Morgan Toney is a

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the northe ...

folk singer-songwriter and fiddler from

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, Canada, whose music blends

Celtic folk 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 ...

and traditional Mi'kmaq music.Andrea Warner
"Morgan Toney's breakthrough year: meet the 22-year-old Mi'kmaq fiddler fusing ancestral songs and Celtic tunes"

CBC Music CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...

, July 28, 2021. Toney began his musical career as a drummer, but began learning the fiddle in the late 2010s. He met singer-songwriter Keith Mullins, with whom he planned to record an album but found their plans halted by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. He made his debut at the virtual edition of the

Celtic Colours Celtic Colours International Festival is a Celtic music festival held annually in October in communities on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada. First held in 1997, the festival has featured musicians from the Celtic world and attracted visi ...

festival in 2020, sharing the stage with

Ashley MacIsaac Ashley Dwayne MacIsaac (born February 24, 1975) is a Canadian fiddler, singer and songwriter from Cape Breton Island. He has received three Juno Awards, winning for Best New Solo Artist and Best Roots & Traditional Album – Solo at the Juno A ...

. Toney and Mullins then launched a

GoFundMe GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the b ...

page to assist in the recording of Toney's debut album ''First Flight'', which was released independently in 2021. He received a

Canadian Folk Music Award The Canadian Folk Music Awards are an annual music awards ceremony presenting awards in a variety of categories for achievements in both traditional and contemporary folk music, and other roots music genres, by Canadian musicians. The awards progr ...

nominee for Indigenous Songwriter of the Year at the 17th Canadian Folk Music Awards in 2022, and ''First Flight'' was reissued in March 2022 on Ishkōdé Records, a record label owned and operated by

Amanda Rheaume Amanda Rheaume (born May 25, 1982) is a Métis folk singer-songwriter from Canada. Born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario,Wes Smiderle, "Songs in the key of life". ''Ottawa Citizen'', June 5, 2003. Rheaume is a Citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontar ...

and ShoShonna Kish.Jan Vanderhorst
"Morgan Toney is making a name for himself by combining Mi’kmaq musical traditions"
''Roots Music Canada'', April 23, 2022.

References

External links

* 21st-century Canadian violinists and fiddlers Canadian male violinists and fiddlers Canadian folk singer-songwriters Canadian male singer-songwriters First Nations musicians Mi'kmaq people Musicians from Nova Scotia Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{Canada-musician-stub