New England Celtic Arts presents Cape Breton artists Scott Macmillan and Colin Grant as their CD release tour makes a big swing through Maine, including four area venues.

The tour opens in Bangor on Monday, Feb. 6, followed by several area performances including a Tuesday, Feb. 7,  at One Longfellow Square in Portland, Wednesday, Feb. 8, The Green Church in Mexico;  Thursday, Feb. 9, at the Old South Church Concerts in Farmington and Friday, Feb. 10 at the Chocolate Church in Bath. The tour concludes in Calais on Feb. 11.

 

Curtain time is 7 p.m. for all shows except the Chocolate Church, where it is 7:30 p.m.

 

In July of 2015, award-winning composers and multi-instrumentalists Scott Macmillan and Colin Grant, sat down at Macmillan’s home in Brook Village Nova Scotia to start compiling new and old tunes from their collective traditional and original repertoires. Until that time, they had played off-the-cuff performances together in venues ranging from the Doryman Tavern in Cheticamp to Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow, and the opportunity to arrange and compose yielded a wide spectrum of musical results. Tunes from Scott’s tune-book “Scoobie Tunes” which hadn’t yet seen action were spun into classical, jazz, funk, rock, and blues directions. While the resulting album Good2Go follows a traditional music path of tunes combined into medleys, the musical interplay between the two musicians speaks to the experience, chops, and element of good-old belly rubbing humor that keeps the tunes on a fun, lively path.

 

On July 15, 2016 just one year later, they released their debut duo album, Good2Go. The recording features 15 tracks of acoustic instrumental medleys, including a number of Macmillan’s and Grant’s original compositions arranged with traditional and contemporary tunes from Cape Breton, Scotland, Ireland, and beyond.  

 

Tickets are $15 at all venues. 

 

To purchase tickets for area performances:

• One Longfellow Square, 181 State St., Portland, call 207-761-1757 or go online at: https://onelongfellowsquare.com/event-registration/?ee=667.

• The Green Church, 163 Main St. Mexico, call 207-562-4445.

• Old South Congregational Church, 235 Maine St., Farmington, call 207-299-3686.

• The Chocolate Church Arts Center, 804 Washington St., Bath, call 207-442-8455 seating is limited. 

 

Go to a video performance link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwVAYzPKy0Y