Born on December 24, 1939, Robin Morton grew up in Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. His dad was a jazz enthusiast and turned him on to jazz as a child. Morton tried to play the cornet during his youth and also developed an interest in skiffle music before The Liverpool Spinners, among others, began to spark his interest in folk music around 1959. He regularly watched the weekly Hootennny TV show that emanated from Edinburgh, Scotland and featured such folk artists as Martin Carthy and Archie Fisher. While living briefly in Manchester, he also picked up the guitar around that time.

After returning home to Portadown, he began frequenting a nearby pub, where he’d occasionally sing traditional songs during singer sessions. Later, while at Queens University in Belfast studying social work, Morton became involved in the Glee Club led by Phil Coulter, in whose shows he performed a few times (primarily Woody Guthrie songs). He also launched a folk society there in 1963, although he left it and the university after a year to continue his studies at London School of Economics. While in London, he befriended Ewan MacColl, who helped to spur his interest in collecting traditional folk songs.

Upon returning to Belfast, Morton worked in child psychiatry for a while and also helped to launch the Ulster Folk Music Society. He sought to pair music and song together, rather than just separate instrumental and singing sessions, as was the norm. It was through the folk music society that Morton met Cathal McConnell and Tommy Gunn. The three would launch the traditional Irish folk group Boys of the Lough, named after a reel that they enjoyed playing, in 1967. MacColl and Peggy Seeger arranged the band’s first tour. Morton performed and toured with the seminal band, through various personnel changes, for a dozen years.

Morton also collected songs from Ulster and compiled them in a book entitled Folk Songs Sung in Ulster that was published in 1970, along with two albums featuring recordings of traditional singers. Late that year, he moved to Edinburgh.

During the late 1970s, Morton, who had previously worked as a producer for Topic Records, opened a recording studio and established Temple Records, a label devoted to acoustic Scottish (and some Irish) traditional music. Based in a converted church in the village of Temple, near Edinburgh, the label’s mission is “to release music that reflects a great, proud, timeless tradition.” Its first album was Alison Kinnaird’s The Harp Key (1978). Temple Records has released a number of classic, groundbreaking and seminal recordings over the years by such artists as Marie Ni Chathasaigh, John McCusker, Brian McNeill, Flora McNeill, and Christine Primrose. But, perhaps, the most notable act on its roster is Battlefield Band, a group that Morton also managed for more than 40 years — until his passing.

Founded in 1969 and performing under the banner “Forward with Scotland’s Past,” Battlefield Band performs an inspired mix of ancient and modern traditional music and songs. “What the internationally renowned Irish band, the Chieftains, have done for traditional Irish music, Battlefield Band are doing for the music of Scotland,” according to Billboard magazine.

Robin Morton was a passionate champion for the music that he loved. Through the years, in many different capacities (including a short stint as director of the Edinburgh Folk Festival from 1986-1988), he did so much to preserve, produce and promote traditional Scottish folk music – and, more broadly, traditional Celtic music. He left an indelible mark and will be sorely missed.

Billed as the largest free Celtic festival in North America, the Celtic Classic has drawn nearly 300,000 people in past years. Now in its 34th year, the festival did not take place in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Celtic Cultural Alliance is adhering to all federal and state guidelines with respect to the pandemic this year. Festival hours are 4-10 p.m. EST on Sept 24, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sept. 25, and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sept. 26.

Artists slated to perform include Barleyjuice, Blackwater, Celtic Aire (the U.S. Air Force’s Celtic band), Chambless & Muse, Chivalrous Crickets, Emish, Fig for a Kiss, House of Hamill, Seamus Kennedy, Kennedy’s Kitchen, Kilmaine Saints, Moxie Strings, Rogue Diplomats, RUNA, and Gerry Timlin.

Other musical attractions during the weekend include pipe band, fiddle and drum major competitions. Irish dancers from the O’Grady Quinlan Academy of Irish Dance also will take part in the festivities.

