Fiona MacGillivray
Encyclopedia
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. She shares the bill with her brother Ciarán MacGillivray
, fiddler Claire Pettit and guitarist Bruce Timmins.
http://www.miramusic.net/allister/index.php?cart=Allister and wife Beverly in the village of Albert Bridge
on Nova Scotia
's Cape Breton Island
. She credits her parents for her musical inspiration. Aside from her singing, they encouraged Fiona to play multiple instruments, including the harp
, piano
, tin whistle
, bodhran
, and bouzouki
as well as pursue writing songs and music.
Fiona often credits Colm Wilkinson
's Opera Ghost in Andrew Lloyd Webber
's The Phantom of the Opera
as being her first inspiration to sing. As a young child, she frequently impressed notable family friends such as Rita MacNeil
and Tommy Makem
with her vocal maturity. She also found a liking of the film set in CBC
's period drama Pit Pony.
, Governor General of Canada
.
In 2000, Fiona and Ciarán were invited to perform on The Barra MacNeils' Christmas
Special along with special guests The Ennis Sisters
. Ciaran and Fiona performed two numbers to standing ovations. The program aired on Country Music Television
in 2000.
Fiona's first professional recording came in 2001 for the compilation CD. Cape Breton By Request, when she was 11 years old. Singing Jimmy Rankin's Farethee Well Love, she was the only artist on the compilation asked to submit a previously unrecorded track.
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. They commenced touring regularly. During the summer of they following year, the quartet performed for hockey legends Wayne Gretzky, Brett Hull, and Joe Sakic at a private banquet. In the fall of 2001, during The Celtic Colours Festival
, The Cottars were presented with "The Tic Butler Music Award" for the preservation of Cape Breton culture.
In 2002, The Cottars 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 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 band toured successfully in promotion of Made In Cape Breton
, this time giving private performances for Senator Ted Kennedy and his family in Massachusetts. Back home in Canada, a CBC-TV Special entitled Meet The Cottars was aired across the country. Later in the year, the youngsters appeared at several major North American music-festivals (including Newport Folk Festival
, sharing the bill with Bob Dylan
).
On June 8, 2004, the quartet released a highly-anticipated second CD, On Fire on Warner Music to rave reviews. The disc won them an ECMA for Best Traditional Group. In the same year, The Cottars also taped a CBC-TV 1-hour special with the world-famous Chieftains of Ireland.
In the fall, they recorded their third CD Forerunner
in studios in Nashville and Cape Breton, which was released on Rounder Records
in 2005. It featured two new Tom Waits covers by Fiona; "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
.
, America
, Europe
, and Japan
, it was announced that the group would disband, citing disagreements between the two pairs of siblings. Although it was Ciaran and Fiona MacGillivray 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, also 16, a new fiddler who divides her time between New York
and Cape Breton
was integrated successfully into The Cottars along with guitarist Bruce Timmons 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...
. She has toured with the band extensively through North America, Europe and Japan. She shares the bill with her brother Ciarán MacGillivray
Ciarán MacGillivray
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.-Early bio:...
, fiddler Claire Pettit and guitarist Bruce Timmins.
Early bio
Fiona 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=Allister 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...
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....
. She credits her parents for her musical inspiration. Aside from her singing, they encouraged Fiona to play multiple instruments, including the harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, tin whistle
Tin whistle
The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, English Flageolet, Scottish penny whistle, Tin Flageolet, Irish whistle and Clarke London Flageolet is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is an end blown fipple flute, putting it in the same category as the recorder, American Indian flute, and...
, bodhran
Bodhrán
The bodhrán is an Irish frame drum ranging from 25 to 65 cm in diameter, with most drums measuring 35 to 45 cm . The sides of the drum are 9 to 20 cm deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side...
, and bouzouki
Bouzouki
The bouzouki , is a musical instrument with Greek origin in the lute family. A mainstay of modern Greek music, the front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but...
as well as pursue writing songs and music.
Fiona often credits Colm Wilkinson
Colm Wilkinson
Colm Wilkinson is an Irish tenor, best known for originating the role of Jean Valjean in Les Misérables and for playing the title role in The Phantom of the Opera .Due to his association with these musicals, he reprised the role of...
