For Reel $2.34

About For Reel

Take a band from Edmonton consisting of two brothers and a sister who grew up playing music together, add to the mix two very eclectic musicians from Montreal, and you have a truly Canadian band, the McDades!

It's a challenge to be a Canadian musician in the modern Roots music world. Many musicians struggle to find a unique place within the varied cultures that make modern Canada. We are a tolerant country made up of different peoples and this is what makes us unique. The McDades approach to music successfully celebrates this very idea.

On an average evening their audience will experience everything from modern bluegrass sounds reminiscent of Nickle Creek or Allison Krauss to Tuvan Throat singing! The musical adventures and arrangements will move from bowed bass and violin parts that remind you of George Martin's Beatle Productions to Horn improvisations in the style of Oregon or the Paul Winter Consort. Percussion sounds range from frame drums to sounds more modern, much-like the sounds that come from David Lindley side-kick, Wally Ingram.

Add to the above an upright jazz bass player, a master violinist and a guitarist who's style has developed somewhere between modern celtic, traditional French Canadian and jazz, and you begin to understand the McDades. With vocal harmonies that can only come from a family band and an obvious love for each other and their music, the McDades stage presentation consists of living room warmth with excellent musicianship. With a nice mixture of accessible instrumentals, vocal songs and more adventurous pieces, each member of the band is showcased throughout the evening. The McDades can perform in both French and English and are a festival programmers dream for all the variety they can add to workshops!