Called Canada's finest singer-songwriter by one of the most respected music journalists of the last 50 years, James Keelaghan is an artist who has proven to be a man for all seasons.
As the calendar pages have turned, for almost a quarter of a century now, this poet laureate of the folk and roots music world has gone about his work with a combination of passion, curiosity intent and intensity.
His masterful story telling has, over the course of nine recordings, been part of the bedrock of his success, earning Keelaghan nominations and awards - including a Juno (Canada's Grammy) - and acclaim from Australia to Scandinavia.
Possessed of an insatiable appetite for finding the next unique story line, Keelaghan forges his pieces with brilliant craftsmanship and monogrammed artistic vision, making him one of the most distinctive and readily identifiable voices on both the Canadian and international singer-songwriter scenes.
His journey has attracted fans of literate and layered songwriting to join him on his artistic expeditions, some of which weave their way through marvelously etched historical stories with underlying universal themes, others of which mine the depths of the soul and the emotional trails of human relations.
His songbook has enlightened, enthralled, and been embraced, by audiences around the world.
Master guitarist, singer and songwriter Archie Fisher is Scotland's foremost troubadour and is known throughout the country as the host of BBC Radio Scotland's award-winning "Travelling Folk" show, which he has presented for over 25 years. Recognized for his contributions to Scottish folk music, he was inducted into the Scots Traditional Music Hall of Fame and in 2006 was awarded an MBE, (Distinguished Member of the British Empire) a prestigious honor nominated by his peers and bestowed by Queen Elizabeth for services to traditional music in 2007. The most recent recognition of his art came from the Goderich Celtic Roots Festival in 2008 when he was granted the Tradition Bearers Award.
Archie was born in Glasgow into a large singing family, which yielded three professional singers - Archie and his sisters Ray and Cilla Fisher. Constant music combined with his father's appreciation of many musical styles (opera, vaudeville, traditional ballads) proved to be a heavy influence on Archie's musical development, while his mother, a native Gaelic speaker from the Outer Hebrides, was a strong influence on the lyrical quality of his singing and songwriting. Archie first became interested in folk music through the Skiffle era of the late 1950's under the influences of performers such as Lonnie Donegan and Johnny Duncan. Later, the recording of the Weavers at Carnegie Hall also had a profound effect on his approach to music and his political outlook.