North America’s largest highland games take place during the Celtic Classic for the 14th time. The U.S. National Highland Athletic Championships feature events that trace their origins back to medieval Scotland; these include the lifting of heavy stone, throwing 16 and 22-pound hammers, and sheaf and caber tossing. Border collie exhibitions, The Showing of the Tartan parade; a Haggis Bowl (in which whoever eats one pound of Scotland’s national dish wins); a Celtic Heritage Hollow featuring children’s activities, Celtic societies and clans tents, blacksmith demonstrations, and cultural competitions; and a Celtic marketplace featuring crafts, merchandise and collectibles also are on tap.

More information on one of the most popular events in northeastern Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, including daily schedules, may be found at celticfest.org.

Through its online showcases, Folquebec – an active participant at APAP conferences for the past nine years — aims to offer conference attendees an introduction to Quebec’s traditional, folk and world music scene, according to Gilles Garand, president and artistic director of the nonprofit organization that is now celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Quebecois traditional music, built around dancing, represents a melding of musical influences. It’s inspired by traditions brought to Quebec by early French settlers and later, by Celtic traditions brought to Anglo-Canada by Irish and, particularly, Scottish settlers.

By the early 20th century, a distinctly Quebecois version of traditional music had developed. It drew from such diverse influences as Scottish step dancing, Irish instrumental tunes, European dance forms, old French songs and 78 rpm records from the U.S. and Canada. The fiddle became Quebec’s primary instrument at the time, closely followed by the accordion. Other instruments have since been added to the mix as some contemporary artists have sought to reinterpret and keep Trad music alive.

As emcee of the Folquebec TradFest, Garand introduced five of the Canadian province’s premier folk and roots groups – Bon DeBarras, De Temps Antan, Grosse Isle, Les Grands Hurleurs, and Le Vent du Nord. Each group showcased its talents live from Montreal’s Cabaret du Lion d’Or for 25 minutes.

Bon Débarras, which in English translates to good riddance, is a trio of multi-instrumentalists (Dominic Desrochers, Jean-Francois Dumas and Veronique Plasse) whose original roots repertoire is steeped in in poetry and rhythmic sounds, and blends traditional French-Canadian, Irish, Scottish and English musical influences with those of contemporary, multicultural Montreal. Besides accordion, banjo, guitars, harmonica and vocals, Bon DeBarras’ music features the infectious beat of podorhythmie (foot percussion) –- a staple of Quebecois traditional music.

De Temps Antan is a high-energy trio that is helping to bring Quebecois traditional folk music into the 21st century while adding original music stylings, a contemporary flair and joie de vivre. Since banding together nearly 17 years ago, Andre Brunet (a champion fiddler, who has also performed with Celtic Fiddle Festival), Eric Beaudry (rhythm guitar, mandolin, bouzouki and clogging) and Pierre Luc-DuPuis (accordion) have brought their rousing performances of songs jigs and reels to stages worldwide.

All three members previously were members of La Bottine Souriante, the band most closely associated with the 1970s folk revival in Quebec. With its instrumentation, a vast repertoire of call-and-response songs, and the French-Canadian seated clogging or step-dancing that often accompanies these proto-typical songs, La Bottine Souriante (The Smiling Boot) became a seminal Quebecois folk band that set the standard for De Temps Antan and others to follow.

Grosse Isle is a trio featuring Irish uileann piper Fiochra O’Regan, Quebec fiddler-pianist and singer Sophie Lavoie and noted guitarist Andre Marchand, who blend traditional Irish and Quebecois traditional music with Lavoie’s own compositions. The trio takes its name from an island in the St. Lawrence River where many Irish immigrants to Canada lived,

Les Grands Hurleurs is a trio fronted by Nicolas Pellerin. While rooted in Quebecois traditional music, the trio also fuses elements of classical, gypsy, folk music and electronica and adds its own arrangements to the mix. Currently working on another album for release this year, Les Grands Hurleurs have won three Felix Awards, Francophone Canada’s Juno equivalent.

Le Vent du Nord is a lively, soulful and prolific group of talented singers and multi-instrumentalists that has been expanding the bounds of Quebecois traditional music for nearly 20 years. The globetrotting ensemble has been the well-deserved recipient of multiple Junos, Felix and Canadian Folk Music Awards. Its repertoire includes both traditional folk and original tunes that are performed on button accordion, fiddle guitar and hurdy-gurdy.

