Celtic Fiddle Festival is a group of Celtic fiddlers active since 1993. Representing three branches of Celtic culture, the members were

Johnny Cunningham Johnny Cunningham (27 August 1957 – 15 December 2003) was a Scottish folk musician and composer, instrumental in spreading interest in traditional Celtic music. Johnny Cunningham was born on 27 August 1957 in Portobello, Edinburgh. He was r ...

from Scotland, late of

Silly Wizard Silly Wizard was a Scottish folk band that began forming in Edinburgh in 1970. The founder members were two like-minded university students— Gordon Jones (guitar, bodhran, vocals, bouzouki, mandola), and Bob Thomas (guitar, mandolin, mand ...

, Kevin Burke from Ireland, best known for the

Bothy Band A bothy band is a musical group which comes from the farming culture of nineteenth century Scotland. At that time agriculture was relatively labour-intensive. As a result, large farms often had a small community associated with them, the farm toun ...

, and Christian Lemaître from

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

, member of

Kornog Kornog ("The West Wind" in Breton) is a Breton folk music band formed in 1980 which plays traditional Breton or Celtic tunes and compositions. It was one of the most influential Celtic groups of the 1980s and one of the only representative ...

. Since Cunningham's death in 2003, the group has continued to perform, replacing him with from

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, formerly of

La Bottine Souriante La Bottine Souriante is a folk band from Canada. The band specializes in traditional French Canadian folk music, often with a modern twist. Formed in 1976 by Yves Lambert, Andre Marchand, and Mario Forest, they have toured extensively throug ...

. Cunningham and Burke were both resident in the US and decided they wanted to tour together. It was suggested that a show with just two fiddlers, one Scottish, one Irish might not be appealing to many but if another element could be added it might be of interest. Because of their love for Breton music Kevin and Johnny decided to contact their good friend, Christian Lemaître, from Brittany. Christian agreed and the Celtic Fiddle Festival was born. It was conceived as a "one-off" tour, an interesting way to showcase the three differing styles while at the same time demonstrating the deep historic connections, but the response from audiences was so positive that an album was released from that initial tour and, twenty years later, the group is still playing and recording. Cunningham, Burke, and Lemaître were accompanied by guitarist John McGann on that first tour and the first album, ''The Celtic Fiddle Festival'', was released on

Green Linnet Records Green Linnet Records was an American independent record label that specialized in Celtic music. Founded by Lisa Null and Patrick Sky as Innisfree Records in 1973, the label was initially based in Null's house in New Canaan, Connecticut. In 1975, t ...

. The sixth album by the Celtic Fiddle Festival, ''Live in Brittany'', was recorded in January 2013 and released later that year on the Loftus Music label. During the group's twenty-year career its accompanists have included Breton guitarist , Scottish guitar player Tony McManus, Ged Foley from the

Battlefield Band Battlefield Band were a Scottish traditional music group. Founded in Glasgow in 1969, they have released over 30 albums and undergone many changes of lineup. As of 2010, none of the original founders remain in the band. The band is noted for t ...

and

Patrick Street Patrick Street is an Irish folk group founded by Kevin Burke (formerly of The Bothy Band) on fiddle, Andy Irvine (Sweeney's Men, Planxty) on mandolin, bouzouki, harmonica and vocals, Jackie Daly (De Dannan) on button accordion, and Arty McGl ...

, and from Brittany. Each Celtic Fiddle Festival concert begins with a short solo performance from each fiddler to demonstrate the individual styles of music. The musicians then all play together.

Discography

*''Celtic Fiddle Festival'' (1993) *''Celtic Fiddle Festival: Encore'' (1998) *''Rendezvous'' (2001) *''Play on'' (2005) *''Équinoxe'' (2008) *''Live in Brittany (20th Anniversary Concert)'' (2013) *''Storm In a Teapot '' (2016)

References

Celtic music groups Musical groups established in 1993 Supergroups (music) Green Linnet Records artists {{Ireland-band-stub