| Andrew McFayden was born in Dryden in North Western Ontario on August 25, 1973. He went to primary school in Sioux Lookout, Ontario and to secondary school in Dryden. After his graduation in 1991, he enrolled in the Bachelor of Education program at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba from which he graduated in 1995. After a brief return to Dryden in 1995, he moved to Prince George, British Columbia where he remains.
While in Kindergarten in 1978, he began to learn French and continually learned it through school, taking all available French courses in secondary school. He won the French awards in grades 8, 12, and 13. In university, he majored in French and became fluently bilingual by the age of 21.
After his move to Prince George, he discovered that his great great grandfather spoke Scottish Gaelic as his first language. Having heard the singing of the Canadian group "The Rankins", and the Scottish group "Capercaillie", he decided to teach himself the language. In 2000, he discovered the existence of a unique college in Nova Scotia called the Gaelic College of Celtic Arts and Crafts. He made a snap decision to attend for a week that summer. That decision changed his life because attending that College put him in touch with his roots more than ever before. He's been attending every summer since. It was his attendance, his teachers, and his friends at the College that encouraged him to sing publicly beginning in 2000, and gradually singing in more and more functions in Gaelic since then. He now sings almost exclusively in Gaelic.
He had been dabbling in Italian and a bit of Spanish between 1987 and 2001, but in 2002 he threw himself into learning Spanish. He now speaks and can sing in 4 languages. Scots Gaelic remains his heart's favourite and has committed over 75 of his favourite traditional Gaelic songs to memory - ranging from short dance tunes to long work songs.
Over the past year, various friends of Andrew's had mentioned to him the possibility of recording an album - either tongue-in-cheek, or seriously. Therefore, in May 2004, Andrew decided to put one together with the help of Rocketfish Productions in Prince George. Over the month of May, the album was rehearsed, recorded, and mastered.
The result was an album that reflects the personality of the artist - an eclectic mix of studio and live-performance songs. The live pieces were not recorded with the intention of releasing them on a cd, therefore the sounds of people moving around can be heard.
"In any case," says Andrew, referring to the live tracks, "I wanted to give listeners the feeling of being at a real ceilidh or gathering where people move around, sing with the singer, and have a lot of fun. I didn't want the traditional pieces to feel like just another sterile-sounding studio project with the audience hushed in the background. I wanted them to be and feel authentic. It's eclectic. It's different. It's a reflection of me."
http://www.grianmcbuttons.ca |
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