Noting that the formation of Folquebec stemmed from conversations at a Folk Alliance conference in 2000, Garand views conferences as “opportunities to share our knowledge and contribute to the concept of cultural reciprocity among artists.” Through its participation, Folquebec looks forward “to developing an ongoing partnership with leaders of North American cultural organizations to bring together our strengths, our resources, our complementarities in the advancement of the performing arts sector, and music in particular, of the broad cultural diversity of human expression through the arts,” he said.

“In this most unusual year of the COVID-19 pandemic, for music professionals, APAP was once again a inspiring meeting place and unique opportunity to meet people, to share and exchange together, discover new talent, new music and explore how to achieve in a virtual way our cultural objectives for the future.”

A Booking Agent and Traditional Music and Dance Aficionado Shares Her Thoughts

In addition to the Folquebec TradFest, two Quebec-based musical acts –- MAZ and Melisande (electrotrad] – were represented during the virtual conference in a pre-recorded showcase presented by the booking agency Canis Major Music. Both acts have previously showcased their talents at APAP under the banner of Folquebec.

Fusing trad, jazz and electric sounds, MAZ is a genre-bending band that is putting a modern spin on Quebec’s traditional music. The quartet, fronted by Marc Maziade, incorporates keyboards, electric guitar and electro beats, along with fiddle, banjo, double bass, vocals and Quebecois foot percussion.

The two bands were featured in a Future Folk and All That Jazz showcase, along with several non- Quebec-based clients of the booking agency that was launched about a year ago by Danielle Devlin, an aficionado of Celtic and French-rooted forms of traditional music and dance, who is also a competitive Scottish highland dancer and hosts house concerts and workshops.

“As a new agency, it was vitally important to me to stay ahead of the curve and double down on marketing, promotion, and bringing my artists to the fore in this unique time when the playing field was completely leveled,” Devlin told AcousticMusicScene.com. “What many saw as a crisis, I aimed to see as a beautiful opportunity, Very early on – before attending my first [of several] virtual conferences – I laid plans to host a themed series of virtual showcases for the artists on my roster, sort of a Canis Major Music festival of artists.” Noting that 18 of the 21 artists on her roster took part in one of four online showcase events for presenters last November that she produced, Devlin said: “Their work and commitment to make these happen made me feel so humbled, honored, and proud to be working with them.”

Future Folk and All That Jazz was among those virtual showcases which she called collectively Extraordinary Times and Artists and which she re-streamed on the APAP conference platform in January –- drawing what she called “a surprisingly good number of new views.” Each of the participating artists and acts also now has a promo reel that Devlin can continue to use in pitching virtual and in-person shows, while the showcases have resulted in real work being booked – both new virtual cultural programming and in-person performance offers, she said.

Devlin is also grateful to organizations like APAP that have recognized the importance of the performing arts in these challenging times and have adapted accordingly by pivoting to hold virtual conferences.

Noting that the platforms used for hosting these conferences have varied widely – in their ease of use as an exhibitor, as well as ease of interaction and access as an attendee,” Devlin said: “If you come with the right attitude, accepting that this is all a very new tech field and that there will be some difficulties, none of the small annoyances or hurdles are really that much of a challenge… Knowing that everyone is in the same boat, and most are not available to book new in-person work, the environment during these events has remained far more low-key and less of a hustle than would be if they were in-person.”

Apparently, however, virtual conferences are no less productive. Since the pandemic forced the closure of venues and cancellation of tours last March, Devlin said she has had “the amazing opportunity to be a part of producing and selling virtual programs” for about half of the artists on my roster – and in good number.” Among them have been concerts, interviews, workshops, and master classes in cooperation with festivals, performing arts centers, and presenting organizations across North America. “These are presenters who have also embraced the possibilities in this moment and who recognize the importance of continuing to support the arts during this crucial and difficult time for all,” she added.

