Ciarán MacGillivray
Encyclopedia
Ciarán MacGillivray is the pianist of the critically acclaimed Celtic
group, The Cottars
. He shares the bill with his sister Fiona MacGillivray
, Claire Pettit, and Bruce Timmins.
http://www.miramusic.net/allister/index.php?cart= and wife Beverly in the village of Albert Bridge
http://www.jproductions.com/cottars.html on Nova Scotia
's Cape Breton Island
.
In 2000, Fiona and Ciarán were invited to perform on The Barra MacNeils' Christmas
Special along with special guests The Ennis Sisters
. The siblings performed two numbers to standing ovations. The program aired on Country Music Television
in 2000.
This was also the year Ciarán and his sister met future bandmates, the MacKenzie siblings from Baddeck, at a festival
on the island of Iona
. The following Christmas, the foursome (at this point, unnamed) had their first performance, A Child's Celtic Christmas, at the Highland Heights Inn Resort in Iona.
were featured in Irish Tenor John McDermott
's PBS production A Time to Remember
, and were introduced to their future agent, Pam McDermott (no relation) of McDermott Entertainment.
In 2002 The Cottars released their first CD Made In Cape Breton
, on Warner Music. The disc, with single Tom Waits
's The Briar and the Rose, showcased John McDermott
's vocals along with Fiona's in two duets. The CD won an East Coast Music Award for Best New Artist in February of the following year and a nomination for Best Artist. The ECMA broadcast also featured Ciarán and Fiona in the group's live rendition of their single, which was received with a standing ovation. The performance was nominated for an Emmy Award
.
The Cottars released their second CD, On Fire on Warner Music in 2004, which won them an ECMA
for Best Traditional Group. They released their latest CD Forerunner
on Rounder Records
in 2005, with two new Tom Waits
covers; Georgia Lee and Hold On.
In 2005–2006, The Cottars were invited on a 25-city tour with The Chieftains
, ending in Carnegie Hall
on St. Patrick's Day, where they performed with Elvis Costello
.
and Cape Breton
was integrated successfully into The Cottars
along with guitarist Bruce Timmons, the only non-teen in the group, to form the new band.
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
group, The Cottars
The Cottars
The Cottars are a Canadian Celtic musical group originating from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia- Conception to Feast :From 2000 to March 2006 The Cottars were composed of: Ciarán and Fiona MacGillivray of Albert Bridge, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and The MacKenzies of Cape Breton. In 2006, big...
. He shares the bill with his sister Fiona MacGillivray
Fiona MacGillivray
Fiona MacGillivray is the lead singer of the Celtic group The Cottars. She has toured with the band extensively through North America, Europe and Japan...
, Claire Pettit, and Bruce Timmins.
Early bio
Ciarán was born to songwriter Allister MacGillivrayAllister MacGillivray
Allister MacGillivray is a singer/songwriter from the Cape Breton region of Nova Scotia, Canada.He began performing very young, at the age of seven, and, throughout his life, inspired a culture based on his home area, generally referred to as the town of Marion Bridge, also known as Drochaid Mhira...
http://www.miramusic.net/allister/index.php?cart= and wife Beverly in the village of Albert Bridge
Albert Bridge, Nova Scotia
Albert Bridge is a Canadian rural community in Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Regional Municipality.Situated on the Mira River, the community was previously named Mira Ferry for the location of a small ferry crossing the river...
http://www.jproductions.com/cottars.html on Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
's Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....
.
In 2000, Fiona and Ciarán were invited to perform on The Barra MacNeils' Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
Special along with special guests The Ennis Sisters
The Ennis Sisters
Ennis, formerly known as The Ennis Sisters is a Canadian musical family group from St. John's, Newfoundland.-Biography:The Ennis Sisters, Maureen, Karen and Teresa, started playing music at a young age, encouraged by their father John and their mother Ceilie. The trio released their first album,...
. The siblings performed two numbers to standing ovations. The program aired on Country Music Television
Country Music Television
Country Music Television, or CMT, is an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming includes music videos, taped concerts, movies, biographies of country music stars, game shows, and reality programs...
in 2000.
This was also the year Ciarán and his sister met future bandmates, the MacKenzie siblings from Baddeck, at a festival
Festival
A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....
on the island of Iona
Iona
Iona is a small island in the Inner Hebrides off the western coast of Scotland. It was a centre of Irish monasticism for four centuries and is today renowned for its tranquility and natural beauty. It is a popular tourist destination and a place for retreats...
