Feature Article May 1, 2003
LAND O' LAKES NewsWeb HomeContact Us
Fig for a Kiss: a fresh approach to Celtic musicby Jeff Green
Fig for a Kiss is a newly formed Celtic trio, comprised of Duncan Cameron, Sahra Featherstone, and Kelly Hood. The three young musicians are all from Toronto, and their playing is quite distinct from the now familiar Cape Breton style of Celtic based music that has been prevalent in the past few years.
On one hand Fig for a Kiss is more closely tied to the Scottish and Irish roots of the music, while at the same time bringing in a bit of hip Toronto Queen Street. Duncan Cameron plays a variety of instruments, and he fronted the band for most of the evening. Whatever instrument he has playing, Cameron was always able to set an energetic pace for the other players to follow.
Sahra
Featherstone, playing Celtic Harp, fiddle and whistle, provided a lot
of the mood and colour to the music. Both Cameron and Featherstone
have produced solo recordings, and have been collaborating
for a year or so, their distinctive styles bending well
together to bring an air of excitement and improvisation to some of
the classic Celtic tunes they play so well.
Kelly Hood, playing uilleann pipes, which are powered by a bellows rather than the players breath, is new to the group, and her piping rounded out the sound, often carrying the tune forward with the higher range of her instrument, all the while providing that ominous drone underneath. This music is all about the joy of life, with the low drone of the pipes providing the counter point of mortality to make that joy all the more urgent. Its as if the players are bound to move faster and faster to get to the end of the tune before the pipes drown them out.
Fig for a Kiss spent four days in eastern Ontario, playing at NAEC on Thursday, where they reportedly were able to entertain the primary students without losing the attention of the more jaded High School kids. The were in Belleville on Friday, and then played at St. James Catholic Church in Sharbot Lake on Saturday, finishing up at the Lions Hall in Northbrook on Sunday night.
At the Sharbot Lake show, Bob Miller, Meghan and Katlyn Balogh opened the show for Fig for a Kiss. Miller played and sang guitar, while the Balogh sisters played fiddle. Miller told the audience he has been playing with the Balogh sisters since they were young girls, and they continue to play together monthly as the two progress as fiddlers. The trio played some beautiful haunting Irish songs that set the mood well for Fig for a Kiss.
