Artist description Born in Queensville, Cape Breton in 1968 Dougie MacDonald is one of the finest young fiddler players and composers in Cape Breton today. His compositions have been recorded by influential Cape Breton players like Jerry Holland and Kinnon Beaton as well as by a host of Irish musicians including fiddler James Kelly, whistle player Brian Hughes as well as Irish-American supergroup Solas. For the past few years Dougie has been out of the public eye but with the release of his fourth recording and DEBUT CD, A Miner, Dougie's name is poised to make its way on to the tongues of lovers of celtic influenced fiddle music everywhere.

Music Style Celtic/Cape Breton Fiddle

Musical Influences Jerry Holland

Similar Artists Solas, Eileen Ivers, Jerry Holland, Ashley MacIsaac

Instruments Fiddle, Guitar, bass, Drums, Piano

Albums A Miner

Press Reviews The locals have been praising Dougie's playing for a while but I didn't hear him until October 98 where he was selected as the final fiddler in a tribute to Alex Francis MacKay, and I quickly understood what the fuss was about. This all instrumental album is mainly traditional, although Dougie uses electric guitar and bass backing on a couple of very contemporary tunes. Dougie is a prodigious talent and this album shows it off well. The respect his fiddling is held in on Cape Breton is revealed in part by the accompanists which include Jerry Holland, J.P. Cormier and Tracey Dares. But Dougie definitely holds his own among this crowd. Highly recommended. (Jim Scarff-Scarff's Eclectic Home Page) As anticipated a CD has not come across my desk in some time. It is surprising considering the recent hype that has surrounded Cape Breton music that a fiddler as talented as MacDonald could remain as well kept a secret as he has. Part of that is Dougie's own doing as he has spent much of his recent time working as a hard rock miner in various parts of Canada. While he has become more well known through his compositions, which have been recorded by many well known Irish and Scottish musicians, his own music has been much less accessible in recent times. Having moved back to Cape Breton and with the release of fourth recording, and debut CD, he is poised to bring his powerful fiddling to a much wider audience. Produced by Dougie and Jerry Holland it features among others J.P. Cormier, Brian Doyle and Patrick Gillis on guitar and Tracey Dares, Allan Dewar and Marion Dewar on piano. It also features a brilliant set of dual fiddling with Jerry Holland. It is mostly a straight forward traditional album though Dougie lets loose on two sets of his own compositions featuring some blistering electric guitar playing by Brian Doyle. Dougie also makes interesting use of multi-tracking to overdub himself imbuing several tracks with a hugely powerful sound. But it is MacDonald's brilliantly evocative playing of Hector the Hero, showing that he also has the gift to coax sweet melodies from his fiddle, that truly sold me. This is a must for any fan of Cape Breton music and for anyone who enjoys brilliant and unpretentious fiddling. Review from Celtic Heritage Magazine

Location Cape Breton, Nova Scotia - Canada

Copyright notice. All material on MP3.com is protected by copyright law and by international treaties. You may download this material and make reasonable number of copies of this material only for your own personal use. You may not otherwise reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, or create derivative works of this material, unless authorized by the appropriate copyright owner(s).