65 Grafton Street
Georgetown
July 8 at 7:30pm
Tickets: $25
or Pay What You Wish
Shannon & Tony Quinn
They’ve performed at many Folk and Irish festivals throughout North America, as well as theatres and private events throughout Canada, and many corporate events.
Their style of fiddle and guitar is based in traditional Irish and Celtic music, however they regularly incorporate modern material and vocal selections into their performance repertoire.
Tony is well-known throughout Atlantic Canada as a comedian and emcee, as well as being recognized as an accomplished guitar player and producer.
Shannon has performed with The Chieftains, Cirque Du Soleil, and has toured internationally with the Paul McKenna Band from Glasgow, and throughout Canada with Joel Plaskett on his ’solidarity’ tour, as well as Jimmy Rankin and Lennie Gallant.
Shannon has released three albums which have been nominated for multiple national awards (Winner of two Music nova Scotia awards, nominated for three ECMA’s and two Canadian Folk Music Awards).
The first of which was recorded with Tony entitled ’The Irwin Lake Sessions’.
They have just released a new instrumental duo recording entitled ’20 Summers’ to celebrate the twenty plus years they’ve been playing music together.
Shannon is currently playing fiddle for the new musical ’Tell Tale Harbour’ at the Charlottetown Festival starring Alan Doyle.
From the sounds of slapback echo, twangy Telecasters and swooning pedal steel, it’s clear that
Scott MacKay has an affinity for country music of the 1950s and ‘60s. But the singer/songwriter from
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island also has a sharp wit that shines through on the 10 original
songs that comprise his latest album Stupid Cupid, a collection that offers a fresh, modern take on
classic country.
“I really became smitten with songwriters such as Shel Silverstein, Hank Williams, Bobby Bare,
Roger Miller and others,” he says. “It made me focus my attention on improving my songwriting, and
I tried to learn as much about it as I could. I took a lyric writing class, a storytelling class, and a
creative writing class. I even took part in a songwriting workshop in Nashville where I got to meet
and learn from some of the greatest songwriters in the world.”
MacKay’s love of wordplay stems in part from his work as a Junior High School teacher in
Charlottetown, as he finishes his Master’s in Education. But he admits his shift to more light-hearted
storytelling is a product of entering his thirties, and not taking himself as seriously as he once did. If
a good idea leads to a song, humorous or not, then that’s all that matters.