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'''Catherine-Ann MacPhee''' (Cathy-Ann MacPhee; Scottish Gaelic: Catriona-Anna Nic a' Phi; born 1959) is a [[Scottish Gaelic]] singer from Barra in the Hebrides, now resident in Canada. She has worked in the theatre and broadcasting as well as giving musical performances in Scotland, England, Canada and elsewhere. After a period living in [[Ottawa]] she moved to [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]], in 2017.<ref>[https://projects.handsupfortrad.scot/hall-of-fame/cathy-ann-macphee/ Cathy-Ann MacPhee]; Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame </ref>
'''Catherine-Ann MacPhee''' (born 1959) is a [[Goidelic|Gaelic]] singer.


==Acting career==
==Cathy-Ann the actress==


Catherine-Ann was born on 21 November 1959 in the Island of [[Barra]], [[Scotland]]. There she grew up with [[Scottish Gaelic]] as her first language. Electricity did not reach the island until she was six. At the age of five she started singing at candle-lit ceilidhs in the little village of Eoligarry. During the summer she sang for tourists. At the age of seventeen she joined "Fir Chlis" (Northern Lights). It was the first Scottish Gaelic repertory theatre company and did work for radio and television. Following budget cuts the company ended after three years. After moving to the [[Isle of Mull|island of Mull]], she received many phone calls from John McGrath of the [[7:84|7:84 theatre company]]. It took much persuasion to get her to join them and play English-speaking roles. She travelled with them to [[Saint Petersburg|Leningrad]], [[Tbilisi]], [[Toronto]], [[Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia|Cape Breton]] and [[Berlin]].
Catherine-Ann was born on 21 November 1959 in the Island of [[Barra]], [[Scotland]] where she grew up with [[Scottish Gaelic]] as her first language. Electricity did not reach the island until she was six. At the age of five she started singing at candle-lit [[Cèilidh|ceilidhs]] in the little village of Eoligarry. During the summer she sang for tourists. At the age of seventeen she joined "Fir Chlis" (Northern Lights). It was the first Scottish Gaelic repertory theatre company and did work for radio and television including the 1979 [[BBC]] Scotland Gaelic language course [[Can Seo]]. Following budget cuts the company ended after three years. She moved to the [[Isle of Mull]], where she worked in a bar in [[Tobermory, Mull|Tobermory]], but soon joined [[John McGrath (playwright)|John McGrath]]'s English-speaking [[7:84]] theatre company.<ref name="herald">{{cite news |title=An apocalypse lightly unfolds |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=lMFAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3aUMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3583,5432498 |newspaper=[[Glasgow Herald]] |date=29 September 1981 |access-date=20 April 2011}}</ref> She traveled with them to [[Saint Petersburg|Leningrad]], [[Tbilisi]], [[Toronto]], [[Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia|Cape Breton]] and [[Berlin]].


==The first Gaelic albums==
==The first Gaelic albums==


Ian Green from [[Greentrax Records]] heard her at a festival in [[Dingwall]] and offered a recording contract. Like her subsequent albums, all of the songs on "Cànan Nan Gaidheal" (The Language of the Gael) (1987) are in Gaelic, and most are traditional. One of the songs is by the Gaelic-speaking folk-rock group [[Runrig]]. Her voice is a powerful alto with exceptionally clear diction. The backing musicians include [[Tony Cuffe]] and [[William Jackson (Scottish composer)|William Jackson]], both from the group [[Ossian (band)|Ossian]]. Her second album contains a bewildering range of pop and [[New Age]] influences including drum machine, harp and bass guitar. It was probably the first time that "waulking songs" (work songs for women finishing tweed cloth) were treated this way. The Mrs Ackyroyd Band is a loose association of singers who record perform comic parodies of folk music. In 1987 they undertook their only non-comic project, a song-cycle called "The Stones of Callanish". MacPhee sang two of the songs on it.
Ian Green from [[Greentrax Records]] heard her at a festival in [[Dingwall]] and offered a recording contract. Like her subsequent albums, all of the songs on ''Cànan Nan Gaidheal'' (The Language of the Gael) (1987) are in Gaelic, and most are traditional. One of the songs is by the Gaelic-speaking folk-rock group [[Runrig]]. The backing musicians include [[Tony Cuffe]] and [[William Jackson (Scottish composer)|William Jackson]], both from the group [[Ossian (band)|Ossian]].


