The Barra MacNeils make it their business to illuminate the Christmas season with songs and stories, play Sault Thursday
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A little light for ‘dark times’
Jeffrey Ougler
Stewart MacNeil chuckles when he considers the curious receptions with which a Barra MacNeils’s Christmas television special may have been received by a weary gambler — depending, of course, on how the chips fell that particular evening.
It turns out a Las Vegas PBS affiliate opted one year to run the group’s Yuletide show at midnight on Christmas Eve.
It turns out a Las Vegas PBS affiliate opted one year to run the group’s Yuletide show at midnight on Christmas Eve.
“It’s either going to be someone who came back to their room who won a lot of money, or somebody who lost a lot of money,” MacNeil said with a laugh.
Sweden has, apparently, taken a special shine to the group’s Yuletide special, with no shortage of requests made for “hard copies.”
“When you create a recording, there’s no saying what’s going to go through somebody else’s life when they hear it,” MacNeil told The Sault Star in a recent interview.
On this day, the member of the Cape Breton-based family group is a long way from Sin City, driving through West Coast mountains en route to Cranbrook, B.C., another stop on the Barra MacNeils’s East Coast Christmas tour. But, there’s no doubt plenty of Nevada folks know a tad about Canada’s Celtic ambassadors, as do any number of residents in all states of the union.
The Barra MacNeils’s one-hour Christmas Television Special (2000) continues to be broadcast on PBS and Country Music Television (CMT) in the U.S., and December 2007 saw the broadcast of a new Yuletide special, spreading East Coast Christmas music traditions and tales far and wide.
This suits Stewart MacNeil just fine.
“People, during the dark times of the year, do need celebration with light and we try to augment that with some music and stories to match the season,” MacNeil said.
The five-sibling outfit — Stewart (vocals, accordion, tin whistle, flute, bouzouki, guitar, stepdancing), Kyle (vocals, guitar, violin, mandolin), Lucy (vocals, bodhran, Celtic harp, fiddle, step-dancing), Sheumas (keyboards, piano, bodhran, fiddle, bouzouki, vocals) and Boyd (mandolin, fiddle, guitar, banjo, percussion, step-dancing) are joined by Jamie Gatti (bass) — is essentially expected to tour annually at Christmas, and this year’s production features no shortage of favourites, such as a O Holy Night, Ave Maria, Christmas in Killarney and Auld Lang Syne, coupled with comedy, seasonal stories and dance.
Given the success of Barra MacNeils’s Christmas tours and television stints, wouldn’t it be, perhaps, less stressful to stick to a tried and true formula, maintaining a regular set list and retelling tales of Cape Breton Christmases of yore?
Not on your life, MacNeil insists.
Firstly, it’s not uncommon these days for folks who first saw the Barra MacNeils’s Christmas show roll through town two decades ago to now bring their offspring to see what they’ve raved so much about. Yes, there is a natural yearning for the “familiar,” MacNeil said, but added the odd musical curveball is always appreciated.
“Trying to find that balance is tricky,” said MacNeil, a classically trained musician and Mount Allison University alumnus. “It’s very hard to get all the old favourites in and also do stuff that’s new. I guess that’s the part of the craft. And when you get it right, it certainly makes for a magic evening.”
Secondly, the “magic” must also extend to the players themselves. And, MacNeil insists, it does; one of the reasons the multi-award-winning unit has remained together, performing for more than three decade, touring regularly and releasing more than a dozen albums, the most recent of which was last summer’s On the Bright Side.
Harmony extends past vocal performances.
“You have a choice … You get along or you don’t. And I think it’s a lot more fun when people get along,” MacNeil said. “If you want to push peoples’ buttons and be miserable, that is an option. But, fortunately, I think somehow we’ve found some kind of a common mission.”
Making quality music, MacNeil said, remains a principal quest.
