Musician sharing Celtic tradition

Traditional and original Celtic tunes and hymns will resonate through the Bragg Creek Community Hall when a world-renowned Celtic tenor takes the stage this weekend.

John McDermott is making the foothills hamlet a stop in his cross-country tour with a performance on Oct. 4 at 7:30 p.m., a far distance from his Georgian Bay home in northern Ontario.

McDermott said each trip to western Canada introduces him to more people with Irish and Scottish roots and he loves connecting with them through his music.

“You run into a lot of people who are from there and have family roots there,” he said. “There is a huge Scottish and Irish influence here, there always has been. I think a lot of them have something in their past that might be Scottish or Irish or English - friends or relations that sang that particular song or it was the first song they played on the piano.”

McDermott will be joined by bass player Maury Lafoy and guitarist Jason Fowler to perform a mixture of traditional and new Celtic songs.

“A lot of people just want to hear some of the old stuff so we’ll keep it true,” he said. “It’s a trip down memory lane. There’s certainly a lot of familiar pieces.”

In recent years, McDermott has been writing some of his own songs inspired by his heritage and family.

Among them is The Merry Road to Hell, about how alcoholism took his brother’s life, and another about his father called My Old Man.

“Most of the stuff I’m singing has been penned for a reason, it’s not just a made-up song,” he said. “There’s a little more of a background piece to the song.”

Music has always been a part of McDermott’s life. His parents and their 12 children were a traditional Glasgow Irish family who emigrated from Scotland to Canada in the 1960s with roots equal parts Scottish and Irish.

“When I’m singing I’m thinking about my dad, I’m thinking about my mother and I’m thinking about my brothers and sisters,” he said. “Each song was a song my 11 siblings would sing. These are the songs that are connected to our family.”

It wasn’t until McDermott was working as a circulation sales representative for the Toronto Sun that his unique voice was discovered while belting out a rendition of Danny Boy at a company party.

With encouragement and funding from executives at the party, McDermott recorded his first album Danny Boy as a 50th anniversary tribute to his parents.

McDermott’s career took off from there.

Celtic music doesn’t often get the spotlight when it comes to mainstream music, but he believes it’s holding on strong.

“It’s as strong as ever,” he said. “I don’t think it’s growing in leaps and bounds, but I do think that people are becoming more appreciative of it. It’s a genre that stands alone, but I also think it’s a genre that connects people.”

McDermott said he’s seeing more young people at his performances - oftentimes families with children.

“I’m seeing more families trying to share this type of music with their kids and I’m seeing those kids that were there 15 to 20 years ago with their parents coming with their kids,” he said. “There’s a really good connection that can come out of being a part of that music.”

Among McDermott’s favourite parts of being on stage is his audience.

“You get to meet some familiar faces over the years, new faces,” he said. “This part of the country we don’t get to as often as we would like, but we’re back in April to do another national tour. We have our favourite greasy spoons and different spots.”

The musician of 21 years has nine full-length albums, three Canadian platinum records, five Juno nominations and an international touring schedule.

To purchase tickets to see John McDermott perform go to ticketfly.com or call 403-949-4277. To learn more about McDermott go to johnmcdermott.com