Mary Jane Lamond

Early life and education

Born in Kingston, Ontario, the youngest of five children, Lamond moved a number of times during her childhood, to a series of cities and towns in Ontario and Quebec. Her parents were both originally from Nova Scotia, however, and she often visited her father's parents in Cape Breton during her summer vacations. There she was first exposed to Celtic culture in general and to Scottish Gaelic music and the Scottish Gaelic language in particular. Lamond graduated from Westmount High School in Montreal, and then returned to Nova Scotia to enroll in the Celtic Studies program at St. Francis Xavier University, where she studied the school's collection of 350 field recordings of traditional Scots-Gaelic songs.

Career

While still a student, Lamond recorded an album of traditional material called Bho Thir Nan Craobh (From the Land of the Trees), which she released independently in 1994. Among the musicians on the album was fiddler Ashley MacIsaac. MacIsaac had first seen Lamond perform in 1991 with a local band in Antigonish and was impressed with what he saw as her "punk attitude," even as she was singing Gaelic songs. MacIsaac and Lamond collaborated again in 1995 on the song "Sleepy Maggie" for his album Hi™ How Are You Today?, which became a breakthrough recording for both of them.

Lamond followed this up with a solo album in 1997 called Suas e! (which in English means, roughly, "Go for it!"). The album was nominated for a Juno Award and an East Coast Music award. Orain Ghàidhlig, most of which was recorded live in North River, Cape Breton Island, followed in 2001.

After 2000, Lamond mostly put her solo recording career aside for a variety of other projects, including composition for film and stage, and working with a variety of cultural agencies. Her most recent solo album to date is the 2005 recording Stòras, which means "a treasure" in English. Also in 2005, she contributed the song "Mo Mhaeli Bheag Og" to the charity album Voyces United for UNHCR.

She has been active in the ongoing preservation and revitalization of the Scottish Gaelic culture in Cape Breton as a member of the Gaelic Council of Nova Scotia and the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council, and as a teacher of Gaelic language and song workshops.

In September 2012, Lamond and fiddler Wendy McIsaac released the album Seinn. "Their guitar-and-fiddle matchup is beautifully balanced, behind butter-smooth vocals and timeless melodies," said a reviewer on NPR, which named the album as one of the year's top 10 folk and Americana albums. In November 2013, Seinn won a Canadian Folk Music Award for traditional album of the year and a Music Nova Scotia award for traditional/roots recording of the year.

Current work

In September 2017, Lamond announced a new collaborative project, Patchwork, "a project dedicated to the presentation of traditional song in a contemporary context." Patchwork consists of Lamond and her cousin, Laurel MacDonald, who perform Gaelic and English language songs. They perform a show entitled "She Sings as She Flies: Revisiting the Helen Creighton Song Collection," and will be joined by Nicole LeBlanc, Kirsten Olivia, and Naomi Dawn Poulette singing songs from the Acadian, African Nova Scotian, and Mi'kmaq communities, respectively.

Discography

;Albums

• Bho Thir Nan Craobh (1995) (English: From the Land of the Trees)
• Suas e! (1997) (English: Go For It!)
• Làn Dùil (1999) (English: Full of Hope)
• Orain Ghàidhlig (2001) (English: Gaelic Songs)
• Storas (2005) (English: A treasure)
• Seinn (2012) with Wendy MacIsaac

;Contributing artist

• The Rough Guide to the Music of Canada (2005)

Awards and achievements

;1996

• ECMA Award nomination – Female Artist (Bho Thir Nan Craobh)
• ECMA Award nomination – Roots/Traditional Artist (Bho Thir Nan Craobh)

;1997

• Much Music Award – Global Groove – Bog a’ Lochain (Suas e!)
• ECMA Award – Single for Sleepy Maggie (hi how are you today?, Ashley MacIsaac)

;1998

• JUNO Award nomination – Roots and Traditional Album: Solo (Suas e!)
• ECMA Award nomination – Female Artist (Suas e!)
• ECMA Award nomination – Album (Suas e!)
• ECMA Award nomination – Video for Bog a’ Lochain (Suas e!)

;2000

• Juno Nomination – Roots and Traditional Album: Solo (Làn Dùil)
• ECMA Award nomination – Album (Làn Dùil)
• ECMA Award nomination – Roots/Traditional Solo Artist (Làn Dùil)
• ECMA Award nomination – Female Artist (Làn Dùil)
• ECMA Award nomination – Entertainer of the Year
• MIANS Award nomination – Female Artist

;2001

• ECMA Award nomination – Female Artist (Òrain Ghàidhlig)

;2002

• ECMA Award Roots/Traditional Solo Artist Of The Year Award

;2005

• Canadian Folk Music Awards nomination – Traditional Singer
• Canadian Folk Music Awards nomination – World Music Artist

;2006

• ECMA Award Female Artist of the Year Award (Stòras)
• ECMA Award Roots/Traditional Solo Artist of the Year Award

;2007

• Women of Excellence Award Recipient

;2008

• Portia White Award Recipient

;2013

• Canadian Folk Music Award winner - Traditional Album (Seinn)
• Canadian Folk Music Award nomination - Traditional Singer
• Canadian Folk Music Award nomination - Ensemble
• Music Nova Scotia Award winner - Traditional/Roots Recording (Seinn)
• Music Nova Scotia Award nomination - Group Recording

References

References

1. Elaine Keillor. (18 March 2008). "Music in Canada: Capturing Landscape and Diversity". McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP.
2. (December 15, 2012). "Top 10 Folk & Americana Albums of 2012". [[NPR]].
3. Turbide, Diane. "Celtic Music Reels in New Fans". Historica-Dominion.
4. "Mary Jane Lamond - September 200 Artist of the Month". The Celtic Cafe.
5. "Às an Traigh - From the Shore. Mary Smith, Mary Jane Lamond, Julie Fowlis, Andy Mackinnon - St Kilda film project". Cape Farewell Foundation.
6. (September 16, 2012). "Lamond among three appointed to Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council". TC Media.
7. Cummings-Yeates, Rosalind. "Stòras -review". [[Rovi Corporation]].
8. "Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council". Province of Nova Scotia.
9. "The Council in the News". The Gaelic Council of Nova Scotia.
10. Nickson, Chris. "Seinn - review". Rovi Corporation.
11. (November 10, 2013). "Canadian Folk Music Awards winners announced". Canadian Folk Music Awards.
12. Lisa Stitt. (November 10, 2013). "Music Nova Scotia Music & Industry Award Winners 2013". Music Nova Scotia.
13. "Mary Jane Lamond".