The Morris Family, of Glengarry, will be launching their new CD of Scottish, Irish and Folk/Roots music at the Bonnie Glen Pavilion, near Alexandria, on July 23, 2023, from 1 to 4 pm. The family will perform at 2pm.
The musical content in “Songs of Home” varies from old Scottish and Irish standards, to the folk-roots tunes of Allister MacGillivray, the late Stan Rogers, Bill Staines and Alan Bell. The CD is a blend of choral and soloist work, with accompaniment on piano, harp, guitar and banjo by various family members, with additional guitar, mandolin, accordion and keyboard support from the Ottawa-based Joe Turner.
The CD begins with choral renditions of “The Tartan”, “Westering Hame” and “Road to the Isles”, then shifts to the all-female “Connemara Cradle Song”. All four of these tunes, and three others, were recorded live at the Maxville Music Fest in May 2018.
They are followed on the CD by spirited renditions of Robert Burns tunes by Jean Morris Hudson and Grace Morris Armstrong. Jean and Grace, the two eldest in the family, learned these tunes by ear, from Grace MacDougald Morris, their Granny, as young girls growing up on the Morris Family farm.
The CD also features the vocal sound of the Morris Brothers – Bill, Don, Cleary, John and Frank – accompanied by Cleary, John and Mary, and by Joe Turner. Their numbers include “Jug of Punch”; “Sound the Pibroch”, “Roseville Fair”, “Song for the Mira”, “Macdonell on the Heights” as well as “Bread and Fishes”.
“Songs of Home” also includes a rendition of the Irish ballad, “Mother Machree” in honour of the late Gwen Morris (née Cleary), and concludes with the Scottish tunes, “Bonne Charlie” and “My Bonnie Native Glen”.
Music lovers are welcome to drop in to the launch and concert. Admission is free.
