Artist description Traditional Cape Breton Celtic music with a primary focus on the Highland Bagpipes and Piano.

Music Style Celtic

Musical Influences Natalie MacMaster, Howie MacDonald, Rankins

Similar Artists Natalie MacMaster, Ashley MacIsaac, Rankins, Loreena McKennitt

Artist History Tracey Dares & Paul MacNeil each have a musical history and following of their own.For the past five years or so, this couple has been busy creating some great traditional musical sounds with the piano and the bagpipes. Paul has played the Great HighlandBagpipes for nearly 25 years, holding a style of playing which reflects his deepunderstanding and appreciation of the Gaelic language and culture of his smallcommunity, CastleBay, Cape Breton Island. Tracey has been playing the piano for 20 years now, originally trained in contemporarystyles, later studying some classical and of course, spending much time in her musicalcareer enveloped in the traditional music of Cape Breton Island.Tracey played with Natalie MacMaster for 5 years touring the world with her.

Group Members Tracey Dares - PianoPaul MacNeil - Highland Bagpipes(Various guest musicians: Gordie Sampson, Howie MacDonald, Natalie MacMaster & more)

Instruments Piano, Bagpipes, Fiddle, Viola, Bass, Drums, Guitar

Albums CastleBayMusic.com (2000), Crooked Lake (1994), Fosgail An Dorus (1992)

