Music of Prince Edward Island

One of the Maritime provinces of Canada, Prince Edward Island is known as a home for traditional Celtic music. The island has produced ECMA-award winning fiddlers Richard Wood and J. J. Chaisson as well as the award winning singer-songwriter, Lennie Gallant. The celebrated Stompin' Tom Connors also lived in Skinners Pond.

Other prominent musicians include Albert and Chuck Arsenault of the Acadian band Barachois, Allan Rankin, Perry Williams, Brad Fremlin, Timothy Chaisson, Koady Chaisson, Trinity Bradshaw, Ward MacDonald, Gordon Belsher, Elmer Deagle, Jon Matthews, Dr. Ellen MacPhee, James MacHattie, Cynthia MacLeod, the Acadian band Vishten, the Celtic bands Boys in the Kitchen and Fiddler's Sons and songwriter Gene MacLellan. On February 23, 2003, Angèle Arsenault received the Order of Canada for her music and contribution to PEI culture.

The epitome of PEI musical culture is the fiddle, piano and step dancer. The Ceilidh (Scot's Gaelic for gathering essentially) has long been the most common place for this type of music to be found. This music was imported straight from the Highlands of Scotland and remained unchanged for centuries. On the island it mixed with Irish and Acadian musical tradition, but Scottish style still dominates. Today musicians on the island are expanding beyond the fiddle in many cases, incorporating other Celtic instruments. Traditional Celtic Music on the island also takes the form of popular Maritime or East Coast Music, which is what some have described as an amalgam of Celtic Music and Sea Shanties. This type of music is also heavily influenced by the traditions of Newfoundland and is very commonly found in Pubs all over Atlantic Canada.

Today, such bands as Two Hours Traffic, Boxer the Horse, Coyote, Haunted Hearts, The Danks, English Words, Racoon Bandit, The North Lakes, Milks & Rectangles and Paper Lions are successful on the PEI rock/pop music scene. PEI also has an active blues scene with such bands as The Blueprints, Plain Dirty Blues Band, and the blues-rock band Bad Habits. The indie rock culture is quite strong in Charlottetown for its size and can be heard at several venues throughout the city. There is also a small but growing Bluegrass music scene on the island, as demonstrated by such bands as the Saddle River String Band and Nudie and the Turks.

...
Wikipedia