North Atlantic Drift

Event Details

Event type: All Ages / Licensed

The North Atlantic Drift is the water current that runs between the East coast of Canada and the West coast of Europe and Ireland. The music of North Atlantic Drift reflects this, following a centuries-long tradition of the trading of music and musical styles between Ireland, Scotland and the East coast of Canada. String wizard Brian Taheny from the Irish music mecca of Sligo, Ireland, fiddler Dan MacDonald from Cape Breton Island and Ross Griffiths from the Ontario piping tradition form this particular trading triangle. The result is a highly entertaining multi-instrumental, multi-styled Celtic sound that is truly Canadian in its diversity. The band's most recent album is Broadview which was released in Spring 2026.

String Guru Brian Taheny hails from the Irish music mecca of Sligo, Ireland. Brian plays Fiddle, Tenor Banjo, Guitar, Irish Bouzouki, Cittern, Mandolin, Mandola, Mandocello, Dobro and Bass guitar, and is also known for his innovative arrangements of traditional tunes. Brian has built a solid reputation for himself as an extremely accomplished Celtic musician with strong and uniquely distinctive style. He has performed with many of the greats in traditional music all over Europe, Canada, America, and Asia. He has performed on well over 100 albums, and has received two Juno nominations.

2018 Solo Instrumental Artist of the Year Nominee (CMFA) Dan MacDonald, is originally from Ironville, Cape Breton. He began playing the fiddle at a young age, under the instruction of his father, Lloyd MacDonald, a respected Cape Breton fiddler. His early immersion in the strong musical culture of Cape Breton Island informs his now diverse musical voice, which has grown in strength and scope as he has travelled the globe and worked with a myriad of musicians of all styles. Currently residing in Toronto, Ontario, Dan is in demand as a solo fiddler, a session musician, and on recordings spanning many genres. His first solo album, Rural/Urban, was released to a sold out audience in Toronto in 2018, and has been described as “vivid, superb” and “intriguing.” A true “unifying force” for audiences and musicians alike, Dan is an artist who continues to bridge musical genres and push the boundaries of traditional music.

Ross Griffiths began his study of the Great Highland Bagpipe within the ranks of a Canadian highland regimental pipe band, the Essex & Kent Scottish, at the age of eleven. He was fortunate to have as Pipe Major a world class piper and teacher with who's guidance Ross found himself in the highly regarded Grade 1 band, the Toronto & District Caledonia, by age 16. Within a few years Ross was a major musical contributor to the band for his ability as a musician, composer and arranger of pipe music. Ross' compositions have been recorded by numerous pipe bands here and around the world including Strathclyde Police and Field Marshal Montgomery. Retired from the world of pipe bands, Ross now resides in Toronto where he enjoys playing in a diverse collection of smaller ensembles with Scotish border pipes, Irish whistles and his most recent favourite, the Irish uilleann pipes.

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