Now that we are safely into the socially acceptable timeframe for blasting Christmas carols at any hour or in nearly any context, it’s only a matter of what we’re going to listen to. Cape Breton’s award-winning quartet, Còig put the trad in your traditional Christmas tunes and spruce up a few contemporary non-canonicals with their new holiday album Carols Too.
Christmas carols are a dangerous genre to muck about in – and without showing the classic the respect due to them, it can prove unforgivably treacherous. Fortunately, Carols Too nimbly dances the line, doing justice to the cardinal “Silent Night,” while balancing “Oh Joy” between its unadulterated form and what it might sound like as a jig, and their version of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” works itself up to a bit of playfulness that hasn’t been seen since the Mr. Bean holiday special.
There’s even a cover of Canadian veteran songwriter Ron Sexsmith’s “Maybe This Christmas.”
“We all come from sort of a traditional background, but then we have different influences that we’re interested in,” explains fiddler and singer Rachel Davis. “Jason (Roach, pianist) has a jazz degree, and listens to a lot of different music. Chrissy (Crowley, fiddler) likes to dive into a lot of world music, Darren (mandolin, guitar, banjo, etc.) comes from a kind of Irish theme from playing around a lot. More of the traditional Cape Breton stuff is really what I love, plus all the folk songs, so it’s an interesting mix.”
Còig’s Carols Too is a fun twist on the holidays staples, without getting heavy-handed with the re-invention.
Tour Dates:
12.06.19 – Delta, ON @ Ontario Festival of Small Halls – Delta Old Town Hall
12.07.19 – Manotick, ON @ Ontario Festival of Small Halls – Manotick United Church
12.08.19 – Pakenham, ON @ Ontario Festival of Small Halls – St. Andrews’s United Church
12.11.19 – Rumford , ME @ 49 Franklin
12.12.19 – Farmington, ME @ Old South Church
12.13.19 – Bangor, ME @ Gracie Theatre
12.14.19 – Woodstock, VT @ Woodstock Town Hall Theatre
12.15.19 – Cambridge, NY @ Hubbard Hall Center for the Arts and Education
12.15.19 – Lancaster, NH @ The Rialto Theatre
12.18.19 – Montreal, QC @ Salle Bourgie
12.20.19 – Boothbay Harbor, ME @ Boothbay Opera House
02.18.20 – Perth, UK @ Perth Theatre – Joan Knight Studio
02.21.20 – Inverness, UK @ Eden Court Inverness
02.18.20 – Port Fairy, AUS @ Port Fairy Folk Festival
03.07.20 – Port Fairy, AUS @ Port Fairy Folk Festival
03.08.20 – Port Fairy, AUS @ Port Fairy Folk Festival
03.09.20 – Port Fairy, AUS @ Port Fairy Folk Festival
03.13.20 – Katoomba, AUS – @ Blue Mountains Music Festival
03.14.20 – Katoomba, AUS – @ Blue Mountains Music Festival
03.15.20 – Katoomba, AUS – @ Blue Mountains Music Festival
03.20.20 – Yackandandah, AUS @ Yackandandah Folk Festival
03.21.20 – Yackandandah, AUS @ Yackandandah Folk Festival
03.22.20 – Yackandandah, AUS @ Yackandandah Folk Festival