Original and Traditional Celtic Folk Gypsy Mazurka Music

12 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Power-folk, WORLD: Celtic



Details:
Artist Information

Instrumentation:
Maggie McKaig:
guitars, accordions, vocals
Luke Wilson:
banjo, cittern, dobro, lap steel, vocals
Michael Zisman:
fretted and fretless electric bass
Murray Campbell...violin, oboe, English horn, dance caller

Biography for the Maggie McKaig Luke Wilson Band (McKaig Wilson Band)


July 2, 2006. The band has just returned from a great tour of the Pacific Northwest and western Canada, both musically and personally. Twelve concerts in three weeks, it was the first tour with this current band, and Michael, Murray, Luke and Maggie had so much fun they are all chomping at the proverbial bit to head out again. They are considering renaming themselves the Handy Band as they managed to mend friend's broken car doors, garbage disposals, lamps, and extract a horse caught up in a barb wire fence with a pair of string cutters and nothing more than a minor scratch on either horse or Maggie along the way---all the while receiving rave reviews for their concerts. And with Murray's degree in mathematical physics, we were able to answer most people's scientific queries as well! As folks kept saying, they rocked! Check out the press release section of this site for more on that. Maggie will be spending the next few months writing music and organizing the European tour. Luke will be playing lots of lap steel and restoring any number of violins and guitars he has in his shop. Michael has many gigs coming up as his San Francisco jazz player persona is in hot demand down there. And Murray will be performing with numerous other bands in the coming months.

Now, on with more biographical details.

Utah Phillips calls Maggie McKaig and Luke Wilson "two of the finest folk musicians, singers, and songwriters performing today." And audiences on this past tour were witness to this very unique Canadian banjo/dobro/lapsteel/cittern player's style. His banjo playing has long been compared to Tony Trischka and later of course to Bela Fleck. Luke's distinguished musical career began in the mid 1960's, and after moving to England in 1970, he recorded his first album with Ron Paul Morin for Capitol Records, "Peaceful Company", in the early '70's. After a successful couple of years in Europe, Luke returned to his home country seeking more musical adventures.

In Canada he has performed with Ian Tyson, Valdy, Diamond Joe White, Ken Hamm, Ron Casat, Peter Marley, Miles Jackson, and was in demand as a session player the nine years he lived in Calgary. Luke performed with the very popular Backline Orchestra for a number of years with Ron Casat, Ray McAndrew, Bill Eaglesham, and Gary Bird. All of the Backline members went on to perform in Wilson and McKaig's band "Lost in the Colonies" at various times. Their first CD together, also called Lost in the Colonies, was recorded and engineered by Don Pennington at CBC studios in Calgary in 1983. In the U.S. he has lent his talents to performances with Alasdair Fraser, Utah Phillips, Saul Rayo, Peter Wilson, and many others. He continues to do today what he has been doing for over forty years, splendidly fusing "...old time country music, bluegrass and jazz in a free wheeling and unique manner." (The Albertan, November 1, 1977) Over the past fifteen years, he added Celtic, eastern European, and World to that mix.
McKaigâs mastery of her guitar..."Absoultely beautiful instrumental work..." (Steve Baughman, guitarist, educator), and unique songwriting... "Unceasingly original and provocative...â(Carolyn Crane, radio and print journalist), create powerful performances. Her musical background is as varied as it gets from twenty years of intense study and performance with master musicians and dancers from Brazil, Hawaii, Japan, Spain, Mexico, Africa, East India, Ireland, Scotland, the U.S. and Canada. After meddling with accordions for years, she began playing seriously several years ago and is now deeply in accordion love and it shows.
From a busy career in the late 70âs through the mid 80âs playing festivals and clubs across Canada as "Lost In The Colonies", Wilson and McKaig moved to Northern California to raise their two sons. They stopped touring due to family demands, but their performances in Northern and Central California continued to garner appreciation, whether as "Celtic Wonder Band" or as some variation of Maggie and Luke "...The Maggie McKaig & Friends night at Cooper's Thursday was standing room only. Congrats to such terrific performers." (Pam Jung, December 29, 2005, The Union Newspaper ) Their sons now grown, theyâve recorded three CDs in the last four years. Their most recent CD, Storm Sessions, was recorded with the aforementioned well known San Francisco jazz bass great Michael Zisman, and from Scotland there's Murray Campbell on violin, oboe, and English Horn. A very accomplished group overall.
The talented Zisman completed his studies at William Patterson College in 1989 under the direction of Todd Coolman and Rufus Reid. He then moved to New York City where he lived until moving to the Bay Area in the year 2000. âZâ has performed with Jazz leaders such as; Cecil Payne, Junior Cook, George Coleman, Harold Maybern, Clark Terry, Eddie Henderson, Jerome Richardson, Benny Golson, Tootie Heath. He also performs with some of the Jazz stars of the future such as; Eric Alexander, Jim Rotundi, Joe Farnsworth, Steve Davis, David Hazeltine, Anthony Wonzy, Steve Wilson, Mike LaDonne and others. Aside from performing, Michael was the Faculty Director at the Stanford Jazz Workshop for ten years until March 2006. He is the creator and editor of "The Real Easy Book", a fakebook and resource text for beginning improvisers and music teachers, that was published by Sher Music in 2003. Zisman also continues his busy performance schedule with some of the finest artists in jazz. He first met McKaig and Wilson in 1986, and loves to play with them whenever he can.

