Band Details

From the Promoter

Ten Strings and a Goatskin

Age-old entertainments – sitting around the fire, telling tales – can take on ever-new faces. Young acoustic “power trio” Ten Strings and a Goat Skin from Canada’s Prince Edward Isle know this, transforming tradition with vigor, curiosity, and sparks of goofy humor.

They’re inviting a new circle of listeners for sometimes moody, sometimes high-energy set of original and traditional songs. Expanding on the Scottish and Acadian roots of PEI’s traditional music, Ten Strings and a Goatskin weave old-school Franco-Canadian, Breton, Irish, and Scottish tunes with wickedly current grooves and clever quirks, flirting with indie’s best moments.

“We’re less anchored in traditional structures, the way many players assemble dance sets,” remarks Rowen Gallant, one of the trio’s string players. “We’ve left them by the wayside. We retain the melodic elements, but we’re not opposed to messing with things.” It promises to gather listeners outside of folk circles, where they are already darlings, around the warm glow of fast-burning tradition.

“It’s been a wild ride. It happened to us early,” explains Rowen, considering the trio’s rapid rise to prominence on the folk circuit. Already embraced by the Canadian folk scene, they recently made the Kansas City Star’s list of top traditional acts at this year’s Folk Alliance.

“We were fortunate to start touring and engaging more professionally in our teens,” Rowen muses. “There have been great resources to help us along in that change. But really, it’s only been in the last year or so, that we reached a point where we’re doing most of the songwriting and all the arrangements. The project has embraced more and more of who we are, with tradition acting as our anchor point.”

“We love trad music and we have a long list of bands we listen to all the time,” notes Périard. “But we get lots of other ideas from other music. There’s lots of amazing music from PEI that’s less trad, more pop, and that’s shaped us.” Originals take their cues sonically from this wealth and lyrically from a deeply felt connection to the history of Eastern Canada.

"They present an accomplished potpourri of Irish, French, Acadian, and original music, well-seasoned with world beat grooves. They’ve been eloquently described as “A seamless, polished, barrel-drum-tight, rhythmically innovative and wildly entertaining traditional music powerhouse”. That quote serves as an excellent appetizer for those of you yet to hear them. Yet it still fails to do them complete justice. Since words can’t really explain how good they sound, you’ll have to listen for yourself. - Penguin Eggs

Ben Miller and Anita MacDonald

Ben and Anita blend the rich traditional sound of the Cape Breton fiddle, with the fiery edge of the Scottish Border pipes. Combining their creative vision with influences from Old and New World Gaelic traditions, they create a powerful sound. Since meeting at the 2013 Celtic Colours Festival, they have toured across North America and further afield, wowing audiences with their captivating blend of driving dance tunes and soulful Gaelic airs.

Ben is an American-born player of Scottish bagpipes, currently living in Halifax, NS. His interest in traditional music stems from his exposure to the pipes at a young age, in his hometown of Queensbury, New York, as well as his family’s strong connections to its Scottish and Irish roots, through both his American mother and Canadian father. He began studying the Highland Bagpipes around age eight, but by twelve he began to shift his focus to the bellows-blown Scottish smallpipes and Border pipes. Ben is also an academic, holding an undergraduate degree in Music, as well as a Master's degree in Scottish Ethnology, from the University of Edinburgh's School of Scottish Studies. His repertoire and style draw mainly on the Gaelic traditions of Western Scotland and the Canadian Maritimes, blended with a healthy dash of Irish tunes for good measure.

Anita is an accomplished musician, dancer, and Gaelic singer from Little Narrows, Cape Breton. She began step-dancing in the family kitchen at the tender age of four, and picked up the fiddle a few short years later, at age eight. She has been wowing audiences with her impeccable timing and neatly choreographed steps ever since. Anita’s fiddle playing has a distinctive sound, influenced by the deep roots of her musical family. Her energetic style has put her in demand as a performer and teacher, across Cape Breton and beyond. Anita is also the recipient of the Frank “Big Sampie” Sampson Award, nominated by the Celtic Colours Festival Drive’ers Association. Following this award, Anita released her debut album, “Stepping Stone,” during the Celtic Colours International Festival in 2011.

"... One of the most important folk acts on Cape Breton Island today." - CBC Main Street (Nova Scotia).

"... Fiery... Fresh, yet totally traditional... Excellent entertainment!" - Piping Today Magazine (Glasgow, UK)