“It’s something that’s taken us through good times and bad,” he added. “And, I think, for a lot of our fans, that music is that same thing. It’s not always music for the good times. It’s getting you through the tough times in life. Emotional support is something we all need from time to time.”
jougler@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @JeffreyOugler
If You Go:
Who: The Barra MacNeils, East Coast Christmas;
When: Thursday, 7:30 p.m.;
Where: Sault Community Theatre Centre;
Tickets: The Box Office at Station Mall or online at http://www.saultctc.ca
Sweden has, apparently, taken a special shine to the group’s Yuletide special, with no shortage of requests made for “hard copies.”
“When you create a recording, there’s no saying what’s going to go through somebody else’s life when they hear it,” MacNeil told The Sault Star in a recent interview.
On this day, the member of the Cape Breton-based family group is a long way from Sin City, driving through West Coast mountains en route to Cranbrook, B.C., another stop on the Barra MacNeils’s East Coast Christmas tour. But, there’s no doubt plenty of Nevada folks know a tad about Canada’s Celtic ambassadors, as do any number of residents in all states of the union.
The Barra MacNeils’s one-hour Christmas Television Special (2000) continues to be broadcast on PBS and Country Music Television (CMT) in the U.S., and December 2007 saw the broadcast of a new Yuletide special, spreading East Coast Christmas music traditions and tales far and wide.
This suits Stewart MacNeil just fine.
“People, during the dark times of the year, do need celebration with light and we try to augment that with some music and stories to match the season,” MacNeil said.
The five-sibling outfit — Stewart (vocals, accordion, tin whistle, flute, bouzouki, guitar, stepdancing), Kyle (vocals, guitar, violin, mandolin), Lucy (vocals, bodhran, Celtic harp, fiddle, step-dancing), Sheumas (keyboards, piano, bodhran, fiddle, bouzouki, vocals) and Boyd (mandolin, fiddle, guitar, banjo, percussion, step-dancing) are joined by Jamie Gatti (bass) — is essentially expected to tour annually at Christmas, and this year’s production features no shortage of favourites, such as a O Holy Night, Ave Maria, Christmas in Killarney and Auld Lang Syne, coupled with comedy, seasonal stories and dance.
Given the success of Barra MacNeils’s Christmas tours and television stints, wouldn’t it be, perhaps, less stressful to stick to a tried and true formula, maintaining a regular set list and retelling tales of Cape Breton Christmases of yore?
Not on your life, MacNeil insists.
Firstly, it’s not uncommon these days for folks who first saw the Barra MacNeils’s Christmas show roll through town two decades ago to now bring their offspring to see what they’ve raved so much about. Yes, there is a natural yearning for the “familiar,” MacNeil said, but added the odd musical curveball is always appreciated.
“Trying to find that balance is tricky,” said MacNeil, a classically trained musician and Mount Allison University alumnus. “It’s very hard to get all the old favourites in and also do stuff that’s new. I guess that’s the part of the craft. And when you get it right, it certainly makes for a magic evening.”
Secondly, the “magic” must also extend to the players themselves. And, MacNeil insists, it does; one of the reasons the multi-award-winning unit has remained together, performing for more than three decade, touring regularly and releasing more than a dozen albums, the most recent of which was last summer’s On the Bright Side.
Harmony extends past vocal performances.
“You have a choice … You get along or you don’t. And I think it’s a lot more fun when people get along,” MacNeil said. “If you want to push peoples’ buttons and be miserable, that is an option. But, fortunately, I think somehow we’ve found some kind of a common mission.”
Making quality music, MacNeil said, remains a principal quest.
“It’s something that’s taken us through good times and bad,” he added. “And, I think, for a lot of our fans, that music is that same thing. It’s not always music for the good times. It’s getting you through the tough times in life. Emotional support is something we all need from time to time.”
jougler@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @JeffreyOugler
If You Go:
Who: The Barra MacNeils, East Coast Christmas;
When: Thursday, 7:30 p.m.;
Where: Sault Community Theatre Centre;
Tickets: The Box Office at Station Mall or online at http://www.saultctc.ca