Lisa Richards Toney, APAP’s new president and CEO, expressed similar sentiments during the virtual APAP Conference On its opening day, she noted that the virtual programming was designed to set the agenda for the year ahead and the recovery of the live performing arts. During the conference’s closing plenary session, she told attendees: “This time together has been invigorating, it has been igniting. This is not the end. We are not returning to business as usual… This is the beginning to engaging more equitably, to advancing the field as the richly diverse ecosystem that we are, to building forward with anti-racism as our lens, to addressing the climate crisis, to centering the voices of Black, Indigenous, and all people of color, to better visa and immigration policies, to outdoor programming, to resilience and mental health, to recovering in an altered touring landscape, to public health and re-opening, and to the art of going virtual.” Richards Toney continued: “We’ve got work to do. But we have imagination to uncover and promises to uphold. We are just getting started. We are stronger together, and we are worth it.”

About the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP)

In addition to hundreds of performance showcases, APAP’s first all-online conference in its 64 years featured an array of professional development programming and networking events, a virtual exhibit hall, and pitch sessions.

The Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit national service, advocacy and membership organization dedicated to developing and supporting a robust, performing arts presenting field and the professionals who work within it. APAP works to effect change through advocacy, professional development, resource sharing and civic engagement. More information may be found on its website, www.APAP365.org.

Editor’s Note: With the exception of Grosse Isle, who were new to me, I had seen all of the bands highlighted in this article showcase their talents at conferences and/or perform in concert/festival settings previously –- Le Vent du Nord and Melisande [Electrotrad] multiple times. It was also my pleasure to conduct an on-stage, pre-concert interview with De Temps Antan on Long Island in the summer of 2015. I have been attending and reporting on the APAP Conference annually since launching AcousticMusicScene.com in January 2007.

Now in its ninth year, the festival will feature more than 100 performers, a mix of established artists and new or emerging acts from the Boston area’s Celtic music community – including fiddlers, flutists, accordionists, guitarists, singers and other musicians, as well as dancers. Their styles and approach run the gamut from dyed-in-the-wool traditional to more contemporary sounds.

BCMFest kicks off with a customary Friday night “Roots and Branches” concert at Club Passim that will feature a diverse array of the area Celtic scene’s talented young musicians and singers. Fiddlers Hanneke Cassel, Kimberley Fraser and Emerald Rae, singer and multi-instrumentalist Grace Van’t Hof and Irish stepdancer Siobahn Butler will join the house band composed of Eden Forman (fiddle, vocals), Abbie MacQuarrie (fiddle, feet), Jefferson Hamer (guitar, vocals), Neil Pearlman (piano, mandolin) and Nic Gareiss (feet). Also slated for Friday night is the ever-popular Boston Urban Ceilidh – a Celtic dance party – at The Atrium, featuring a variety of dance music including New England contra (The Reiner Brothers), Breton (Triple Spiral) and Scottish (Neil Pearlman and Friends).

The festival continues on Saturday with a day-long series of performances at Club Passim and on three different stages at the nearby First Parish Church, where a grand finale concert also takes place.

Musicians Nic Gareiss and Bill Wiegant will lead a tribute to Nic Jones, one of the most influential artists to come out of the 1960s-70s British folk revival, whose albums like The Noah’s Ark Trap and Penguin Eggs showcased his distinctive guitar style and his idiosyncratic yet expressive singing as well as his penchant for reviving obscure or overlooked songs. Although not even born when Jones was in his heyday, Gareiss views his work as “crucial to understanding where the trans-Atlantic folk revival – and I would argue, revitalization – stands today.” He believes “Jones’ songs, particularly his harmonization, guitar parts, and innovative accompaniment approach, have influenced countless folk singers, perhaps the most notable of this generation being Kate Rusby. In turn, these younger folk artists have set the bar for the standard and aesthetic of traditional English, and by extension in these post-global times, Irish, Scottish and American folk.” Joining Gareiss, a stepdancer and foot percussionist, singer and musician, in paying tribute to Jones, aside from vocalist and guitarist Wiegant, will be Laura Cortese (fiddle, vocals), Jefferson Hamer (guitar, vocals), and Lissa Schneckenburger (fiddle, vocals).

