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 Canada - The McDades won the award for Best Roots and Traditional Album of the Year (Group) in the 2007 Juno Awards, for their CD Bloom. They are particularly humbled by the sterling group of nominees in this category, from The Wailin Jennys and The Be Good Tanyas to The Duhks and Blackie and the Rodeo Kings. The McDades accomplished this as the only independent ensemble in that category. The group thanked the academy and all the people who volunteer their time for adjudication.
Perhaps it was prophetic that The McDades titled their latest CD Bloom. Though they are still young, they all have been making music for many years. As an ensemble, their blossoming with this 2nd CD was apparent, as writers, as players, and in the sense that this ensemble has birthed their own sound.
Punching through the walls of tradition, The McDades Celtic-rooted music fuses the spontaneity of jazz improvisation and infectious global rhythms. At the heart of the group are siblings Shannon, Solon and Jeremiah, who have been performing together since childhood. Joining them are percussionist Francois Taillefer, of Montreal, where Solon and Jeremiah attended McGill, and newest member, guitarist Andy Hillhouse, of Mad Pudding and Musica Intima.
Last fall The McDades received 2 Canadian Folk Music Awards, for Best World Album and Best World Group, out of 4 nominations. The international Independent Music Awards voted Bloom as Best World Traditional Album. And on November 21st, The McDades were given a Performance Award by the city of Edmonton as a part of the city's Salute To Excellence program.
The McDades are just back from playing Celtic Connections in Glasgow, Germany and Switzerland. This year's festival bookings already include Festival Internacional de las Culturas in Mexico City in April and the Shetland Folk Festival in the UK in May.
Bloom is recorded for their label, Radio Free Records, and distributed by Fusion III.
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