The Nova Scotian’s links with their Scottish and particularly their Gaelic heritages have always been strong, and this sparkling CD shows that there is no danger of that connection being broken.

Mary Jane Lamond has a warm and rich singing voice with some of the clearest diction you could home to find. Although she was a student of Celtic Studies, her approach to her matieral is not that of a dusty academic, but rather that of a storyteller who is passionate about the material she sings, and who wants to get that story over to her listeners. This she easily and effortlessly achieves as her voice not only carriers all the subtleties of the tunes, but also gets to the core spirit of the message.

Wendy MacIsaac is a fiddle and mandolin player and pianist of distinction, who (like so many from that airy) can combine all this with step-dancing, too. Her playing is as clear and crisp as the frost on a Cape Breton winter’s morning, but with a warmth and depth of subtlety. She can turn her hand to hard driving reels just as much as to hauntingly lyrical slow airs.

Here, the two friends combine seamlessly, along with a vast array of guest musicians, to give a fusion of arrangements and presentation which shows their appreciation of each others’ approach to their music. The full Gaelic song texts are printed in the liner notes, and the whole production standards are of the highest quality, making this an essential purchase.

by Gordon Potter, The Living Tradition

“There’s a saying in Gaelic that culture is passed on knee to knee, between generations,” says musician Mary Jane Lamond. “My grandparents were Gaelic speakers, so I was always interested in the language. I think I was first drawn to the literary tradition, which is a very oral tradition here on Cape Breton. Gaelic language, spending time with Gaelic speakers became a big part of my social life, and so did spending time with people who were interested in songs, both older songs and newer ones,” she says. “I think I really found my voice when I started singing in Gaelic.”

Wendy MacIsaac’s grandparents were Gaelic speakers also, “so although I don’t always understand every word Mary Jane sings, I understand, you know?” she says. “My first bit of music was step dancing,” she recalls. “My mom taught step dancing lessons — with Natalie MacMaster’s mom, actually — in communities on Cape Breton and I’d go out with them and just pick it up from being in the circle at those lessons.” When MacIsaac began to learn the fiddle, the rhythms and feeling of the music and language of Cape Breton were already in her. “I almost immediately started playing for dances, and when you play three hours a night several nights a week for dancers, you learn about tempos and you learn a lot of tunes!” She also plays those tunes at times on piano and mandolin.

Lamond and MacIsaac have been friends for almost two decades and have often worked on projects and appeared in concert together. Seinn, though, is the first time they’ve made a recording which focuses on their music as you might hear it of an evening’s concert that features the two. “We were both overdue to put out an album,” says MacIsaac, “so we decided it was time.”

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Beloved Cape Breton musicians, Wendy MacIsaac and Mary Jane Lamond are touring together to promote their new CD, Seinn (NPR Top 10 Americana/Folk albums of the year); and are performing at the University of Vermont. Below are the details:

Date: November 22, 2013
Time: 7:30pm – 9:00pm
Cost: $25 adult/$15 advance student
Venue: UVM Recital Hall, The University of Vermont.
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In addition to being a world-class fiddler, piano player, and step dancer, Wendy is also a truly charming and engaging performer, full of stories and banter about her life and art. She’s been performing live in front of audiences since the age of five and has toured all over the world, both as a solo performer and with The Rankins, Ashley MacIsaac, and Beolach. Mary Jane is a superb singer and musicologist who has dedicated her musical career to the preservation of Scottish Gaelic songs and has garnered numerous JUNO and ECMA award nominations, critical acclaim, and a worldwide audience for her efforts. This is a powerful collaboration born of a long-time friendship and a shared love of Celtic music.

“Both Lamond and MacIsaac bring this music forth from deep in their souls, and they and their collaborators bring a great sense of fun and passion to it that comes across at every turn. Highly recommended.” — The Green Man Review

Cape Breton, on the far north coast of the Maritimes in Canada, is a land of forest and sea, woodland and mountain, winding road and fishing port. It is also a land where many emigrants, especially those from Scotland, have found harbour. It is a place where the language, music, and culture of Scotland thrive and flourish and intertwine with landscape and in community with other peoples who have made Cape Breton home. All of these things make their way into the sounds of Cape Breton.

“I was drawn to the language first,” says Mary Jane Lamond. “My grandparents were Gaelic speakers so I was always interested in the language and the song tradition, and began spending time with people who were interested in songs. It became a passion for me, and I think I really found my voice when I started singing Gaelic songs.” Lamond has carried that passion and understanding of Gaelic music across Canada and the world and back to Scotland as well with her appearances at concerts and festivals, as she has become one of the most renown artists of Gaelic song.

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In other recent news, Mary Jane Lamond & Wendy MacIsaac album “Seinn” is destined to be a real crowd pleaser. From its stellar music and songs to its lush production, this is a fantastic and very enjoyable album that will not only appeal to fans of Scottish or Cape Breton music, but to anyone who loves great acoustic music.

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