Down East in Ontario

Canadian Celtic music, down-east style, has been popular for decades; think of the old TV show, Don Messer’s Jubilee. But until relatively recently, it was decidedly uncool. That has changed completely with the national success of the likes of Ashley MacIsaac, the matchless, and matchlessly manic, fiddler from Cape Breton, as well as the rootsy, rollicking folk-rock of the Newfoundland band, Great Big Sea. Then there are the Rankins and Nathalie McMaster, a blonde, sunny virtuoso of the fiddle and the dance. (By the way, I’ve seen MacIsaac perform live twice: on one occasion his brand of emotionally raw Celto-punk had the audience hypnotized; on the other, he was near comatose, barely there.) But one of the country’s best roots band comes from central Canada. Leahy consists of nine (count ’em) brothers and sisters whose music definitely swings to a Celtic beat, but also features influences from folk and pop and country, even classical. Raised on a farm near Lakefield, Ont., the kids learned the fiddle from their father, while their mother (she’s the Cape Breton connection) taught them singing, dancing and piano. In 1997, their first, self-titled, all-instrumental CD was a big seller and won two Junos. There followed two years as an opening act for country diva Shania Twain. In All Things is the nonet’s third album (following Lakefield), and I think its best. There’s not a dud among the 10 tracks. Particularly good are High Places, with a vocal that’s a little Alison Krauss and a little Mary Jane Lamond; Coyote Way, a Dixie Chicks meets Fleetwood Mac neo-cowboy zinger; Pointe au Pic Medley, which has a zippy klezmer-like feel; and the seven-minute-plus last cut, Gzowski Medley, a tribute to who else? What’s new is that beneath the rollick there are notes of melancholy, sometimes in the singing (Leahy has added occasional vocals) and especially in the always superb fiddling of Donnell Leahy. In Wedding Day Jig, there’s a hint of dolor beneath the frolic. The lively, sometimes foot-stomping Clog Medley, featuring some of Donnell’s best work, has a triste undertone. I’ve saved the best for last, a superb track called I Want You to Know. Its poignant, smoky vocal and heartbreaking fiddling take us inside what should be a cliché — “I want you to know how much I love you,” the singer moans/whispers/asserts — and offers a sense of the mystery at the heart of romantic feeling.

Photo Credit: leahymusic.com