Canada

Papilio: Neo-Celtic, Contemporary-Traditional Trio Based in Nova Scotia

/ mrbaxteria2008 / Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

From: Halifax, NS

Members:

Jennifer Publicover (flutes/bodhran)
Anthony Rissesco (fiddle/vocals)
Phil Schappert (guitars/bouzar/vocals)

Layne is working at a music venue (DeCoste Centre)in Pictou Nova Scotia as his summer job. This Celtic group is performing there for the next two nights. He calls them “Absolutely AMAZING!!!!”. I have to take his word for that because they really are.  Their recordings have that silky texture.The musical vibes are always reflective of Nova Scotia’s maritime side. Their track F Strathspeys & Reels (trad) will send traditional music lovers smiling. The cover of Caledonia originally by Dougie MacLean gains a new shine.

Listen here: http://www.myspace.com/papiliomusic

About

Papilio is a neo-celtic, contemporary-traditional trio based in Nova Scotia. Come on a musical tour with us through the cultures of Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, Spain, Cape Breton, Scandinavia and uncharted lands beyond…
Biography

Papilio is a neo-celtic, contemporary & traditional world music trio from Nova Scotia. Come on a musical tour with us through the cultures of Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, Spain, Cape Breton, Scandinavia and uncharted lands beyond…to capture the spirit and energy of celtic and other musical traditions in a fresh, progressive way, with a sprinkling of our own compositions as well.

Visit our MySpace page to hear some tracks: http://www.myspace.com/papiliomusic

And here is our brand new website!
http://www.papiliomusic.ca/

We are available for concerts, festivals, conferences, pubs, ceilis, workshops and private functions in and around Atlantic Canada and the Northeastern United States.

Anthony Rissesco (fiddle, vocals)

The newest member of Papilio, Anthony is a versatile violin player and teacher, experienced in all styles of playing from classical violin to traditional fiddle. He tours regularly with singer Lennie Gallant and is also a member of the Halifax band The Gig Dogs. As a music student at Dalhousie University, Anthony studied classical violin under Phillippe Djokic. He has won fiddle competitions throughout Canada, including the Maritime Fiddle Championship. In 1990, he came third in the prestigious Canadian Open in Shelburne Ontario, and he was chosen to represent Nova Scotia at the Grand Masters Competition in Ottawa for six consecutive years. Anthony has played with Symphony Nova Scotia, Bruce Guthro, Cyril MacPhee, Anne Murray, and Peggy Seeger.

Jennifer Publicover (flutes, bodhrán, vocals)

Jennifer leads a double life as an active freelancer on both the modern orchestral flute and wooden Irish flute, and is proud to be a founding member of Papilio. She earned her Master’s degree in flute performance at the University of Toronto and her B.Mus. at Mount Allison. Driven by the desire to develop her own unique voice beyond her classical training, Jennifer has been drawn to the Celtic music of her native Nova Scotia, Ireland, Scotland, Brittany and beyond. A familiar face at Halifax sessions, she has been a long-time participant in and supporter of the Boxwood Festival, an annual traditional flute workshop in Lunenburg directed by recording artist Chris Norman. In her alter ego as a classical flutist, she performs as an alternate player for such institutions as the Charlottetown Festival Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, and the Stadacona Band, frequently appearing in many orchestras, pit orcheatras, pro concert bands and chamber groups in and around Halifax. She is also in demand as teacher, and is a busy mom of two.

Phil Schappert (guitar, cittern, vocals)

Phil has been playing for more years than he can remember. Dr. Phil, as he’s known to his students, has an alter ego as a PhD entomologist/botanist who has written books about plant/insect interactions (FYI, Papilio is a genus of swallowtail butterflies, represented in Nova Scotia by Papilio canadensis, the Canadian Tiger Swallowtail). Introduced to Irish and Scottish traditional music by Don Ross–and Joel Shore, his fiddle-playing PhD supervisor–early in the last decade of the last century, Phil has developed a particular fondness for the music of Brittany, celtic Spain and Scandinavia. He plays fingerstyle guitar, and plays guitars made by Russel Crosby of Nova Scotia. Phil has played in neo-celtic/jazz/folk/trad bands in Toronto and Austin. He and his wife, Pat, returned to Canada from Texas in late 2007. Halifax is their playground of choice…

Review: Papilio ~ EP Emergence

Papilio is a very musical trio consisting of Jennifer Publicover on flutes and bodhran, Anthony Rissesco on violin and vocals and Phil Schappert on guitar and bouzar (guitar shaped bouzouki). Emergence is a 6 cut EP which one hopes will lead to a full-length recording. Their music has roots in the Celtic world of Scotland, Ireland, Brittany and Cape Breton. They also show Nordic and Eastern European influences.
The recording opens with a Nordic polska followed by Jennifer’s “Chorolations” written in the style of an Eastern European “Oro” or “Choro”, hence the name. Anthony then gives a fine rendition of Dougie MacLean’s classic song Caledonia before he launches into a set of Cape Breton style strathspeys and reels on cut 4. A beautiful Scottish air gives way to an Irish slip jig while the closing set has a Breton march and three rousing jigs from England, Scotland and Ireland respectively.

The music of Papilio, which is Latin for butterfly and a result of Phil’s other career as a biologist, is arranged, played and presented with style and grace as well as a high degree of musical proficiency. They have a “big” sound for a trio and I would certainly look forward to a full CD in the future.

John Ferguson for CelticLife magazine: http://www.celticlife.ca/

New Album from The Bombadils Plus Pictures and a Video

/ mrbaxteria2008 / 1 Comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 The Bombadils are busy touring and promoting their new album.

