Search - Cottars :: Cottars

Celtic Prodigies Do It Again!

Martin O'Neill | Portland, ME | 01/12/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is The Cottars' first U.S. release, on Rounder Records. For those of you who have not had the opportunity live or on their first two Canadian releases yet, I'm sorry for you. "Forerunner" is your chance to catch up with these dynamos as they take a confident step forward onto a larger stage. Catch them on tour with The Chieftains this year if you can. If that's not enough of a pedigree for you, consider the other humble artists that the Chieftains have invited onstage in the past: Natalie MacMaster, Joan Osborne, Carlos Nunes, Alison Krauss, Elvis Costello, etc., etc.



"Forerunner" is a blast from start to finish. 16 year-old Fiona MacGillivray continues to wow throughout. Her lithe and sensitive vocals alone on the opening track "Waterlily" will bring you to tears even if you don't pay attention to the heartbreaking lyrics. Fiddler Roseanne MacKenzie (15) adds a light touch of vocal harmony that we had not heard on the first two albums. Then The Cottars tear into a meat-and-potatoes Irish jig medley "Miss Casey". The other non-vocal numbers -- "Some Polkas", "Sliabh Na mBan" and "The Honeysuckle Medley", are inventive and refreshing, staking out new ground on the well-worn path of Celtic instrumentals.



"The Honeysuckle Medley" is a pure tour de force of raw Cape Breton fiddle and piano featuring Roseanne MacKenzie and Ciaran MacGillivray (17). Close your eyes and you'll be transported straight to the 11th province. Do not forget guitar and banjo wiz Jimmy MacKenzie (18), elder of the group. His deft playing animates throughout, especially on "Some Polkas".



Just when you think these kids have done it all, they blow your mind by giving props to Tom Waits with TWO nods on this album - the heartbreaker "Georgia Lee" and a great new take on "Hold On" that will stick in your head for days...but in a good way.



This is the start of something big. Did I mention these brilliant artists also have movie-star good looks? Welcome (finally) to the U.S., and look out world...."

An exceptional harbinger of even greater things to come

J. Ross | Roseburg, OR USA | 03/14/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Playing Time - 43:55 -- Whether playing their native Cape Breton or as far from home as Japan, The Cottars are received with enthusiastic audiences who clap, sing, and stomp their feet. The two brother/sister pairs are only in their teens, but their music is indicative of a group with many years of experience. The MacGillivray and MacKenzie familes met at a festival in Cape Breton in 2000. Within six months, the four kids (Fiona and Ciaran MacGillivray, and Roseanne and Jimmy MacKenzie) were performing as The Cottars, a term that refers to the Scottish peasants and laborers who arrived in Cape Breton between 1793 and the 1840s as a result of the Highland Clearances. Things have happened fast for The Cottars since then. They've toured with The Chieftains. Besides winning the 2003 Best New Artist honors at the East Coast Music Awards in Nova Scotia, it was there that Rounder Records' Ken Irwin found them "striking," "rootsy," and Fiona's voice full of "emotion and purity." And Rosie really has the Cape Breton style fiddling down. The four play piano, guitar, electric guitar, whistle, bodhran, accordion, fiddle, percussion, and tenor banjo. They all read music, as well as play by ear. Recorded in both Cape Breton and Nashville with production assistance of Allister MacGillivray and Gordie Sampson, respectively, "Forerunner" also has guest artists who add bass, bouzouki, guitar, piano, drums, percussion or cello. With the exception of guest vocalist Jimmy Rankin on "Atlantic Blue," liner notes don't indicate exactly who's playing when.



The Cottar's set on "Forerunner" ranges from the opening delicate song (Karine Polwart's "Waterlily") to a more commercial closing cover of Tom Waits' "Hold On." Other contemporary renderings come from Sinead Lohan ("Send Me A River") and Canada's Ron Hynes ("Atlantic Blue"). They also cover Waits' dramatic "Georgia Lee" at mid-set. Their repertoire also has plenty of supercharged instrumental medleys incorporating jigs, polkas, hornpipes, strathspeys, and reels. Whether slow or fast numbers, they have been arranged with verve and intensity. If Celtic-based music has an equivalent of bluegrass music's Nickel Creek, then it is likely The Cottars. Their musicianship, charisma, exuberance, sheer force and powerful energy will take them far. It will be interesting to see what directions they take. Their style and influences indicate that the four young folks have four feet in tradition and four feet in the future. They've already grown considerably in musicianship, are building a large fan base, and I see "Forerunner" as an exceptional harbinger of even greater things to come. (Joe Ross, Roseburg, OR.)

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If you like the Rankins or the Corrs, you'll love this group

Texas Celt | Dallas | 02/13/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I picked up this group's CD "Made in Cape Breton" at a used book store last year and was wowed by the beautiful vocals--especially the Gaelic "Suillean Dubh", sung a cappella--and the fine instumental work. It was amazing stuff coming from a group of 11- to 14-year olds. Their latest CD "Forerunner", which comes 4 years after "Cape Breton", shows that as the group has matured and blossomed, so has their music. It was a minor disappointment that there were relatively few traditional numbers on the CD, and nothing sung in Gaelic, but the pop material is so highly-charged with teenage angst and passion that I highly recommend the entire CD without reservations."