Rambles: music from the Maritimes/Atlantic Provinces

The Atlantic Provinces -- comprising the Maritimes (Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick) and Newfoundland -- are global hotspots for Celtic and Celtic-influenced music. These regions on Canada's eastern coast, settled primarily by immigrants from Scotland and Ireland, held tightly to their roots even as they expanded and evolved (and drew heavily on the influence of the sea for inspiration). In recent years, the world has finally taken notice. Enjoy!

A B C D E F G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Connie MacAskill
• Closer to Home (2001)

Buddy MacDonald
• Getting Dark Again, with John Ferguson (1996)
• We Remember You Well (2000)
• performance review (2001)
• Live: A Night at the Pub (2002)

Howie MacDonald
• Live ... & Lively (1991)
• The Ceilidh Trail (1993)
• The Dance Last Night (1997)
• Just Relax (1998)
• WhY2Keilidh (1999)
• CapeBretonFiddleMusicNOTCalm, with Ashley MacIsaac (2001)
• performance review (2001)
• Howie's Celtic Brew (2002)

John Spyder MacDonald
• By Sea, By Land (2000)

Tom MacDonald
• Celtic Tenor (2002)

Kendra MacGillivray
• Over the Waves (2000)
• performance review (2001)

Troy MacGillivray
• Musical Ties (2001)

Jamie MacInnis & Paul MacNeil
• Fosgail an Dorus (1992)

Sandy MacIntyre
• Steeped in Tradition (1997)

Ashley MacIsaac
• A Cape Breton Christmas (1993)
• Hi, How Are You Today? (1995)
• Helter's Celtic (2000)
• CapeBretonFiddleMusicNOTCalm, with Howie MacDonald (2001)
• performance review (2001)
• Ashley MacIsaac (2002)
• Crossover (2011)

Matt MacIsaac
• The Piping Album (2004)

Wendy MacIsaac
• That's What You Get (1996)
• Timeline (2003)
• Seinn, with Mary Jane Lamond (2012)
• Off the Floor (2014)

MacKeel
• Plaid (1997)

Lewis MacKinnon
• A Seo (Here) (2006)

Bebe MacLean
• Love of the Sea: Sea Songs & Ballads (2009)

Bob MacLean
• Dancing on a String (1998)

Joe Peter MacLean
• Back of Boisdale (2005)

Donald MacLellan
• The Dusky Meadow (2003)

Cynthia MacLeod
• Head Over Heels (2002)
• Crackerjack (2004)
• Riddle (2010)

Buddy MacMaster
• The Judique Flyer (2000)
• performance review (2000)
• Cape Breton Tradition (2003)
• Buddy MacMaster in Concert (video)

Natalie MacMaster
• Fit as a Fiddle (1993)
• No Boundaries (1996)
• My Roots Are Showing (1998)
• In My Hands (1999)
• performance review (1999)
• Live (2002)
• Yours Truly (2006)
• Cape Breton Girl (2011)
• Sketches (2019)

Natalie & Buddy MacMaster
• Traditional Music from Cape Breton Island (2005)

Scott Macmillan
• Celtic Mass for the Sea (1994)
• The Minnie Sessions, Vol. 1 (1996)
• The Minnie Sessions, Vol. 2 (1997)
• The Minnie Sessions, Vol. 3 (1998)

Rita MacNeil
• Mining the Soul, with the Men of the Deeps (2000)
• Common Dream (2002)
• Blue Roses (2004)

Cyril MacPhee
• Back on Track (2001)

Rylee Madison
• The Life of Rylee (2002)

Madrigal
• Elemental Grace (2000)
• Reverie (2001)

Maeve
• Maeve (2004)

Frank Maher & the Mahers Bahers
• Mahervelous (2005)

Mama's Broke
• Narrow Line (2022)
• Reunion (2026)

Eleanor McCain
• Intimate (2001)

McGinty
• Atlantic Favorites (1993)
• Atlantic Favourites II (1998)
• Sea Songs (2000)
• performance review (2001)

Jon McKiel
• The Nature of Things (2008)

Dan McKinnon
• Chasing Sunsets (1995)
• Between Wind & Water (1997)
• Songs from the Hearth (2000)
• Fields of Dreams & Glory (2005)

Ian McKinnon & Gayle H. Martin
• Air Races (2000)

Men of the Deeps
• Diamonds in the Rough (1992)
• Coal Fire in Winter (1996)
• Mining the Soul, with Rita MacNeil (2000)

Carmel Mikol
• In My Bones (2010)

Pamela Morgan
• The Colour of Amber, with Anita Best (1991)
• On a Wing & a Prayer (1996)
• Amber Christmas (1998)
• Seven Years (2002)

Mac Morin
• Mac Morin (2003)

Phyllis Morrissey
• Woman of the Island (1995)

Patricia Murray
• Primrose (2001)
• performance review (2001)
• Failt Eilein a' Phrionnsa (Welcome to Prince Edward Island) (2005)

Nerea (aka Nerea the Fiddler)
• Footprints (2007)
• Off the Beaten Path (2025)

David Newland
• Evergreen (2003)

Chris Norman
• Portraits (1998)

The Chris Norman Ensemble
• The Flower of Port Williams (2000)

North by Northwest Quartet
• North by Northwest Quartet (2000)

Northern Harmony Choir
• Under the Labrador Sky (1999)

Cheryl Reid O'Hagan
• The Darkest Midnight (1995)

The Once
• The Once (2010)
• Row Upon Row of the People They Know (2011)
• Time Enough (2018)

Scott Parsons
• Nice to Wear (2001)

Elizabeth Patterson
• Pengalleon (1998)
• Tidal Wheel (2000)

Jim Payne
• Empty Nets (1992)

Terry Penney
• Missing Marshville (2002)

Maurice Poirier
• Behind a Voice (2001)

Colleen Power
• Lucky You Are (2004)
• Face & Eyes (2005)

Puirt a Baroque
• Bach Meets Cape Breton (1996)
• Return of the Wanderer (1998)

A B C D E F G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Albums are listed alphabetically by artist, then chronologically by title. Click on a title to read the review.

performance reviews

CELTIC COLOURS
Check out our reviews from this annual festival!

More live reviews can be found in our always-expanding general performance section. Look for Beolach, J.P Cormier, Great Big Sea, Gordie Sampson, Kendra MacGillavry, Sons of Maxwell, Natalie MacMaster and other treats from Atlantic Canada!

For more information on Cape Breton music, check out Cape Breton Music Online. Keep abreast of the East Coast Music Association here. And do pay a visit to the Celtic Music Interpretive Centre of Judique as well.

For the best in live music from the Maritimes, try to attend the Celtic Colours International Festival, a week-long music event that will blow your mind!!

You can read interviews with Natalie MacMaster, Great Big Sea's Alan Doyle and other fine folks in the music world in our musicians' chat room.

You'll also find books on Cape Breton music reviewed in our music library.

Interested in an outside view of Cape Breton musicians? You can read an excellent article, "Fiddlers of the Maritime Provinces" by Paul-Emile Comeau, at the Dirty Linen website. Check it out ... and then hurry back to Rambles for more reviews!

There are also plenty of Scottish, Irish and other Celtic fiddlers waiting to be found in our large directory of Celtic roots music, as well as Celtic musicians from across Canada and the U.S. Take time to browse!