It’s happening! I remember that line from the movie Almost Famous. I can say the same thing for The Bombadils. Their new album Fill Your Boots! is out. You can see the band pics as well as a video from their East Coast tour. More info coming soon.

Sarah Frank: fiddle, vocals
Luke Fraser: mandolin, vocals
Anh Phung: flute, vocals
Kit Soden: guitar, vocals
Evan Stewart: bass
Noam Bierstone: percussion

http://www.thebombadils.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/thebombadils
http://twitter.com/thebombadils
http://myspace.com/thebombadils

According to the band:

You can now order the hard copy, pop-up and all, (as well as a digital copy) online! 🙂 For the indie-go-goers, we still have some mailing to do as soon as we get back from tour, and that will be happening next week. Thank you for your patience! http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/thebombadils

Tim Chaisson & Morning Fold – Come Clean

/ mrbaxteria2008 / Leave a comment

I am working on an article about the recording process. It will be focusing on the mixing and mastering side. While I am at it, I want to distract you all with this video by Tim Chaisson. He used to be the youngest member  of the Celtic/contemporary band Kindle with his two brothers and three cousins as their bassist. Now his band is simply known as Tim Chaisson & Morning Fold. Thanks to my friend Jimmy for bringing him up during one of our conversations about musicians based in the east coast of Canada.

http://www.timchaisson.com

Photo by Rémi Thériault

Here She Comes A Running by Dave Gunning

/ mrbaxteria2008 / 5 Comments

My friend Jimmy, introduced me to the music of Dave Gunning through this video I posted today. Here She Comes A Running is a wonderful song.  Since then I have checked out sources of information about him. I have a friend who lives in Pictou Nova Scotia.  I sent him a message just now to see if I can track this guy down. I already posted this video on Irish Country Music Radio forum on facebook. So far there have been positive responses.  I like the fact that he likes to tell stories of musicians he met along the way. Holding the attention of the audience between songs is an added talent!

http://www.davegunning.com/

http://www.myspace.com/davegunning

Update!!!

I was able to chat with Layne. He is working on a summer job, so late nights are the best time to catch him.  Here’s the part of the conversation. I didn’t want to make too much  editing because this is how we talk:

Hi Layne are you familiar with Dave Gunning? It says he is from Pictou Nova Scotia. So you might have heard of him. I am posting a lil something about him.

Yes! I know Dave! I recorded some demos in his studio before. He’s probably the nicest guy on the planet.

OMG that is awesome! I posted a little tribute about his music. How was it like meeting the guy?

It was really cool, he’s really laid back, and he’s an awesome producer. Really knows his stuff. I run into him from time to time, and he always remembers who I am, and he always asks about how gigs are going and things.

You are both from the same place right? Do you think the place itself brings out the best in people?

This community has some of the best music teachers I’ve ever met. I think that it’s largely the support and the help that so many people have with making music. It’s awesome.

Hmm…any idea what else do we need to add?

Not any I can think of. :S He did win some awards recently, a producer award I think. 

Layne is currently putting ideas for his new EP.

http://www.myspace.com/laynegreene

Recent update from Dave:

Hello everyone,
There’s lots of stuff happening right now. Just finishing up my new recording called “No More Pennies” as well as a children’s book based on the song “These Hands”.

The Kerrville Folk Festival was amazing again this year and I found it hard to leave there. Tim Mason, who helped put together the history booth at Kerrville, played me some incredible sound bites of folks recounting their final night spent with Stan Rogers at the festival. It was very powerful.

This Stanfest is going to be an extra special one for me because we’re shooting a video at the festival for “These Hands”. The video is being professional shot and produced but we’re also going to have some fun with it by to asking folks in the crowd to record videos using their Smart Phones. We’ll provide a link where folks can upload their videos and we’ll use them in the final edit of the video that we’re creating. We’re hoping to end up with some really cool things like shots of the crowd singing along, kids playing, people huggin’ and dancin’ and whatever neat things get captured during the concert and the festival in general.
See you all soon.
xo
Dave

The Shimmer of Sounds

/ mrbaxteria2008 / 2 Comments

Jazzy and electric

Jazzy and electric

The first few chords of Coburg St Nights from their second album  reveal the adventurous spirit of Buille. Formed in 2004 by Armagh born brothers Niall and Caoimhín Vallely along with Paul Meehan and Brian Morrissey, Buille became a fresh force in the Irish trad scene. Their music has a universal appeal. The production almost makes you think  of reflections on a clear pond. The instruments shimmer with transparency and gossamer smoothness. Everyone in this band is in top form. Guitars, fiddles, and percussion parts sound fresh as if every bit of them have been polished to make sure only the smooth silky finished bodies of sounds get to the listeners.

The debut album was released in 2005 while the second was in 2009. I don’t have news for the new album yet. It would be great to hear about new music from these wonderful musicians!

http://www.myspace.com/buille

http://www.vallelymusic.com/buille.htm

http://www.niallvallely.com

 

—

Spotlight Instrument: Hurdy-Gurdy.

The hurdy-gurdy made waves in the mainstream top 40 in 1997. Musician Nigel Eaton performed this instrument in the video of The Mummer’s Dance by Canadian superstar Loreena McKennitt. MTV made it one of their most played music videos at that time. I  think a lot of people started noticing this instrument after. Resources were not available until recently. It sounds like a bagpipe, but has the mellifluous quality of the violin. These days you get to hear this  in the Celtic metal band like Eluveitie . In this video, Alison Gowan of Canadian band The Swamp Ward Orchestra talks about her own hurdy-gurdy and folk festivals. I have to say this. They sound amazing!

http://www.myspace.com/theswampwardorchestra