Biography
Although Celtic music is most commonly associated with performers from Ireland and Scotland, origin in those nations is not required to master the tradition. Numerous musicians devoted to Celtic styles instead reside in the United States, particularly throughout the Northeastern Corridor, a region long shaped by Irish immigration. Among North America’s Celtic-oriented instrumentalists stands Irish American fiddler Cady Finlayson, who was raised in Seattle yet now makes her home in New York City. While she performs Scottish material competently, her primary strength lies in the Irish branch of the tradition. Finlayson cannot be described as a strict Celtic purist, however, because American influences also inform her work. Alongside her deep engagement with Irish jigs, reels, and airs, she interprets Anglo American folk songs such as “This Old Hammer” and “Bright Morning Star.” When she applies Celtic instruments including tin whistles and uilleann pipes to these American pieces, they often assume a pronounced Celtic character. She likewise incorporates instruments outside the usual Celtic palette, among them the West African djembe. Such openness to non-Celtic elements is unsurprising for Finlayson and comparable artists, given that the jigs, reels, and airs carried to the United States by Irish and Scottish immigrants during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries helped lay the groundwork for bluegrass, country, and Anglo American folk music. The fiddle suits her especially well, having occupied a central position in both Celtic and Anglo American idioms; centuries earlier, Swedish and Norwegian fiddle traditions likewise contributed significantly to the development of Celtic jigs, reels, and airs. In the Pacific Northwest, Finlayson’s mother introduced her to an array of music through performances of Anglo American folk songs. Although she initially aspired to become a classical violinist, she ultimately chose the path of a Celtic-oriented fiddler. After relocating from Seattle to New York, Finlayson studied at the Mannes College of Music and completed a master’s degree. She subsequently spent seven years as a backing musician for Irish singer/songwriter Pierce Turner and appeared as a featured soloist with the East Coast ensemble Police Pipes and Drums of Bergen County. During the 1990s she formed a partnership with Sean McCabe, the singer/songwriter who fronts the McCabes, and the pair collaborated on their 2000 album Take Two. Also in the 1990s, Finlayson contributed to recordings by singer Holly Palmer and the group Anthony & the Johnsons. In the early 2000s she toured extensively as featured soloist with the New York-based ensemble Gael Force. In 2002 she issued the instrumental album Shines Like Silver on her own Violincaddy Music label.
Albums