's Opera Ghost in Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
's The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux.The music was composed by Lloyd Webber, and most lyrics were written by Charles Hart, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. Alan Jay Lerner was an early collaborator,...
as being her first inspiration to sing. As a young child, she frequently impressed notable family friends such as Rita MacNeil
Rita MacNeil
Rita MacNeil, CM, ONS is a Canadian country and folk singer from the community of Big Pond on Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island. Her biggest hit, "Flying On Your Own", was a crossover Top 40 hit in 1987 and was covered by Anne Murray the following year, although she has had hits on the country...
and Tommy Makem
Tommy Makem
Thomas "Tommy" Makem was an internationally celebrated Irish folk musician, artist, poet and storyteller. He was best known as a member of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. He played the long-necked 5-string banjo, guitar, tin whistle, and bagpipes, and sang in a distinctive baritone...
with her vocal maturity. She also found a liking of the film set in CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
's period drama Pit Pony.
Early career
Fiona and Ciarán performed as a duo for several years before the formation of The Cottars in 2001 for such prestigious guests as Adrienne ClarksonAdrienne Clarkson
Adrienne Louise Clarkson is a Canadian journalist and stateswoman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 26th since Canadian Confederation....
, Governor General of Canada
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
.
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,...
. Ciaran and Fiona 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.
Fiona's first professional recording came in 2001 for the compilation CD. Cape Breton By Request, when she was 11 years old. Singing Jimmy Rankin's Farethee Well Love, she was the only artist on the compilation asked to submit a previously unrecorded track.
With The Cottars
In 2000, Fiona and her brother met their future bandmates, the MacKenzie siblings from Baddeck at a festivalFestival
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. They commenced touring regularly. During the summer of they following year, the quartet performed for hockey legends Wayne Gretzky, Brett Hull, and Joe Sakic at a private banquet. In the fall of 2001, during The Celtic Colours Festival
Celtic Colours
Since 1997, the ' has featured hundreds of musicians from all over the Celtic world and attracted tens of thousands of visitors to Cape Breton Island...
, The Cottars were presented with "The Tic Butler Music Award" for the preservation of Cape Breton culture.
In 2002, The Cottars 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, 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 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 band toured successfully in promotion of 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...
, this time giving private performances for Senator Ted Kennedy and his family in Massachusetts. Back home in Canada, a CBC-TV Special entitled Meet The Cottars was aired across the country. Later in the year, the youngsters appeared at several major North American music-festivals (including Newport Folk Festival
Newport Folk Festival
The Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival...
, sharing the bill with Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
).
On June 8, 2004, the quartet released a highly-anticipated second CD, On Fire on Warner Music to rave reviews. The disc won them an ECMA for Best Traditional Group. In the same year, The Cottars also taped a CBC-TV 1-hour special with the world-famous Chieftains of Ireland.
In the fall, they recorded their third CD Forerunner
Forerunner (album)
-Track listing:# Waterlily – 4:29# Miss Casey Medley – 1:59#* Miss Casey's Jig ...
in studios in Nashville and Cape Breton, which was released 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. It featured two new Tom Waits covers by Fiona; "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...
.
Cottars No More
In July 2006 after extensive touring in CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, it was announced that the group would disband, citing disagreements between the two pairs of siblings. Although it was Ciaran and Fiona MacGillivray 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, also 16, a new fiddler who divides her time between New York
New 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 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....
was integrated successfully into The Cottars along with guitarist Bruce Timmons to form the new band.
Influences
- Tom WaitsTom WaitsThomas 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."...
— Fiona has recorded three Tom Waits songs to date. ("The Briar and the Rose", "Georgia Lee", "Hold On") - Rufus WainwrightRufus WainwrightRufus McGarrigle Wainwright is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. He has recorded six albums of original music, EPs, and tracks on compilations and film soundtracks.-Early years:...
- The BeatlesThe BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
- John LennonJohn LennonJohn Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
— While on tour with The Cottars, Fiona reportedly paid a visit to Yoko OnoYoko Onois a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
's John Lennon Forever Museum in JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
Discography
- Cape Breton By Request (2000) — Sings Jimmy Rankin's "Farethee Well Love"
- 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 ...
(2005)