The Cottars

The Cottars, an emerging Celtic foursome from Canada, assembled toward the close of 2000 on Cape Breton island in Nova Scotia. The ensemble brought together siblings Ciarán and Fiona MacGillivray with Jimmy and Roseanne MacKenzie, forming a tight unit of 15- to 17-year-old players who handled multiple instruments, vocals, and step dancing while surging into the traditional scene at the outset of 2001. Performances placed them alongside acts and audiences that stretched from Altan and John McDermott to Wayne Gretzky and Senator Edward Kennedy. In 2002 renowned tenor McDermott placed the Cottars on his Bunnygee imprint, issuing the debut album Made in Cape Breton through an arrangement with Warner Music Canada. On Fire! arrived in 2004 and secured an East Coast Music Award for the group in the Roots/Traditional Group Recording category. The following year they reached an agreement with Rounder and delivered Forerunner.