as they make their way east on tour from British Columbia. The award-winning group perform at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre on May 11 – photo: Ryan MacDonald
BY WGO STAFF
Còig is one of Atlantic Canada’s most exciting Celtic traditional groups made up of four accomplished multi-instrumentalists, Chrissy Crowley, Rachel Davis, Darren McMullen and Jason Roach. With the fiery Celtic high-energy style as its musical core, Còig easily shifts between century old tunes of past generations to original and upbeat compositions, featuring the bands range of over a dozen instruments (vocals, fiddles, piano, guitars, banjo, mandolin, viola, bouzouki, whistles, and more). With driving tunes, haunting songs and infectious energy, Còig is an unparalleled music force.
The new album, Ashlar features 10 original compositions, covers and traditional tunes that offers a fresh and unique mix of four different talents. From lively sets to tender trad ballads to fabulous covers, Ashlar is full of surprises. The band is writing more, singing more, and having more fun than ever. Check out their take on the Gordon Lightfoot ‘60s classic “Home From The Forest,” featuring vocals from McMullen, and Davis’ beautiful version of the Gaelic classic “O Luaidh.” It’s traditional for sure, but it’s performed in a lot of non-traditional ways.
Còig’s music is a unique combination of influences that could only come from these four players.
“We all come from sort of a traditional background, but then we have different influences that we’re interested in,” explains fiddler and singer Rachel Davis. “Jason (Roach, pianist) has a jazz degree, and listens to a lot of different music. Chrissy (Crowley, fiddler) likes to dive into a lot of world music, Darren (mandolin, guitar, banjo, etc.) comes from a kind of Irish theme from playing around a lot. More of the traditional Cape Breton stuff is really what I love, plus all the folk songs, so it’s an interesting mix.”
The Cape Breton quartet has earned rave reviews from audiences around the world and an impressive list of credits for their recordings, Rove (2017), Carols (2015) and Five (2014) including a Canadian Folk Music Award, a JUNO Award nomination and multiple East Coast Music Awards and Music Nova Scotia Awards.
Còig is currently on tour in British Columbia, making their way through Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario en route to Prince Edward Island for the East Coast Music Awards at the beginning of May. They’ll make a stop in Cape Breton at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre on May 11 before taking off to New York for a series of mid-week shows at the Kaufmann Concert Hall and a three-week tour of the UK. Visit Coig’s facebook page for a complete list of tour dates and upcoming shows.
