Barrhead, get ready. “Crazy Legs” is dancing to town.
To followers of Prince Edward Island’s fizzing music scene, the moniker should strike a chord … or should that be a heel and a toe against a wooden stage?
Gordie MacKeeman is a feted clog dancer on P.E.I., a talent that he mixes to jaw-dropping effect with his prodigious fiddle playing.
He is reported to move with such verve and elasticity that his legs appear like rubber bands, thus the nickname.
Stretching the truth? Well, judge for yourselves when Gordie MacKeeman and the Rhythm Boys come stomping on stage at Barrhead Composite High School drama theatre on Thursday, Nov. 7, starting at 8 p.m.
If stories of MacKeeman’s clogging are anywhere near the truth, people will be watching his lightning feet as much as his hands, while the room is filled with toe-tapping, knee-slapping old-time roots music.
Videos show him playing fiddle on an upright bass – how is that even possible? – and bounding about stage in a whirlwind of energy.
The concert will kick off this season’s four shows organized by Barrhead Arts Council.
MacKeeman and his band members – Peter Cann, vocals and lead guitar; Thomas Webb, vocals, bass and banjo; and Mark Geddes, vocals, snare drum/percussion and bass – are performing at various Alberta venues as part of a major tour.
Sometimes they have to travel by plane; much of the time they get about in a rented van, taking it in turns to drive. That is how they will roll into Barrhead.
“It will be our first time in Barrhead,” said MacKeeman. “We don’t know a lot about the town, so it will be very interesting. Hopefully, people will like what we do.”
The visit comes at an auspicious time for the group. Not only did it celebrate its third anniversary in October, but it also released a new CD recently, “Pickin’ N Clickin’.”
“It’s been doing great,” said MacKeeman. “Our shows have been very well received.”
The album has been labelled as traditionally inspired down-east music from P.E.I. It contains many flavours, from bluegrass to Celtic-tinged laments, with a little bit of rockabilly thrown in.
Some songs like “King Ganam Style” – a nod to Swift Current’s King Ganam, a Canadian fiddling legend of the 1950s – and “Gonna Get Out” are likely to get an airing in Barrhead.
Don’t be surprised if you hear some of the other album tracks: “Champagne Polka,” “Ragtime Cowboy Joe,” “Old Joe Clark,” “Heroes of the Sidewalk,” “Black Velvet Waltz,” “Jim’s Lament,” “O’Halloran Road,” “Working Title,” “There is a Time,” “Hay Boys” and “Wildwood Flower.”
“It will be a mix of old-time numbers and originals,” said MacKeeman.
MacKeeman hails originally from Nova Scotia. Clog dancing was his first love, fiddle-playing his second
“I just got into music by fluke,” he said. “When I was six I started clogging, and it wasn’t until I was nine that I took up the fiddle. The two really go together.”
MacKeeman spent many years as a back-up musician, playing with various bands, before striking a partnership with Geddes, from New Brunswick.
The pair collaborated with other musicians, performing at house parties and community halls around Charlottetown, before linking up with Cann and Webb, both from P.E.I. Something just clicked.
“The four of us always played well together,” said MacKeeman. “We were also good friends.”
Proof of their musical chemistry came at the 2012 Ottawa Folk Festival when they received the Galaxie Supernova Award for outstanding live performance.
CBC radio host Tom Power also called the group his “Best Discovery Band” at the 2012 East Coast Music Awards.
Other high points include: winners of two 2011 Music PEI Awards; Showcase PEI 2011 “Showcase Artist of the Year”; and nominated for roots/traditional group recording at 2011 East Coast Music Awards.
The group released a self-titled CD in 2010. This year “Pickin’ N Clickin’” came out, another milestone in the group’s journey that has been earning more and more acclaim, both in Canada and overseas.
On Nov. 8 they will be in Westlock, before moving to Demmit, Holden, and Lloydminister and then on to Saskatchewan.
And after that? In December and New Year’s Day, the group will be performing at the Woodford Folk Festival in Australia, followed by dates in Belgium and Britain.
It’s a breathless, on-the-road lifestyle that MacKeeman wouldn’t have any other way.
“We’re on the road about seven or eight months a year, but we are doing what we love to do, so I have no complaints,” he said last week.
Tickets at the door at BCHS drama theatre are $20 for adults. Student tickets cost $10, while season tickets are $75 for adults and $40 for children. Tickets are available at Comfort Corner and the Right Angle.
For more information, call 780-674-2103.
