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The Sarah Burnell Band first came together in 2006, to record the award-winning Sarah'ndipity. Since then, their unique arrangements of traditional Celtic music have won them accolades across Canada. Their performances are engaging and entertaining. In June 2008, The Sarah Burnell Band released their critically-acclaimed Return Ticket. It features leader Sarah Burnell (violin and voice), plus Paul Mills (guitar), Greg Weeks (cello), Ellen Gibling (celtic harp), D'Arcy McGuire and Graham Lindsey (percussion), Jim Hunter (piano), and Neil McDaniel (guitar & mandolin).
Sarah'ndipity won Sarah Burnell the 2006 Canadian Folk Music Award as "Young Performer of the Year". Sarah was born in Ottawa, Canada, where she studied both classical violin and fiddle. She is currently studying Violin and Music Education at McGill University, in Montreal. Sarah's exceptional soprano voice is perfectly suited to Celtic music. She is an alumnus of several elite choirs, and enjoys performing with the semi-professional choir from Montreal, La Ceilagh. Sarah is also a highly-skilled bodhran player, and was an accomplished highland dancer, with the Loch Murray Dancers of Ottawa.
Since the release of her 2006 début album, Sarahn'dipity, Ottawa-born Celtic fiddler and singer Sarah Burnell has been mesmerizing audiences across Canada and the UK. Possessed of a talent noted for both its youthful exuberance and finely-wrought finesse, Sarah has certainly been making waves in the Canadian folk music scene!
In December 2006, Sarah was recognized by the Canadian Folk Music Association with the Canadian Folk Music Award for Young Performer of the Year. As part of her prize, Sarah was awarded a place in the artist line-up of the 2007 Edmonton Folk Music Festival. In addition to the EFMF, summer 2007 saw a busy touring season for the Sarah Burnell Band, with performances in festivals and concert venues across Ontario.
In February 2008, Sarah − along with cellist Greg Weeks, percussionist D'Arcy McGuire, and guitarist Neil McDaniel − performed as a soloist with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in five Young People's Concerts highlighting the link between Baroque and Celtic music.
In June 2008, Sarah released her second album, Return Ticket, under the name of the Sarah Burnell Band. This album shows off a musicianship and artistry beyond Sarah's years and takes Celtic music in an entirely new direction!
The Sarah Burnell Band is known for their dedication to the Celtic tradition and for their sense of musical adventure! Their unique instrumentation makes for a stunning combination, and their energy and flair are unbeatable! With arrangements that inspire both dancing and tears, the Sarah Burnell Band demonstrates their musical versatility.
The Sarah Burnell Band's second album, Return Ticket, brings Celtic music to a whole new dimension. On Return Ticket the band forays into uncharted territory, exploring the influences of (among others) the Latin American, Gypsy-Jazz, and Galician styles of music. This combination of the Celtic and World genres makes for an exciting musical journey!
Sarah has studied Celtic fiddle and classical violin since the age of four, and has worked with many well-respected musicians in both the folk and classical fields, such as Jerry Holland, Boris Brott, David Greenberg, Richard Roberts, Shannon Johnson, and April Verch. She currently lives in Montreal, where she pursues her "second life" as a student of Music Education at McGill University.
> Email Sarah |
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Graham is a victim of great public schooling. Playing the recorder and various ridged sticks in his early years prepared him for playing and enjoying a variety of musical instruments, including all concert percussion, drum kit, euphonium, fife, bodhran and
various whistles. In addition to the numerous concert bands and wind orchestras with whom he has played over the years, he has marched with cadet and school bands as well as CYE, an Ottawa-area drum and bugle corps. He currently plays with a wide variety of Ottawa-area concert and brass bands, and is a member of the Loyalist Fifes & Drums - a living history group that portrays an 18th Century fife and drum corps. In addition to music, Graham is a computer geek doing website design, photography and video production.
> Email Graham
www.grahamlindsey.com
www.wavelengthmedia.ca |
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(this photo courtesy Kim Goodyear)
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Peter has played guitar for more than 30 years in a eclectic range of styles, genres and settings. While fingerpick style acoustic remains his first love, he also plays electric guitar and mandolin in blues and folk groups. Last year, Peter was thrilled to form a rock trio with his two teenage sons for a special performance in an Ottawa club. A former television producer and journalist, Peter is now a successful freelance writer keen to expand his musical horizons.
