Celtic fiddler Alana Cline, with Leigh Cline, Wed Dec 18

Wednesday December 18, 2013, 8 pm, $10. Celtic Party evening with Alana Cline, a young and talented Celtic fiddler, in an instrumental duo with Leigh Cline on guitar and bouzouki. This father-daughter duo combine Irish, Cape Breton and Scottish styles to create their own sound. They also include occasional Balkan tunes in their sets. www.alanacline.com       www.leighcline.com
Alana Cline is a Toronto-based Celtic fiddler who combines Irish, Cape Breton and Scottish styles to create her own sound. Alana has studied with Cape Breton fiddler Sandy MacIntyre, among others, and with All-Ireland Fiddle Champion Maeve Donnelly. In 2008 Alana became the first Canadian to be accepted to the auditioned Meitheal School of Irish Traditional Music in Limerick, Ireland with Paul O’Shaughnessy of Altan as one of her instructors. She has also studied fiddle at the Gaelic College of Celtic Arts in St. Ann’s, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Alana has a self titled CD EP. “Alana is an inventive, energetic and imaginative musician who has a particularly vibrant and distinctive style of fiddle playing.” Maeve Donnelly.
Leigh Cline is a guitarist, producer and sound engineer. The music he plays focuses on Black Sea, Greek and Turkish music with echoes of the Caucasus and Celtic music. Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Leigh – who plays guitar, tambura, saz and synthesizers – started playing guitar at the age of 15. He has performed and recorded with many musicians and has three solo CDs: Orient Express, Al Asha Bi Daha and Galatia. Leigh was part of the Toronto/Yorkville folk and blues music scene of the 1960s, starting at Fiddlers’ Green Club and travelling throughout North America as a folk music performer. For the Mariposa Folk Festival, in the ‘60s and ‘70s, Leigh was Stage Manager, Technical Director. He was also Editor of the Toronto Folk Music Guild’s HOOT Folk Music magazine. During this time, Leigh was able to learn musical styles and guitar firsthand from the likes of Mississippi John Hurt, Skip James, Bukka White, Rev. Gary Davis, Maybelle Carter, Lonnie Johnson, Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, Bill Munroe, Merle Travis and Doc Boggs. [… ]
On his solo CD, Orient Express, Leigh composed the music and plays guitars, tambura, saz and synthesizers. The album combines Pontic, Greek, Turkish and Western musicians in an East/West synthesis. Introduced to Raks Muzik of Istanbul by his friend, Coskun Sabah, the Turkish singer/oud player, Raks licensed Orient Express for Turkey, the Caucasus, Central Asia and Russia. The CD was also licensed in India, South Asia and the Middle East.
Leigh composed, recorded, played on and produced the CD single Galatia that combines Celtic and Pontic music. The album also features top kemenche player Mihalis Kaliontzidis, renowned Cape Breton fiddler Sandy MacIntyre and North American Bagpipe Champion Bob Worrall on Scottish border pipes as well as Mark Kelso on drums and percussion and David Woodhead on bass.
Leigh’s most recent CD, Al Asha Bi Daha, features traditional Black Sea music. On this album, which Leigh produced, he plays guitar with Nikolas Mihailidis on lyra and vocals. The CD is licensed internationally and in Greece the album title is Mian Ki’Allo. He is the author, with fiddler Sandy MacIntyre, of the Mel Bay publication “Cape Breton Traditional Style Fiddle Sets with Guitar Tablature”. Leigh continues to record and perform at concerts, clubs and festivals as well as giving workshops on guitar styles, rhythms, scales and the music of Greece, Turkey, The Caucasus and Central Asia.