Nova Scotia is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
In the province of Nova Scotia in Canada, Celtic music has played a significant role, both in its traditional forms and fused with other musical styles. Nova Scotia's folk music features traditional tunes brought over from the Scottish Highlands in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, as well as localized forms such as Cape Breton fiddle music. In recent years, a wide variety of other musical genres have emerged in Nova Scotia, which has produced several country music stars such as Hank Snow, Wilf Carter, Anne Murray, and Rita MacNeil.
Natalie MacMaster is a Canadian fiddler from Troy, Inverness County, Nova Scotia, who plays Cape Breton fiddle music. She has toured with the Chieftains, Faith Hill, Carlos Santana and Alison Krauss, and has recorded with Yo-Yo Ma. She has appeared at the Celtic Colours festival in Cape Breton, Celtic Connections in Scotland and MerleFest in the United States.
Mary Jane Lamond is a Canadian Celtic folk musician who performs traditional Canadian Gaelic folk songs from Cape Breton Island. Her music combines traditional and contemporary material. Lamond is known as the vocalist on Ashley MacIsaac's 1995 hit single "Sleepy Maggie", and for her solo Top 40 hit "Horo Ghoid thu Nighean", the first single from her 1997 album Suas e!. Her 2012 collaboration with fiddler Wendy MacIsaac, Seinn, was named one of the top 10 folk and americana albums of 2012 by National Public Radio in the United States.
Rodney Joseph MacDonald is a Canadian politician, educator and musician who served as the 26th premier of Nova Scotia from 2006 to 2009 and as MLA for the riding of Inverness in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1999 to 2009.
Matt Mays is a Canadian indie rock singer-songwriter and was the lead singer of Matt Mays & El Torpedo, a rock music group based in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and New York City. Previously, Mays was a member of a Canadian indie band The Guthries. Mays was born in Hamilton, Ontario, and grew up in Nova Scotia.
Myles Francis Goodwyn was a Canadian musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, and principal songwriter of the rock band April Wine. He released 16 studio albums with April Wine, and four albums as a solo artist. Goodwyn led the group from its inception and garage band roots to its multiplatinum sales peak. He received the National Achievement Award at the 2002 SOCAN Awards, an ECMA Lifetime Achievement Award, and was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. He was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame as a member of April Wine.
Dutch Mason, was a Canadian musician from Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was inducted into the Canadian Jazz and Blues Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the Order of Canada in 2005.
Madison Violet is a Juno-nominated Canadian music duo composed of singer-songwriters Brenley MacEachern and Lisa MacIsaac. The group has been notable for various folk and pop award nominations and wins.
David Myles is a Canadian songwriter and musician born in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Myles lives in Fredericton, New Brunswick, as of September 2020, moving from Halifax, Nova Scotia. His music has often been labeled folk jazz, although he prefers simply to call it "roots" music. An independent artist who self-releases his albums, Myles has been able to gain an increasingly large audience, in part because of his active touring schedule and in part because of his cross-genre musical collaborations, which include a single made with the rapper Classified that became the biggest-selling rap single in the history of Canadian music.
Slowcoaster is a Canadian indie rock band from Sydney, Nova Scotia. The band's sound is rock-based, with strong influences of reggae, ska, folk and jazz.
The Minglewood Band was a Canadian rock group from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia that was active in the 1970s and 1980s. The group received a 1980 Juno Award nomination for the Most Promising Group of the Year.
Dylan Guthro is a Canadian singer/songwriter based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The son of musician Bruce Guthro, Dylan released his debut album, All That's True, in 2012. In 2015, Guthro teamed up with fellow Halifax singer-songwriters Carleton Stone and Breagh Mackinnon to form the band Port Cities.
Port Cities is a Canadian band based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Formed in 2015, Port Cities is composed of Dylan Guthro, Breagh MacKinnon, and Carleton Stone —each already a child of a singer/songwriter with an established solo career. The band signed with turtlemusik/Warner Music in 2016 and released its debut album in 2017.
Carleton Stone is a Canadian singer-songwriter based in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. After recording three albums as a solo artist, Stone joined forces in 2015 with musicians Dylan Guthro and Breagh Mackinnon to form the pop band Port Cities before returning to solo releases.
Drake Batherson is an American-born Canadian professional ice hockey right winger for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League. He was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the fourth round, 121st overall of the 2017 NHL draft.
Dave Sampson Is a Canadian singer-songwriter and recording artist from Sydney, Nova Scotia, and based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Beòlach is a Canadian instrumental folk music group from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. They are most noted for their 2020 album All Hands, which was a Juno Award nominee for Traditional Folk Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2021 and won two Canadian Folk Music Awards for Traditional Album of the Year and Instrumental Group of the Year at the 16th Canadian Folk Music Awards.
