Today, as I write this, Wendy MacIsaac's latest CD arrived in the mail. When I left home a half-hour later, it was already plugged into my car stereo, and the tunes were playing at top volume.

This -- this -- is what Cape Breton music is about.

Begun among friends in a Point Aconi studio in 2005 and completed at a dance in West Mabou in 2014, this is Wendy playing fiddle like she has always done, with heart and spirit. She's accompanied by two stalwarts of Cape Breton tradition, Tracey Dares MacNeil on piano and Patrick Gillis on guitar.

This is a no-frills recording, the kind of Cape Breton music I like best. It's played for the joy of playing, it's played so people can move their feet, and you can hear folks having a grand time as Wendy, Tracey and Patrick play. I wish I were there.

Since I'm not ... I'm glad I have Off the Floor to remind me what I'm missing.

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