Her second album, which is called ''Chi mi 'n Geamhradh'' after the first song, written by Calum and Rory MacDonald of Runrig, contains mostly traditional songs, though it has been described as "containing a bewildering range <sup>[in whose opinion?]</sup> of pop and [[New Age]] influences including drum machine, harp and bass guitar". It was probably the first time that "[[waulking song]]s" (work songs for women finishing tweed cloth) were treated this way.
⚫
==Màiri Mhór (1821 - 1898)==


[[The Mrs Ackyroyd Band]] is a loose association of singers who record perform comic parodies of folk music. In 1987 they undertook their only non-comic project, a song-cycle called ''The Stones of Callanish''. MacPhee sang two of the songs on it.
⚫
The [[Highland Land League|Land League]] was an organisation devoted to resisting the [[Highland Clearances]] in the mid to late nineteenth century. Many songs were written by Màiri Mhór (Mary MacPherson) from [[Isle of Skye|Skye]] in support of their cause. Fifty years before [[Woody Guthrie]] she wrote protest songs and set them to traditional tunes. In 1993 a biographical BBC TV film about Màiri Mhór was made in which Alyxis Daly played Màiri Mhór and MacPhee sang the soundtrack. In the following year the soundtrack album was released. Some of these Gaelic songs are about the landscape of the [[Scottish Highlands|highlands]] and represent a farewell to a way of life. In 1997 she recorded a live album at the 50th anniversary of the [[Edinburgh Festival]].


⚫
==Màiri Mhór (1821–1898)==
==Emigration to Canada==


⚫
The [[Highland Land League]] was an organisation devoted to resisting the [[Highland Clearances]] in the mid to late nineteenth century. Many songs were written by [[Màiri Mhòr nan Òran|Màiri Mhór]] (Mary MacPherson) from [[Isle of Skye|Skye]] in support of their cause. In 1993 a biographical BBC TV film about Màiri Mhór was made in which Alyxis Daly played Màiri Mhór and MacPhee sang the soundtrack.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.folkmusic.net/htmfiles/webrevs/cdtrax070.htm|title=CATHERINE ANN MacPHEE - "Sings Mairi Mhor"|last=MacInnes|first=Malcolm|publisher=Living Tradition|access-date=16 April 2011}}</ref> In the following year the soundtrack album was released. Some of these Gaelic songs are about the landscape of the [[Scottish Highlands|highlands]] and represent a farewell to a way of life. In 1997 she recorded a live album at the 50th anniversary of the [[Edinburgh Festival]].
In 2001 MacPhee moved to [[Ottawa]]. She teaches Gaelic singing and often travels to [[Toronto]], [[Seattle]], [[North Carolina]] and [[Cape Breton Island|Cape Breton]]. Like many other Scottish folk singers she likes [[country and western]] music but does not sing it in public. Her most recent album "Sùil Air Ais" (Looking Back) was recorded during the [[2003 North America blackout|electricity black-out that affected USA and Canada]]. The sudden reduction of studio time meant that the vocals were recorded in Canada, and the instrumental accompaniments added afterwards in Scotland.


==Discography==
==Discography==
⚫
*Cànan nan Gaidheal (The Language of the Gael) (1987)
⚫
*Chi mi 'n Geamhradh (I See Winter) (1991)
⚫
*Sings Màiri Mhór (1994)
⚫
*Òrain nan Gàidheal (1997)
⚫
*Sùil air Ais (Looking Back) (2004)


;Albums
⚫
''Film:'' "Màiri Mhór: Her Life and Songs" (1993)
⚫
*''Cànan nan Gàidheal'' (The Language of the Gael) (1987)
⚫
*''Chi mi 'n Geamhradh'' (I See Winter) (1991)
⚫
*''Sings Màiri Mhòr'' (1994)
⚫
*''Òrain nan Gàidheal'' (1997)
⚫
*''Sùil air Ais'' (Looking Back) (2004)


;Contributing artist
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
*''[[The Rough Guide to Scottish Music (1996 album)|The Rough Guide to Scottish Music]]'' (1996)
| NAME =Macphee, Catherine-Ann

| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
;Film
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
⚫
*''Màiri Mhòr: Her Life and Songs'' (1993)
| DATE OF BIRTH =

| PLACE OF BIRTH =
==References==
| DATE OF DEATH =
{{Reflist}}
| PLACE OF DEATH =

