Name: Forerunner
Brand: Rounder Select
SKU: 19149
Availability: OutOfStock

Performer Notes

The Cottars: Roseanne MacKenzie (vocals); Ciar n MacGillivray (various instruments); Jimmy MacKenzie (banjo); Fiona MacGillivray (whistle).
Personnel: Fiona MacGillivray (vocals, whistling, bodhran); Ciar n MacGillivray (vocals, guitar, electric guitar, accordion, piano, bodhran); Jimmy Rankin (vocals); Jimmy MacKenzie (guitar, tenor banjo); Gordie Sampson (guitar, bouzouki, piano); Tom Bukovac (guitar, piano); Roseanne MacKenzie (fiddle, percussion); David Henry (cello); Shannon Forrest (drums, percussion).
Audio Mixers: Gordie Sampson; King Williams; Mike Shepherd.
Liner Note Author: Larry LeBlanc.
Recording information: Lakewind Sound, Cape Breton Island; Sound Emporium, Nashville, TN.
Arrangers: Allister MacGillivray; Ciar n MacGillivray; Roseanne MacKenzie.
On their second album, the Cottars, who hail from Cape Breton, Canada, combine traditional Scottish jigs and reels with more contemporary versions of songs by artists like Tom Waits and Sinead Lohan. Their version of Waits's "Hold On" is a highlight, with their singer Fiona MacGillivray's stunning voice spanning both folk and pop worlds, and their spare, acoustic performance of the folk classic "Byker Hill" is a timeless classic. Still in their teens when FORERUNNER was released, the Cottars display a musical maturity beyond their years.

Professional Reviews

Dirty Linen (p.46) - "All three sets of tunes here are a pleasure. This generation preserves the fiercely rhythmic Cape Breton style whether they are blowing through hornpipes, strathspeys, polkas, or jigs."