. The following Christmas, the foursome (at this point, unnamed) had their first performance, A Child's Celtic Christmas, at the Highland Heights Inn Resort in Iona.
With The Cottars
In 2002, The CottarsThe Cottars
The Cottars are a Canadian Celtic musical group originating from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia- Conception to Feast :From 2000 to March 2006 The Cottars were composed of: Ciarán and Fiona MacGillivray of Albert Bridge, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and The MacKenzies of Cape Breton. In 2006, big...
were featured in Irish Tenor John McDermott
John McDermott (singer)
John Charles McDermott is a Scottish-Canadian tenor best known for his rendering of the song "Danny Boy". Born in Glasgow, Scotland, John moved with his family to Willowdale, Ontario, Canada in 1965. Growing up in a musical family, his only formal musical training was at St...
's PBS production A Time to Remember
A Time to Remember
A Time to Remember is the 2009 double album recording of the show by the same name, by The Dubliners, recorded in Vienna. First performed in Vicar Street, Dublin on 4 July, 2009 and later taken on tour around Europe, it was conceived as a tribute to their deceased members...
, and were introduced to their future agent, Pam McDermott (no relation) of McDermott Entertainment.
In 2002 The Cottars released their first CD Made In Cape Breton
Made in Cape Breton
The first of three cds by the Celtic band The Cottars. Recorded at Lakewind Sound Studios in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and released in 2002 by Warner Music.-Track listing:# Sùilean Dubh – 2:45# The Captain Campbell Medley – 4:07...
, on Warner Music. The disc, with single Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
's The Briar and the Rose, showcased John McDermott
John McDermott (singer)
John Charles McDermott is a Scottish-Canadian tenor best known for his rendering of the song "Danny Boy". Born in Glasgow, Scotland, John moved with his family to Willowdale, Ontario, Canada in 1965. Growing up in a musical family, his only formal musical training was at St...
's vocals along with Fiona's in two duets. The CD won an East Coast Music Award for Best New Artist in February of the following year and a nomination for Best Artist. The ECMA broadcast also featured Ciarán and Fiona in the group's live rendition of their single, which was received with a standing ovation. The performance was nominated for an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
.
The Cottars released their second CD, On Fire on Warner Music in 2004, which won them an ECMA
ECMA
Ecma or ECMA may refer to:* Ecma International, an international standards organization for Information Communication Technology and Consumer Electronics* Engineering College Magazines Associated, a group of student-run engineering-based publications...
for Best Traditional Group. They released their latest CD Forerunner
Forerunner (album)
-Track listing:# Waterlily – 4:29# Miss Casey Medley – 1:59#* Miss Casey's Jig ...
on Rounder Records
Rounder Records
Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...
in 2005, with two new Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
covers; Georgia Lee and Hold On.
In 2005–2006, The Cottars were invited on a 25-city tour with The Chieftains
The Chieftains
The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...
, ending in Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
on St. Patrick's Day, where they performed with Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
.
The Cottars No More
In July 2006, it was announced that the group would disband, citing disagreements between the two pairs of siblings. Although it was the MacGillivrays who were reported as ending the professional relationship first, new tour dates were soon scheduled featuring a new arrangement in which the MacKenzie siblings were not included. Roseanne has been quoted as saying she was 'devastated.' Claire Pettit, 16, a new fiddler who divides her time between New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Cape Breton
Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia
Cape Breton Regional Municipality often shortened to simply CBRM, is a regional municipality in Nova Scotia's Cape Breton County.According to the 2006 Census of Canada, the population within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality is 102,250...
was integrated successfully into The Cottars
The Cottars
The Cottars are a Canadian Celtic musical group originating from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia- Conception to Feast :From 2000 to March 2006 The Cottars were composed of: Ciarán and Fiona MacGillivray of Albert Bridge, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and The MacKenzies of Cape Breton. In 2006, big...
along with guitarist Bruce Timmons, the only non-teen in the group, to form the new band.
Discography
- Made In Cape BretonMade in Cape BretonThe first of three cds by the Celtic band The Cottars. Recorded at Lakewind Sound Studios in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and released in 2002 by Warner Music.-Track listing:# Sùilean Dubh – 2:45# The Captain Campbell Medley – 4:07...
(2002) - On Fire (2004)
- ForerunnerForerunner (album)-Track listing:# Waterlily – 4:29# Miss Casey Medley – 1:59#* Miss Casey's Jig ...
(2006)