Others set to perform during Saturday’s “Dayfest” include: Bob Bradshaw; Amanda Cavanaugh & Gareiss; Chasing Redbird; Dylan Courville, Wells Burrell & Bob Jennings; Corvus; the Deadstring Ensemble; Fellswater; Highland Soles; Adrienne Howard & Emily Peterson; Katie McNally & Eric McDonald; NOIR; Neil Pearlman’s Scottish Infusion; Ken Perlman & Jim Prendergast; Hannah Sanders & Liz Simmons; Triple Spiral; and The Whiskey Boys. In addition, The Boston Scottish Fiddle Club and the Stoneybatter Band will lead open music sessions, while the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society’s Boston branch will demonstrate dances and afford audience members opportunities to join in. Also on the schedule are a “Kitchen Ceilidh” of Cape Breton song and dance led by Kyte MacKillop; a “Bawdy Breakfast” presenting a more cheeky, risqué side of Celtic music; and “McThriller,” a Celtic send-up of the music of Michael Jackson.

“Our feeling is, yes, let’s have a serious side, where we explore these vital, enduring music traditions – but let’s not forget to have fun, either,” says Shannon Heaton, who co-founded BCMFest with Laura Cortese. Heaton’s husband, Matt, and fellow guitar, bouzouki and mandolin player Flynn Cohen have organized Saturday night’s finale concert which will feature collaborations by an array of artists who are generally more likely to be found at sessions in pubs than in concert settings. Among them are Tina Lech (fiddle), Ted Davis (flute), Katie McNally (fiddle), Sean Clohessy (fiddle), James Hamilton (flute), Joey Abarta (Uillean pipes), Kimberley Fraser (fiddle) and Maeve Gilchrist (harp, keyboards). Heaton also will perform with his wife, Shannon (Irish, flute, whistle, vocals), while Cohen joins his “alt-trad” band Annalivia. Heaton and Cohen also will perform as a duo and, along with some of their guest musicians, pay tribute to the Bothy Band, one of the seminal groups in the modern Irish folk music revival.

“We’re looking forward to sharing the stage with people we play music with regularly, but also some of the more underappreciated ‘tradition-bearers’ and ‘sessioneers,,” says Heaton. “There will be a good sampling of Irish, Scotttish, Cape Breton and other music that makes Boston such a wonderful place to be a Celtic musician.”

For more information on BCMFest 2012 – including a schedule and ticket prices – visit www.bcmfest.com.

North America’s largest highland games take place during the Celtic Classic. The U.S. National Highland Athletic Championships will include the lifting of heavy stone, throwing a 22-pound hammer, and tossing of the caber. Border collie exhibitions, a “Showing of the Tartan” parade, a haggis eating contest, a whiskey tasting event, a kids craft tent, clan tents, and a Celtic marketplace featuring crafts, merchandise and collectibles also are on tap.

The festival grounds are located along the banks of Monocracy Creek and adjacent to downtown Bethlehem’s Main Street shopping area. More information on one of the most popular events in northeastern Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, including daily schedules, may be found at www.celticfest.org.

Now in its eighth year, the festival will explore and affirm the interrelationship between the song and instrumental traditions in Celtic music – affording musicians an opportunity to explore the richness of traditional songs and ballads and singers to gain a better appreciation for jigs, reels, hornpipes, polkas, marches, strathspeys and airs.

More than 100 performers, a mix of established artists and new or emerging acts from the Boston area’s Celtic music community – including fiddlers, flutists, accordionists, guitarists, singers and other musicians, as well as dancers — will be featured during the festival. Their styles and approach run the gamut from dyed-in-the-wool traditional to more contemporary-minded sounds.

BCMFest kicks off with a customary Friday night concert at Club Passim in Harvard Square, Cambridge (featuring Plaiditude, Susie Petrov & Reinmar Seidler and Long Time Courting) and the ever-popular Boston Urban Ceilidh – a Celtic dance party –at the Canadian-American Club, a few miles west, in Watertown (with music provided by Kimberly Fraser & Hanneke Cassel, Laura Cortese and the Boston Urban Ceilidh Band, and Pelham Norville, Adam Cole-Mullen, Bethany Waickman & Dan Gurney).