> Email Peter
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With a grandfather who played 1st violin in the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, a mother who taught classes of music and rhythm appreciation to children and a father who played tenor guitar for the award-winning Canadian folk band The Couriers, Josh’s love of music comes from deep within his roots. Born and raised in Ottawa, Josh started playing piano when he was 8 years old. Years later Josh took the advice of his grade 10 music teacher and switched to bass…and hasn’t put it down since! Keeping busy in high school - although not always out of trouble! – playing in private bands and the high school junior and senior, concert and jazz bands, Josh won a national musicianship award at the 1995 National High School MusicFest in Calgary with his high school senior jazz band. Since then Josh has gone on to play in numerous different bands over the last number years, covering a wide variety of genres and styles. After his most recent stint as bass player and lead singer in the Celtic/East Coast duo Te Bheag (pronounced “Chey Vek”) Josh is excited to be part of the Sarah Burnell Band and its unique brand of traditional Celtic music.
> Email Josh |
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| The following are members of SBB who don't actively play with us anymore (they may play the occasional gig), but they're still our friends and we don't want to remove them from the site completely. Thank you from us to them for all their hard work, time, dedication and wonderful musicianship! |
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Paul has been part of the Canadian folk music scene for over thirty years. He has produced over 130 albums working with artists like Stan Rogers, Sharon, Lois and Bram, Ron Hynes and, of course, Sarah Burnell! He is a founding partner of Borealis Records and operates his own recording studio, “The Millstream”. 2006 saw the release of “The Other Side of the Glass”, Paul’s critically-acclaimed first solo CD. Paul has been a generous and wise mentor for Sarah, her amazing producer for "Sarah'ndipity", as well as her fantastic accompanist. Paul is originally from London, Ontario.
> Email Paul
www.themillstream.com
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D'Arcy performs on a wide variety of percussion instruments, and enjoys playing in all genres of musical expression. Although he views EVERYTHING as a percussion instrument, his 'instruments of choice' would be kit, bodhran, and djembe. He also contributes accordion to the band mix. A Sudbury, Ontario native, D'Arcy has also won numerous awards as a Bassist for solo and highland pipeband competitions and performances, including the 2007 North American championship for the 'Solo Flourishing Bass' competition.
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A native of Ottawa, Ontario, Greg first played with Sarah in the Ottawa Junior Youth Orchestra! They met up again at Canterbury High School, in its prestigious strings programme, years later! Sarah has enjoyed introducing Greg to the celtic repertoire, and they have been delving into the traditional role of the cello as the partner of celtic fiddle. Greg has studied cello since the age of 7, and is currently studying with Kirk Starkey. In his other musical life, Greg is exploring contemporary composition and electronic music. He finds the music of Japan, which he visited in 2005, to be a source of inspiration.
> Email Greg |
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Jim is well known around the Ottawa Valley, where he performs with several fiddlers and ensembles. He is very involved in the traditional music scene, and is on the executive of both the Ottawa Traditional Fiddle and Folk Art Society, and the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddle Association. Sarah and Jim first met at "fiddle club", where Jim 'chorded' for some of Sarah's early appearances as a fiddler. In his professional life, Jim is a distinguished geophysicist, travelling around Canada and the world on behalf of the Geological Survey of Canada. His experiences in far-flung corners of the planet make for interesting dinner conversations and exciting bar demonstrations! As a business/hobby Jim also makes quality tippers for the bodhran drum. He is a native of Sarnia, Ontario.
www.huntertippers.com |
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Ellen has been playing harp since age 11. Starting out playing celtic tunes at the Halifax Farmers' Market on saturday mornings, she has since become involved in performing with orchestras, operas, musicals, pop groups, choirs and in other varied projects both at home in Halifax and in Montreal. She is currently a music student at McGill with Sarah and Greg, studying classical harp with Jennifer Swartz. She has also studied with Karen Rokos, Elizabeth Jane Baldry, and Cheryl Reid-O'Hagan. While recently kept busy practicing pedal harp at McGill, she is very happy to have the chance to finally play her celtic harp again with Sarah and the band!
> Email Ellen |
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Neil brings to the band the authentic Cape Breton touch since he was born and raised in Margaree Forks! His three older sisters led the way, being musicians and highland dancers. There are also highland pipers in the family...but we won't hold that against him! Neil's earliest musical memory was hearing his sister play a busted-up antique pump organ, which he eventually learned to play too. At 15 Neil got his hands on a guitar and rolled the dice with that instrument as well. Attending St. F.X. University after high school was a huge experience and opened his musical perspective to a wide range of styles. Along the way, Neil also picked up whistles, mandolin, banjo,...and song writing. In his other life, Neil is a teacher with the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board. He is currently working on his own CD project, which he hopes to release early 2008.
> Email Neil
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Curtis has been experimenting on the six-string since the age of ten, when he saw his dad pick out Neil Young in the living room. Now on the cusp of graduating from the music program at Carleton University, he has enjoyed a steadily rising profile as an enthusiastic teacher, original composer, and reliable accompanist. Besides strumming for the SBB and teaching budding musicians, he is currently finishing a five-song cycle dedicated to the memory of Glenn Gould.
> Email Curtis
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