Pat Braden was three years old when his family moved to Yellowknife.
He has captured his life here, as a musician and northerner, in a suite of songs and spoken-word compositions that tell stories about the people and places he has known.
CBC Radio signed on sixty years ago in Cape Breton on November 1st. Now, six decades later, the station is throwing a musical party hosted by CBC hosts, Wendy Bergfeldt and Laurel Munroe. The musical guests will include J.P. Cormier, Molly Rankin, and the Cape Breton Fiddler's Association. Then the stage clears for CBC Radio 2's "Canada Live" featuring Grammy-winning songwriter, Gordie Sampson, who will perform songs from his new album "For The Few And Far Between". It's a slice of Cape Breton culture from the past, present and future to share on a special birthday.
It's been a long road back home to Cape Breton for Gordie Sampson. From the early beginnings as a performer and songwriter with the Sydney based pop/rock group "Real World" in the early 1990s, to writing hits for such artists as Faith Hill, George Canyon, Keith Urban, and Carrie Underwood.
Along the way he has released three solo albums and picked up numerous awards including the prestigious 2007 Grammy Award for "Best Country Song of the Year" and a Juno Award for "Songwriter of the Year" for his co-write, Jesus Take The Wheel.
On November 1, 2008 Gordie Sampson traveled from his home in Nashville to The Savoy Theater in Glace Bay to headline a concert to celebrate 60 years of CBC Radio on Cape Breton Island. A rare treat for both Gordie and an appreciative home town audience.
Both J.P. Cormier and Jerry Holland
have musical roots that run deep in Cape Breton, although both were born off
Island. J.P. was born in Ontario and moved to the south shore of Nova Scotia as
a youngster where he became immersed in bluegrass music.
Jerry
Holland was born and raised in Massachusetts. In his childhood, Jerry's father
exposed him to some of the last generation's greatest Cape Breton Scottish
fiddlers. Jerry first picked up the fiddle when he was five and within a year
he was performing publicly.
Jerry's family made annual summer visits to Cape Breton when he was a boy, and eventually, he made up his mind to move there in the fall of 1975.
Molly Rankin is a Cape Breton raised gal, hailing from the thriving "metropolis" of Hillsdale and is one of the new generation Island singer songwriters. With a rich musical background on her side, not surprisingly she picked up the fiddle at a very early age and hasn't looked back.
With a strong influence from her father, the late John Morris Rankin, she continues to write and perform across the Maritimes, with plans to record her debut solo album in the coming year.
The Gala de l'ADISQ-Prix Félix, named after Quebec legend Félix Leclerc, ia an annual awards gala celebrating the Quebec recording industry and its artists. For most Quebec artists from all musical genres, winning a Félix is as big a deal as a Juno!
This year's ceremony on Sunday, November 2nd, marks the 30th anniversary of this televised and hugely visible media blowout. On the eve of Félix night in Quebec, Canada Live searches its vast concert archives to bring you a sampling of some of the nominees.