"A master of his instrument's melodic aspects. Singing along quietly with his solos, Zisman displayed a seemingly endless supply of improvisational brilliance, creating long, fluid lines that were full of beauty and surprise."
- All about Jazz, Forrest Bryant...

Originally from Scotland, the mulit talented Campbell moved to Nevada County early in 2005, and has performed and recorded with many Northern Californian musicians since then including Paul Kamm and Eleanor MacDonald, Alasdair Fraser, Kipchoge Spencer, Issac James, and the band Vermillion Lies. Having been both traditionally and classically trained as a musician in Scotland, he also studied in the Hague for a number of years. He loves to get people up to dance, and teaches a number of Scottish dances. Campbell is a Sonologist and mathematical physicist for good measure because he canât help it.




Website
http://www.maggiemckaig.com

Discography
--Peaceful Company. Luke Wilson and Ron Paul Morin 1971 (for Capitol Records in London, England.)
--Lost In The Colonies. 1984 (produced by Don Pennington at CBC in Calgary, Alberta.)
--Grand Promenade. 2003 (self produced)
--Small Wonder. 2004 (self produced)
--Storm Sessions. Coming June 2006!! Check out selections from the new CD on this site!

Press Reviews

Press, Promoters, Peers, and Audience Reviews
Various
Utah Phillips introducing Maggie and Luke on May 9, 2004, at the Mother's Day Concert, Unitarian Universalist Church, Grass Valley CA. "Two of the finest folk musicians, singers, and songwriters performing today."

Response to their new CD "Storm Sessions":

I LOVE EVERYTHING
....We listened to Storm Sessions (GREAT TITLE) all the way through. Itâs wonderful! I LOOOOOVE it, and especially love âEverythingâ. Itâs so moving, and the music is incredible--I mean, ALL the music is AMAZING and that song to launch what follows it is brilliant. The bass is subtle and thorough and a fabulous addition. My deepest congrats for a gorgeous new element on this earth. THANK YOU!
---Sands Hall, author, playwright, actor, director, musician

this just a really good recording, or are you really this good?
---Jared Mannis, the Buffalo Gap Brewery booking agent, Portland Oregon.

Really quite a delight to listen to!
---Jimmy James, DJ, KBCS Radio, Bellevue, Washington

This is a great CD, with a really warm and live sound!
---Che Greenwood, DJ. KVMR Radio, Nevada City, CA

I really love the new CD! It has such a warm, great sound.
---Saul Rayo, musician, Cuchina Del Mundo

"I love it, I love it, I love it!
---Margot Duxler, violinist (formerly with Golden Bough)

Responses from promoters and audiences from the "Pacific Prairie Tour 2006":

World class music!
---Tom O'Hara, owner Stage Door Cafe and Cabaret, Mount Shasta City, California

...Featuring Luke Wilson, Maggie McKaig, and Murray Campbell, truly fine musicians of the North State, this will be a memorable evening.
---CA AccessNow.com

You guys sound great. Tell me when you'll be back.
---Sunny Jaynes, Mississippi Pizza Pub booking agent, Portland, Oregon

Now that I've heard you, I'll give you a much better spot next year!
---Inger Jorgensen, booking agent, A Midsummer Dream Arts and Music Festival, Ashland, Oregon.

Wonderful music!
---Ariella St. Clair, booking agent, Ashland, Oregon.

Your music... It's beautiful!
---Donna Konsorado, musician and music promoter, Lentzville, Vancouver Island, Canada.

Your music is fresh and forward! A wonderful concert
---Debra Ward, artist, Calgary Alberta, after the Perrenoud Ranch Solsitice Festival.

I heard only wonderful reports on your set. I hope you'll be back another year!
--Carole Weatherall, artistic director, North Country Fair, Alberta.

Response to Maggie and Luke's 2005 Winter Solstice concert:

"It was a great evening! For over 15 years, Maggie McKaig has remained one of my favorite musicians and songwriters. Unceasingly original and provocative, the landscape of work is unfailingly refreshing and thought provoking."
--Carolyn Crane, KVMR Radio Broadcaster, Nevada City, CA

That night was so magical. It was all that I hope the holidays and solstice to be, but often aren't. An incredible spirit of warmth, joy and community pervaded the room. The music was fabulous. Thank you for that!.
--Maxima Putnam Kahn, Grass Valley, CA

-----We heard the Maggie McKaig & Friends night at Cooper's Thursday was standing room only. Congrats to such terrific performers.
--Pam Jung, The Grass Valley Union Newspaper