}}
==External links==
*[https://projects.handsupfortrad.scot/hall-of-fame/cathy-ann-macphee/ Cathy-Ann MacPhee]; Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macphee, Catherine-Ann}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macphee, Catherine-Ann}}
[[Category:1959 births]]
[[Category:1959 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Scottish Gaelic-speaking people]]
[[Category:People from Barra]]
[[Category:People from the Outer Hebrides]]
[[Category:Scottish Gaelic singers]]
[[Category:Scottish Gaelic singers]]
[[Category:Scottish female singers]]
[[Category:20th-century Scottish women singers]]
[[Category:Scottish immigrants to Canada]]
[[Category:Scottish emigrants to Canada]]
[[Category:21st-century Scottish women singers]]

Latest revision as of 20:58, 16 October 2022

Catherine-Ann MacPhee (Cathy-Ann MacPhee; Scottish Gaelic: Catriona-Anna Nic a' Phi; born 1959) is a Scottish Gaelic singer from Barra in the Hebrides, now resident in Canada. She has worked in the theatre and broadcasting as well as giving musical performances in Scotland, England, Canada and elsewhere. After a period living in Ottawa she moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 2017.[1]

Acting career[edit]

Catherine-Ann was born on 21 November 1959 in the Island of Barra, Scotland where she grew up with Scottish Gaelic as her first language. Electricity did not reach the island until she was six. At the age of five she started singing at candle-lit ceilidhs in the little village of Eoligarry. During the summer she sang for tourists. At the age of seventeen she joined "Fir Chlis" (Northern Lights). It was the first Scottish Gaelic repertory theatre company and did work for radio and television including the 1979 BBC Scotland Gaelic language course Can Seo. Following budget cuts the company ended after three years. She moved to the Isle of Mull, where she worked in a bar in Tobermory, but soon joined John McGrath's English-speaking 7:84 theatre company.[2] She traveled with them to Leningrad, Tbilisi, Toronto, Cape Breton and Berlin.

The first Gaelic albums[edit]

Ian Green from Greentrax Records heard her at a festival in Dingwall and offered a recording contract. Like her subsequent albums, all of the songs on Cànan Nan Gaidheal (The Language of the Gael) (1987) are in Gaelic, and most are traditional. One of the songs is by the Gaelic-speaking folk-rock group Runrig. The backing musicians include Tony Cuffe and William Jackson, both from the group Ossian.

Her second album, which is called Chi mi 'n Geamhradh after the first song, written by Calum and Rory MacDonald of Runrig, contains mostly traditional songs, though it has been described as "containing a bewildering range [in whose opinion?] of pop and New Age influences including drum machine, harp and bass guitar". It was probably the first time that "waulking songs" (work songs for women finishing tweed cloth) were treated this way.

The Mrs Ackyroyd Band is a loose association of singers who record perform comic parodies of folk music. In 1987 they undertook their only non-comic project, a song-cycle called The Stones of Callanish. MacPhee sang two of the songs on it.

Màiri Mhór (1821–1898)[edit]

The Highland Land League was an organisation devoted to resisting the Highland Clearances in the mid to late nineteenth century. Many songs were written by Màiri Mhór (Mary MacPherson) from Skye in support of their cause. In 1993 a biographical BBC TV film about Màiri Mhór was made in which Alyxis Daly played Màiri Mhór and MacPhee sang the soundtrack.[3] In the following year the soundtrack album was released. Some of these Gaelic songs are about the landscape of the highlands and represent a farewell to a way of life. In 1997 she recorded a live album at the 50th anniversary of the Edinburgh Festival.

Discography[edit]

Albums
  • Cànan nan Gàidheal (The Language of the Gael) (1987)
  • Chi mi 'n Geamhradh (I See Winter) (1991)
  • Sings Màiri Mhòr (1994)
  • Òrain nan Gàidheal (1997)
  • Sùil air Ais (Looking Back) (2004)
Contributing artist
Film
  • Màiri Mhòr: Her Life and Songs (1993)

References[edit]

  1. ^ Cathy-Ann MacPhee; Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame
  2. ^ "An apocalypse lightly unfolds". Glasgow Herald. 29 September 1981. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
  3. ^ MacInnes, Malcolm. "CATHERINE ANN MacPHEE - "Sings Mairi Mhor"". Living Tradition. Retrieved 16 April 2011.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Catherine-Ann_MacPhee&oldid=1116489168"