Day 8 - Mairi Rankin - “Flora MacDonald’s”

Canadian Fiddlers’ Advent Calendar 2018

Welcome to day 8! Originally this was supposed to be an Advent Calendar from Dec. 1 - 24, but due to the overwhelming response, it will cover the entire month of December.

December 8 – Mairi Rankin – Mabou, Cape Breton– “Flora MacDonald’s”

I met Mairi one year at the Emma Lake Fiddle Camp in Saskatchewan. This lady is a force, let me tell you! Her personality is as fire-filled as her playing and she is just a lovely human being. One of my most vivid memories of Mairi is from when we were roommates at one of the Frontier Fiddle Jamborees in Norway House, MB. I had gone to bed early and Mairi was up later jamming with the other instructors. I didn’t even hear her come back to the room and go to bed. My alarm went off and she didn’t budge, so I got up, showered, packed my bag, and thought I should try to wake her up. I yelled, “Hey Mairi, the plane leaves in 30 minutes!” She opened her eyes, whipped off the covers and all in one fell swoop she was upright, fully dressed and fixing her gorgeous wild red hair with her fingers! “I’m UP!” I swear, she looked like she’d spent hours getting ready!

Mairi has toured nationally and internationally as a performer and educator in both fiddle and step dance. She has performed as a solo artist, a side musician, in small combos and as a member of both the Cape Breton super group Beòlach and the highly acclaimed Scottish / Irish / Canadian band The Outside Track. Mairi has recorded one solo album, two with Beòlach, five with The Outside Track, and been featured on numerous compilations and recordings.

Mairi is playing one of her favourite tunes, “Flora MacDonald’s”