10 episodes
The Castalia podcast Isla Ratcliff
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- Music
In 2019, Scottish fiddle player Isla Ratcliff spent four wonderful months in Cape Breton, an island in Nova Scotia, on Canada's east coast, with a rich traditional music culture. Isla fell in love with the music, the people and the place. Her experiences there, and in neighbouring New Brunswick inspired her to release The Castalia, her debut album of traditional and self-composed fiddle music. In this series to accompany the album, Isla introduces us to the people she met in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, some of whom were involved in the making of her album. Find Isla’s music at www.islaratcliff.com/the-castalia.
Podcast production by Bespoken Media, with cover art by Elly Lucas and original music by
Isla Ratcliff. Created with invaluable financial support from Creative Scotland.
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Màiri Britton
Màiri Britton is a stepdancer, Gaelic singer and Gaelic cultural educator from Edinburgh, who now lives in Cape Breton. Isla and Màiri first met in Scotland many years ago and reconnected with each other during Isla’s time in Cape Breton. Find Isla’s music at www.islaratcliff.com/the-castalia.
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Mairi Rankin
Mairi Rankin is a fiddle player and step dancer who has grown up immersed in Cape Breton musical traditions. She has toured internationally as a member of the Cape Breton super-group Beòlach, the highly acclaimed Celtic folk band The Outside Track, and in her duo with cellist Eric Wright.
Find Isla’s music at www.islaratcliff.com/the-castalia. -
Peter Corfield
Peter Corfield is a fiddle player and composer from Saint John, New Brunswick. Isla met him at a traditional music session when she travelled to New Brunswick to meet her 3rd and 4th cousins. Peter wrote a tune for her, ‘Isla Be Home for Christmas’, which Isla recorded on Track 13 of her album The Castalia. Find Isla’s music at www.islaratcliff.com/the-castalia.
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Chrissy Crowley
Chrissy Crowley is a fiddle player from Margaree, Cape Breton. She performs both solo
and as a member of contemporary band Còig. Isla enjoyed playing tunes with
Chrissy every Wednesday night at the session at the Governor’s Pub in Sydney.
Find Isla’s music at www.islaratcliff.com/the-castalia. -
Paul Cranford
Paul Cranford is a well-known fiddle player, composer and publisher in the Cape Breton traditional music scene. Isla played tunes with him every Thursday night at the Blue Mist session. She was honoured when he wrote her a strathspey, ‘Isla Ratcliff’, which she recorded on Track 6 of her album The Castalia, along with a reel that she wrote for him, ‘Ten Hugs for Paul Cranford’. Isla also recorded Paul’s tune ‘The Jello Bass’ as Track 2. Find Isla’s music at www.islaratcliff.com/the-castalia.
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Heather Sparling of Cape Breton University
Heather Sparling was Isla’s professor at Cape Breton University. Her research interests include Cape Breton dance traditions, Gaelic song in Nova Scotia, and the revitalisation of the Gaelic language through music. In this episode, she tells us about the history of stepdance, which features on four tracks of Isla’s album The Castalia. Find Isla’s music at www.islaratcliff.com/the-castalia.