With passports selling out much quicker than organizers of next season’s tour de Fort had anticipated, president Wendy Brunetta is hoping people who were unable to buy one instead will purchase tickets to attend extra shows that will be incorporated into the concert series.
“We will have some extra shows for the public to purchase,” Brunetta said. “So even if you did not get a passport, you will still be able to purchase tickets for the extra shows.
“We wish we could give everyone a passport who wants one,” added Brunetta. “But unfortunately we are limited.”
Although the first show is still four months away, concert-goers should be ready for a great performance when the Barra MacNeils make their debut at the Townshend Theatre in September.
Starting their careers learning Celtic dance from their musically-inclined mother, the family quartet has carved a niche for themselves as one of Canada’s premier Celtic acts alongside bands like Great Big Sea and The Rankins.
With the release of their latest CD “Racket in the Attic,” the Barra MacNeils promise to give the tour de Fort audience a show full of new songs–as well as a few of their old favorites.
“We’re just doing a lot of fun music and we’re really enjoying it and it comes across,” said band member Lucy MacNeil. “When the audience realizes you are having a lot of fun, they, in turn, have fun.”
The siblings grew up in the heart of Celtic tradition in Sydney Mines on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Along with all the extracurricular activities of any normal family, the MacNeil kids took music lessons that formed the basis of their success today.
Whether it was at church dances or other public outings, the MacNeils were always the focal point of the evening.
“Our mother taught us to step dance and fiddle,” MacNeil remembered. “This was part of our life growing up. We were encouraged to always take part in music . . . as kids, it was the natural thing to do.”
Though there always has been pressure for bands to write songs in the current “flavour of the moment,” the Barra MacNeils have opted to buck that trend and instead concentrate on their love of song.
“When doing this album, we decided that we wanted something that we could be proud of,” MacNeil said. “When the four of us sit down together and talk about our music, we get much more accomplished.
“I think this is the best time of our career right now.”
For more information on the upcoming tour de Fort concert lineup, visit its Web site at www.tourdefort.com
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
