Heather Dale

Heather Dale
Celtic singer Heather Dale after a concert.
Background information
Birth name	Heather Dale
Born	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Celtic, folk, world, new-age
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter, producer, independent record label owner
Instruments	Voice, piano, bodhrán, tin & low whistles, recorders, mountain dulcimer, hammered dulcimer, harp, bowed psaltery, percussion
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Amphisbaena (Amphis) Music
Website	http://www.heatherdale.com/

Heather Dale is a Canadian Celtic music recording artist and touring musician. She records and performs primarily her own original songs, which draw their inspiration from the folklore, mythology, and history of various Celtic and non-Celtic cultures, along with some elements of modern fantasy literature. Her musical style is a mix of traditional and modern, influenced by Celtic folk, folk rock, new-age, and world music. She has been compared to Loreena McKennitt, Sarah McLachlan, and Judy Collins.

Born and based in Toronto, she began her career by performing at Society for Creative Anachronism historical re-creation events; she has been a medieval-era re-creator since 1993 and is known by the name 'Mistress Marian of Heatherdale' within the group. She was elevated to the Order of the Laurel, the Society's highest award for achievement in the arts, in 2001. Her CD Call The Names is a compilation album of her oldest songs (originally released on cassette between 1995 and 1998), all of which present an idealized view of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, within the SCA context. Heather released another historical album in November 2002: This Endris Night, with twelve reworkings of pre-1700 CE Christmas carols.

Building on her popularity in the SCA community, Heather soon started doing concerts at folk clubs and other live music venues in the Toronto area, traveling occasionally to perform for audiences further afield. She released two major albums in this time period:

These albums demonstrated Heather's longtime interest in the epic King Arthur story, and garnered mention in the scholarly New Arthurian Encyclopedia. Particularly notable is Heather's ability to create empathy with the characters in her songs; listeners are shown vulnerable, first-person portrayals of such legendary figures are Sir Lancelot, Sir Tristan, Queen Guinevere, King Arthur, Merlin the Magician and Morgan Le Fay. Heather also released a 120-page story/songbook called The Legends of Arthur in November 2006; it has sheet music arrangements for all of her Arthurian songs. The book also includes Heather's re-telling of the whole King Arthur story, in the form of 27 traditionally-inspired stories that were originally released as part of Heather's fan newsletter.