Talking Cape Breton Music: Conversations With People Who Love and Make the Music

by Ronald Caplan

Rare interviews with fiddlers such as Winston “Scotty” Fitzgerald and Johnny Wilmot, pianist Marie MacLellan, piper Alex Currie, John Allan Cameron and many others—deliver memories and rich insights into Cape Breton music that has won the world. This book offers background and enthusiasm, and stories from the lives of some of Cape Breton’s most beloved musicians —Dan R. MacDonald, Matt Minglewood, Jerry Holland and more—told in their own words. With a generous batch of photographs, this book is wonderful, lasting companion to the music. A “Cape Breton’s Magazine Classic,” Talking Cape Breton Music is an important addition to your bookshelf and to our listening pleasure.

218 pages, paperback

First published April 1, 2006

About the author

Publisher, Writer, Folk-historian, Order of Canada appointee. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Ronald Caplan emigrated to Canada in 1971, settled in Cape Breton Island's Highlands region, and began chronicling the local history. This was a region where Gaelic was still the language spoken by people in the area, but was quickly being replaced by English. Sensing that he would have only a time-limited opportunity to record this culture before its native speakers died off, he founded Cape Breton's Magazine in 1972, to record the culture and living history of the island and its people. His audio recordings and photographs are a lasting record of this way of life that has mostly disappeared. He was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2010 for his work on the magazine and as the publisher of the Breton Books imprint. [wikipedia]

Reviews

[Eileen]

I inhaled this book, having recently traveled to Cape Breton Island and having an opportunity to experience the rich musical culture of fiddling and dancing. The area of Judique has been settled by six generations of Scots who came from a thirty mile radius of one particular area of Scotland. The stories and history this book captures are precious, including stories from the mouths of pianists, composers, pipers, fiddlers. One learns about the legends of kitchen gatherings, playing throughout the night and into the wee hours of the morning, the many accomplished musicians who learned and played by ear, the sharing and protection of tunes, from one generation to another, traveling from house to house, and town to town by foot. A truly wonderful book!

[Jonathan]

Very insightful book into the historical aspects of Cape Breton music. I learned about many of the prominent Capers I didn't know much about before, such as Dan R. MacDonald and Winston "Scotty" Fitzgerald. A must read for any musician wanting to get serious about CB fiddling!