874) Macdonald Institute: (1903) OVC: (1922) , type = Public university , chancellor ...

and the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

, MacDonald was one of Canada's most successful inter-varsity debaters. He won consecutive

North American Debating Championship The North American Debating Championship is the official university debate championships of North America. It is sanctioned by the national university debating associations in the United States and Canada, the American Parliamentary Debate Associati ...

s in 1998 and 1999,(February 24, 1999).
They Are the Champions! Guelph debaters capture first place at North American competition
, News@Guelph. Retrieved June 10, 2010. and was the Vice-President of the

Canadian University Society for Intercollegiate Debate The Canadian University Society for Intercollegiate Debate (CUSID generally) is the national organization which governs all English language competitive university debating and public speaking in Canada. It sanctions several official annual tourna ...

. He was also the fifth-place public speaker in world at the 2000

World Universities Debating Championships The World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC) is the world's largest debating tournament and one of the largest annual international student events in the world. WUDC is held in the British Parliamentary Debate format (involving four team ...

in Sydney.

References

External links

Celtae
official site
Official site

Nathan Bishop releases first solo album
{{DEFAULTSORT:Celtae Musical groups established in 2001 Musical groups disestablished in 2008 Musical groups from Ottawa Canadian folk music groups Canadian Celtic music groups 2001 establishments in Ontario 2008 disestablishments in Ontario