Press Reviews August 1, 2000Tradition Meets TechnologyDares, MacNeil use the Internet to sell their new CD,castlebaymusic.com, from rural C.BBy Laurel Munroe - Cape Breton PostIt’s a long way from Silicon Valley, Calif. to Castle Bay, Cape Breton. But e-business is alive and well in the rural community nestled along the shores of the Bras d’Or Lakes, thanks to Tracey Dares and Paul K. MacNeil.The couple has come up with an innovative way to market their new CD, castlebaymusic.com, which hit record stores two weeks ago.Dares, one of Cape Breton’s finest Celtic pianists, and MacNeil, one of the island’s best pipers, were married in August, 1998. Their renovated farm house, which has been in MacNeil’s family for years, sits high on a hill overlooking the water in Castle Bay, about 45 minutes west of Sydney.Both say they wouldn’t live anywhere else.“It’s different out here,” says Paul, whose ‘day job’ is with MTT. “I grew up out here and Tracey grew up in a rural setting and we’re incredibly fortunate to be able to live here and make a living the way we do straight from here.“You can do it; it’s hard work, but people have done it for hundreds of years.”Both Paul and Tracey are sought-after session musicians and Tracey teaches piano in their home. But it is the couple’s latest venture they are most excited about.Two years ago, a friend talked them into purchasing an e-commerce package that would give them credit card capability for their Web site.They then contracted Cheryl Smith, who is responsible for Natalie MacMaster’s Web site, to design a new site for them – complete with corner store.The site – castlebaymusic.com – was launched in April.With the click of a mouse, you can browse through a selection of products which includes the couples new CD along with Tracey’s 1995 album, Crooked Lake, her 1997 instructional video, A ‘Chording to the Tunes, and Paul’s 1991 CD with fellow piper Jamie MacInnis, Fosgail an Dorus.They have also just added Buddy MacDonald’s brand new CD, We Remember You Well, and Howie MacDonald’s Y2Keilidh.If you would like to place an order, you simply fill out a form with your name, address and Visa number (the site is secure) and Tracey and Paul will ship it to you from Castle Bay.“Since the new CD came out, we’ve had orders from California, Denver and Oklahoma,” says Tracey. “I’m very excited about that.”The challenge, she adds, is getting the site, and the music, “out there”.Thus the name of the new album.“That’s why we went with it, for sure,” says Paul. “To make it easier for people to reach us.”It shouldn’t come as a surprise that some of Nova Scotia’s best musicians accompany Tracey and Paul on castlebaymusic.com. Gordie Sampson and Dave MacIsaac are featured on acoustic and electric guitar, Ed Woodsworth plays bass, Kyle MacNeil plays fiddle and viola and Stewart MacNeil plays wooden flute, with Dave Burton on drums and Matt Foulds on percussion.The CD was recorded, over a period of months, in the couple’s living room.When Tracey and Paul got married, they received a unique wedding gift from friend and fellow musician Paul MacDonald.“We got married on a Friday night and Saturday, we had a big party at the house,” explains Paul. “It started at 2 p.m. and went till about 3 a.m. with pretty well continuous music, and Paul recorded the session. He ended up with about five CDs from the day.“The quality was pretty good considering we didn’t stop to do a lot of tuning and it was pretty spontaneous. The feel of the recording was great, so we thought if it sounds that good without really trying we should give (recording here) a hook.”Late last summer, Paul and Tracey began selecting tunes and working on arrangements and the bulk of the recording was done in late fall and early winter.One of the couple’s most memorable experiences when Paul’s entire family – including nieces and nephews aged three and up – recorded the albums only vocal track, Nighean Donn, on which Paul’s father, well-known Gaelic singer Roddie C. MacNeil, sings lead vocals.“It was a magical night,” Paul says. “Dad’s got such a wealth of knowledge and to see him with all the kids and helping everyone along with the singing was just wonderful.”Many of the musicians who play on the CD will be on hand Thursday for the couple’s CD release party at the Royal Canadian Legion in Iona.Sampson, Woodsworth and Foulds will play with Tracey and Paul. Howie MacDonald and pianist Jackie Dunn are also scheduled to perform, along with Paul’s dad and various other family members.The party gets under way at 9:30 p.m. and admission is $6.00 at the door.“Everyone is welcome to come,” says Tracey. -------------------------------Fosgail An Dorus - Paul MacNeilThe Iona Records StoryIn 1992 a cassette was received that highlighted the talents of two young Cape Breton pipers, Paul MacNeil and Jamie MacInnis, that was both exciting and innovative. Most of the Canadian pipers of quality were already known to us through our long-term associations with the leading pipe bands from Canada. It was agreed that producer Bob McDowall would meet up with these lads in Halifax, Nova Scotia on his way back from Newfoundland where he was due to record a live, in concert, album with the 78th Fraser Highlanders. Bob did not quite appreciate the flying conditions in the Maritimes and, delayed by fog, only managed to wave to the lads as he sped from one plane to his Glasgow connection. A very solid debut album was almost lost in the mists of time. Paul and Jamie decided to smack fate in the mouth and proceeded to record the album on their own and release it in the Maritimes. Surrounding themselves, very sensibly, with the cream of Cape Breton talent, members of their own families and an experienced production team they set about opening doors for solo piping in the territory fast becoming synonymous with fiddle, folk-song and clog dancing. Like many involved with traditional music in Cape Breton they have stayed true to the old traditional music taken into the region by emigrants from Scotland and Ireland some centuries before. They have added new tunes from the region and have generally show-cased the piping music of Canada. It is all very commendable. It is also very fresh, lively and vibrant. The praise they receive in the album notes from Michael Grey are, you will agree, well merited. ---------------------------------Crooked Lake / Fosgail An DorusArticle Excerpt from Dirty Linen Magazine 1996Tracy Dares, a recent transplant from Cape Breton to Halifax, is one of Celtic music's best piano players. Her solo recording, Crooked Lake [Ground Swell 1995] , shows how far this instrument has come in Celtic music since it was first featured as rhythmic accompaniment on those old 78s. Several of the cuts are entirely solo, showing her talents to the fullest. Dares plays tunes with all the grace and ornamented complexity of a fiddler, while adding her own chordal accompaniment; no fiddler and precious few guitarists could dream of doing that. Dares even gently step-dances while she plays, a charming touch in concert that's also audible on the disc. Dares also invited some other musicians to play with her here. MacIsaac adds his guitar, and Natalie MacMaster adds fiddle, both sparingly. Lucy MacNeil adds harp to an air written by American harper Nancy Bick Clark. Hamish Moore, one of Scotland's best pipers, plays both smallpipes and Highland bagpipe on a great Celtic rock set. Rita Rankin and Rod MacNeil lead a chorus in a milling song, all backed by Dares's piano and MacMaster's fiddle, for a wonderful end to this exciting album. In addition to the great fiddle tradition from which MacIsaac, Macmillan and Dares have taken much inspiration, Cape Breton is also home to a vigorous tradition of Highland bagpipe music, which has recently come to the attention of pipe enthusiasts in Scotland and around the world. Two of the island's best young pipers, Jamie MacInnis and Paul MacNeil, joined forces a few years back to record Fosgail an Dorus (Open the Door) [Gigs & Reels 1992], an inspiring album of piping. Each piper performs a solo set on the album, showing them to be fully capable players in the spotlight. For the rest of the album, the two have decided on a contemporary, progressive approach to the bagpipes, while remaining deeply respectful of the piping traditions from which they draw. They are joined by Celtic pop artists Kyle, Lucy and Sheumas MacNeil of the Barra MacNeils on fiddle, bodhrán and piano, respectively, John Ferguson on bouzouki, and MacIsaac on electric and acoustic guitars and Dobro. The last track on the album, a fully rocking rant featuring both pipers along with Pipe Major Doug Boyd, Tom Roach on drums, and MacIsaac on electric lead guitar and bass, gives Rawlin's Cross, the Tannahill Weavers, and Battlefield Band a run for their money in the bagpipe-rock category. In addition to the piping, there is one Gaelic song sung by MacNeil with his father Rod, a nice low-key touch on a very powerful disc. --------------------April 14, 2000CastleBayMusic.comBy Laurel Munroe -- Cape Breton PostWho says you can't live in rural Cape Breton and be an e-commerce mogul? Certainly not husband and wife musicians Tracey Dares and Paul MacNeil. Dares, one of Cape Breton's finest Celtic piano players and MacNeil, a champion piper in the traditional Cape Breton style, have come up with an innovative way to market their music from their home in CastleBay, on the Bras D'Or Lakes.The couple's new website at www.castlebaymusic.com was designed by Montrealer Cheryl Smith, the brains behind Natalie MacMaster's award-winning site. Complete with beautiful photos of Paul and Tracey in and around their home, the site is easy to navigate, pleasing to look at and full of useful information.The e-commerce component of the site currently allows visitors to purchase copies of Dares' CD/cassette Crooked Lake, her instructional video A' Chordhing To The Tunes and MacNeil's CD, Fosgail An Dorus. The couple's soon-to-be-released recording, entitled appropriately, CastleBayMusic.com will be available for sale online in June. Saturday, April 22, you can catch Tracey on CBC Radio's Nova Scotia Kitchen Party, beginning at 4:05pm, along with Raylene Rankin, Howie MacDonald and the Irish Descendents.

Additional Info A'Chording To The Tunes - Tracey's instructional video on Cape Breton Piano accompaniment

Location Cape Breton, Nova Scotia - Canada

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