Alexis MacIsaac and Calum MacKenzie are a wife and husband duo who have established a unique musical partnership that combines Cape Breton piano playing with a modern approach to Celtic fiddle. While Calum’s musical approach has been heavily influenced by his Hebridean roots and his native Cape Breton culture, Alexis’ playing is a multi-faceted harmonization of Irish, Scottish, and Cape Breton styles.
Though their respective approaches to music are distinct, together they create a clean and seamless sound that is nonetheless grounded in tradition. As a fiddle player, Alexis has performed throughout North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the United Arab Emirates with acts such as Riverdance, The High Kings, and The Paperboys, while Calum has been fortunate to play with, and accompany, many local Cape Breton artists and international musicians both at home and abroad in the Caribbean and in Scotland on piano and fiddle.
Their debut album, The Bay Street Sessions, is a compilation of original and traditional compositions and arrangements, and secured them a 2017 Canadian Folk Music Award nomination for traditional instrumental group of the year and a 2018 East Coast Music Awards Nomination for Roots/Traditional Recording of the Year. The album is infused with centuries-old feeling and contemporary flair: their mutual love for music articulated in each note and phrase from bow to key.