A milestone event for NL traditional music, and the completion of a life’s work. Announcing the online launch of “Kelly Russell’s Collection – The Fiddle Music of Newfoundland & Labrador – A Digital Archive”.
Kelly Russell’s Collection is a user-friendly site that features 520 fiddle tunes from 30 NL fiddlers, presented in music notation with midi playback, original field recordings from the 1970s, plus photos and biographies of the fiddlers. This site provides the resources to easily and offers a historical debrief & ethnomusicological snapshot of the music that continues to shape our province.
Consider yourselves invited! In partnership with the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Arts Society, we are celebrating the official launch of Kelly Russell’s Collection – A Digital Archive on Sunday, October 27, 2024, from 3-5 pm at The Ship Pub in downtown St. John’s. After an initial presentation of the website and it’s resources, there will be an open mic stage for tune players and a screen projection of the live website for a “play a tune” or “pick a tune” experience, with snacks and light refreshments provided.

The Folk Arts Society, in partnership with the provincial Arts and Culture Centres, is pleased to bring the traditional Irish music group Danú to Newfoundland. Danú will appear island-wide at provincial ACCs in Corner Brook (Oct 24), Gander (Oct 25), Grand-Falls Winsor (Oct 26), and St. John’s (Oct 27). Doors open 7pm and the show starts 7:30pm.

Hailing from Counties Waterford, Cork, Dublin and Donegal in Ireland, Danú is one of the leading traditional Irish ensembles of today. The band formed in 1995 as part of Ireland’s delegation to Lorient Inter-Celtic Festival in Brittany, France (an annual event that is the biggest gathering of Celtic nations in the world). The debut album simply entitled Danú; was released by the band in 1997 to huge critical acclaim and in 1999 Danú signed a multi-album record deal with the US based recording label Shanachie Entertainment with whom they subsequently released five albums and a live DVD internationally between 2000 and 2006.