Classically trained, and raised in an area where Cape Breton fiddle music fills the air, Shannon Quinn found herself irresistibly drawn to the Irish fiddling tradition of her ancestors.

“I have been playing the fiddle for 20 years,” says Shannon Quinn, who was born and bred in Halifax, Nova Scotia. “I started off with classical violin at age six and then, although I did study classical violin at university, I fell in love with the Irish fiddle around the age of nine and never looked back,”

Thanks to her father, musician Tony Quinn, with whom she still performs as a Celtic folk duo, she had a steady stream of singers and musicians coming through the doors through her youth.

“My grandparents are all from Ireland, and I think I felt a strong connection to my heritage when I was younger. I still do. I was very involved in the Irish dancing community for many years so I was constantly being exposed to Irish music as a child.”

With a music degree from Toronto’s Humber College, Quinn has been touring for the past two years with the internationally renowned Scottish group, The Paul McKenna Band.

Read More...