Mary Beth Carty Trio
Sharing a love of tunes, traditional song, and mouth music, Mary Beth Carty, Brad Reid, and Bradley Murphy are three celebrated Nova Scotian artists coming together for two concerts and a square dance at this year’s festival!
Leading the trio is Mary Beth Carty, winner of the 2024 Canadian Folk Music Award for Traditional Singer of the Year. Born in Antigonish County, she is a square dance caller who plays accordion, guitar, and wooden rhythm bones, singing the old traditional songs in French and Gaelic, and original songs that sound old-fashioned. Her album Crossing the Causeway has charted on the Folk Alliance International radio play chart, and received airplay on the BBC.
Brad Reid is a fiddler who comes from a large family of Cape Bretoners and Newfoundlanders. Brad took up the fiddle as a teenager, learning from his grandfather, Henry LeFort from Chéticamp. Bradley Murphy is a Gaelic singer and instrumentalist from East Bay, Unama’ki – Cape Breton Island – who joins the trio on piano, fiddle, voice, and bodrhàn. Bradley’s album beul has been nominated for a 2025 Canadian Folk Music Award. Bradley is a proud member of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and is an advocate for queer visibility in traditional music spaces.
Don’t miss Mary Beth Carty and the Bradleys, a unique and inspiring Celtic power-trio who defy all stereotypes of the genre with their creativity and ingenuity!