The festival continues on Saturday with a day-long series of performances at Club Passim and on three different stages at the nearby First Parish of Cambridge. In addition to featured artists, there will be a showcase of Celtic-style rock power ballads, an open stage and opportunities for all to sing along during “Lift Every Voice.” Halali (featuring fiddlers Cortese, Cassel and Lissa Schneckenburger, as well as guitarist Flynn Cohen – all of whom have branched out on their own and achieved some solo success) will reunite and close out the festival on Saturday night, along with a number of guest musicians and dancers. The three fiddlers met as teenagers while attending Alasdair Fraser’s School for Scottish fiddlers in California.

Tickets for the BCMFest finale concert are $15; $13 for Club Passim members, while combo passes for the festival “DayFest” and the finale concert ($25 and $23) also are available. For more information on the festival, visit www.bcmfest.com.

The Celtic Classic also features North America’s largest highland games. The U.S. National Highland Athletic Championships will include the lifting of heavy stone, throwing a 22-pound hammer, and tossing of the caber. Border collie exhibitions, a “Showing of the Tartan” parade, a haggis eating contest, and a Celtic marketplace featuring crafts, merchandise and collectibles also are on tap. A Kids Craft Tent will be in operation on Saturday and Sunday, as will a new family-oriented Celtic Crossroads featuring theatre, dance, painting and film.

The festival grounds are located along the banks of Monocracy Creek and adjacent to downtown Bethlehem’s Main Street shopping area. Hours for the Celtic Classic are 4 to 11 p.m. on Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday, and 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday. For more information on one of the most popular events in the northeastern Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, visit www.celticfest.org.

The grassroots, musician-run, multi-generational winter music festival will feature a mix of established artists and new and emerging acts residing in the Boston area or active in its Celtic music community. BCMFest kicks off Jan. 8 with a Friday night concert at Harvard Square’s famed Club Passim and a Celtic dance party, the Boston Urban Celidh, at Springstep in nearby Medford, Massachusetts. The festival continues on Saturday, Jan. 9, with performances on four stages at Club Passim and the nearby First Parish Church of Cambridge, which also hosts the finale concert that evening. Set for 8 p.m., that concert will feature the Makem and Spain Brothers, Kimberley Fraser, and Barbara McOwen with Anne Hooper.

Other artists slated to perform during BCMFest include Gordon AuCoin and Lloyd Carr, Bento Boxty, Boston Highlands Ceili Band, Kate Chadbourne, Flynn Cohen and John McGann, The Gobshites, Catherine Joyce, Tina Lech and Ted Davis, Catherine Joyce and Tess Ruderman, Colm O’Brien, David O’Docherty, Michael O’Leary, Cedar Stanistreet and Max Newman, Parcel of Rogues (Calum Pasqua, Dan Houghton, Susie Petrov), Travel (Laura Cortese, Nic Gareiss, Anna Lindblad), Tri, Tullochgorum, and the trio of Laurel Martin, Kieran Jordan and David Surette, and more. A family-oriented production entitled “The Fiddler’s Wish” and a special ensemble recreation of the classic Dudley Street Boston Irish Dance Hall Era of the 1930s-1950s also are on tap.

“During its first six years, BCMFest has reached out to the area’s diverse Celtic music community through the festival as well as events during the year, such as the monthly Celtic Music Monday series at Club Passim and our annual music cruise in Gloucester,” says Shannon Heaton, who co-founded BCMFest with Laura Cortese. “And every year we’ve seen more and more musicians, singers and dancers come up with some great ideas and collaborations that really speak to the BCMFest mission,” continues Heaton, a talented artist in her own right, along with her husband Matt. “What’s especially encouraging… is that when we issued the call for performers to apply we made a point of stating the ‘core traditions’ theme, and it clearly generated a response.”

Recognizing that traditional music and dance is not merely something to quietly watch and listen to, festival organizers also have arranged a number of participatory events.
In addition to the Boston Urban Celidh, which festival organizers describe as “contra dance meets mosh pit,” participatory events at BCMFest will include an “All Chorus Songs, All the Time” sing-along, as well as open Irish and Scottish tune and singing sessions on Saturday.

More information and updates on the festival are available online at www.bcmfest.com. For tickets, which can be ordered through Club Passim, log-on to www.bcmfest.com/tickets.html.