$30
McCready Brothers
The McCready brothers were born and raised in Truro, Nova Scotia.
A.T. received his first guitar as a Christmas present at the age of 13 years. He learned his first chords from a friend and a twenty-five cent chord book. Over the years he has played many different styles of music but at 21 he was introduced to the music of Mississippi John Hurt. This, along with the playing of the Rev. Gary Davis, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Charlie Patton and the songs of Willie Dixon, to name but a few of his influences, have inspired him to pursue acoustic, finger-style guitar. More than three decades later, this remains his main style of playing. A.T. also built his own stainless steel resonator guitar, for bottleneck slide playing. Although finger-picking is a major part of his playing, his use of a flat pick on some tunes have a decidedly jazzy flavour.
Jim McCready started playing the harmonica around 1973, with an old Marine Band that his dad had given him. With his brother A.T. playing guitar, it was a natural act for them to start jamming together. The emotional expression of the harmonica became a necessary part of his life. From talking with Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee at a folk festival in Hardwood Lands, Nova Scotia, to watching his ninety year-old mother dancing to the tunes played in the kitchen, Jim realized that the harmonica had become his friend for life. He likes to think of it as the voice of the old people and their life struggles. Their voice, their story and their memories.
Art Bouman
Art Bouman is a folk musician residing in Kjuktuk Mi’kma’ki. He performs music in the African American roots tradition and is interested in reviving and reinterpreting the connections between black folk music and the banjo.