Acoustic Roots Festival

     Acoustic Roots Festival - Workshops

FIDDLE         SONGWRITING       DANCING


Hosted by: Acoustic Roots Festival and Two Rivers Wildlife Park

Venue: Acoustic Roots Festival, on the grounds of Two Rivers Wildlife Park located
 on the banks of Cape Breton's picturesque Mira River - just 28 km outside of Sydney at 4581 Grand Mira North Road, Huntingtion, NS.

Step Dancing workshop will be held on morning of September 1st at 10am
 
Fiddle workshops will be held on the mornings of September 1st  at following times:  9 - 10 am  beginners, 10 - 11 am intermediate/advanced  

Songwriters workshop will be held September 2nd beginning at 9 am

Workshop Registration: 

Please fill-out a registration form found HERE and email to tworivers@seasidehighspeed.com or fax to Two Rivers Wildlife Park at (902)727-3153.

Payment options include credit card over the phone, PayPal, or mail cheque to:
Two Rivers Wildlife Park
4581 Grand Mira North Road
Marion Bridge, Nova Scotia
PO BOX 6270     B1K 3T8

Workshop Registration

Dance Workshop $15.00 CAD Fiddle Or Songwriting Workshop $20.00 CAD 1 Fiddle/Songwriting & Dance $35.00 CAD Both; Fiddle & Songwriting $40.00 CAD All 3 Workshops $55.00 CAD

Which Workshops?

Dance Fiddle Songwriters Both; Fiddle & Songwriters Both; Fiddle & Dance Both; Songwriters & Dance All 3 Workshops

Dancing Workshop Sept 1st

Instructor
Kelly MacArthur
Kelly MacArthur will be teaching a workshop in Cape Breton Step Dance. This is a percussive style of dance, which focuses on rhythm and timing to the music of Strathspeys, Reels & Jigs. Although its roots originated in Scotland, it has become infamous to a style of its own on Cape Breton Island. Kelly has been teaching for 30 years, and runs a dance Studio in Sydney, called the 'MacArthur School of Dance' (www.macarthurdance.com). Dancers will learn a few strathspey and reel steps, as well as basic Square Set patterns at this workshop.
                   

Fiddle Workshop Sept 1st

Instructor

Colin Grant

Hard-driving but clean, lively and passionate, traditional yet original; Colin Grant’s fiddle playing has stepped to the forefront of the East Coast traditional music scene. Although most at home with traditional Cape Breton fiddle music, his versatility as both a lead and side musician has given him experiences in a variety of traditional styles, in addition to folk, rock and country genres. Besides having received an ECMA nomination for Roots / Traditional Solo Album of the Year for his self-titled debut album, Grant  has preformed  with contemporary Celtic instrumental group Sprag Session and is a former member of the band Còig. Colin has  performed at festivals in Canada, United States, United Kingdom, France, Belgium, and Tasmania. He maintains a busy recording and  performance schedule .
The year 2014   brought exciting new collaborations with composers Scott Macmillan and Mary Ann Kennedy (UK) for ‘Aiseag’ (The Ferryboat) project, one of twenty commissions for the first UK-wide 2014 New Music Biennial Celebrations. Other highlights have included the release of Còig’s debut album and in 2016 Colin and Scott Macmillan release their new CD " GOOD2GO"
 
Beginners :
For players with no experience to those with a few  tunes  in their repertoire and who learn by ear easily and want instruction on advanced techniques
 
Intermediate/ Advanced :
For fiddle players with basic competency of the fiddle, including techniques. Also a good observer's workshop for players of other instruments interested.


Songwriters Workshop  Sept 2nd 
 An introduction to  song forms, melodies, the interaction and use of rhythm, harmony and lyric writing.

Instructors
Jason MacDonald
Jason has released three full length CDs of original material since 2002.Jason has performed at several festivals  during his music career  such as, the Milwaukee Irish Festival, Celtic Colours International Festival, Maritime Acoustic Festival and Acoustic Roots Festival  to name a few. Jason has been recognized for his song writing by receiving Top Honours in the Indie International Songwriters Contest plus an Independent Singer-Songwriter Assoc. nomination. Jason has showcased at Nova Scotia Music Week, the East Coast Music Awards and the Canadian Country Music Awards.

Ryan Roberts 

Ryan Roberts is an award-winning songwriter from Eastern Canada. He lived in Music City USA for several years and toured full time with the Grammy Nominated Bluegrass band Special Consensus. What sets him apart is his songs have made been recorded in the styles of bluegrass, country, jazz, and R&B, Hip Hop and EDM. He is an accomplished instrumentalist and producer and is currently working on a new album due to be released in the new year.