James Keelaghan (born October 28, 1959) is a Canadian

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

singer-songwriter. Born in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

, Alberta, Keelaghan is now based in

Perth, Ontario Perth is a town in Eastern Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Tay River (Ontario), Tay River, southwest of Ottawa, and is the seat of Lanark County. History The town was established as a military settlement in 1816, shortly after the War of ...

. Many of the lyrics in his songs display a concern about social problems and justice in society. Examples of such themes include "Kiri's Piano", about the

internment Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...

Japanese Canadians are Canadian citizens of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Canadians are mostly concentrated in Western Canada, especially in the province of British Columbia, which hosts the largest Japanese community in the country with the majority of them living ...

, and "October 70", about the FLQ crisis, inspired by events and figures in

Canadian history The history of Canada covers the period from the arrival of the Paleo-Indians to North America thousands of years ago to the present day. The lands encompassing present-day Canada have been inhabited for millennia by Indigenous peoples, with di ...

. Some of his songs concern tragic historical events, such as "Fires of Calais," about the 1940

Dunkirk evacuation The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the ...

of Allied troops during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and "Cold Missouri Waters," about the Mann Gulch fire of 1949. Keelaghan's lilting

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

voice, driving rhythm guitar, and a sense of scene and narrative result in his ability to bridge traditional

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

with

roots revival A roots revival (folk revival) is a trend which includes young performers popularizing the traditional musical styles of their ancestors. Often, roots revivals include an addition of newly composed songs with socially and politically aware lyr ...

and

Celtic music Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celts (modern), Celtic people of Northwestern Europe (the modern Celtic nations). It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and ...

Biography and career

Keelaghan studied history at the

University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...

and two of his influences there were Drs. Margaret J. Osler and Sheldon Silverman. With an international following in Australia and England, Keelaghan plays a wide variety of venues from large festivals and concert halls to intimate folk clubs venues and often invites the audience for a beer after his performance. At the 1990

Northern Lights Festival Boréal Northern Lights Festival Boréal is an annual summer music festival in Greater Sudbury, Sudbury, Ontario. It is one of Canada's oldest continuous music festivals, having been staged every year since 1972 until the COVID-19 pandemic.

, Keelaghan and guitarist Oscar Lopez participated in a collaborative workshop exploring the fusion of Celtic and Latin music."Just your average 'Celtino' guitar duo; The unlikely fusion of Latin American and Celtic music came easily to Lopez and Keelaghan". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'', October 11, 2007. The duo would later collaborate on two albums, ''Compadres'' and ''¿Buddy Where You Been?'', further exploring that theme. In 1994, he won the

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year for ''My Skies''. In 2003, Keelaghan won first prize (Folk Category) of the 8th Annual USA Songwriting Competition. His song "Cold Missouri Waters" was covered by the band Cry Cry Cry in 1998. His songs have also included some by famed folk musicians. They include Roy Bailey and

Garnet Rogers Garnet Rogers (born May 1955) is a Canadian folk musician, singer, songwriter and composer. He was born in Hamilton, Ontario with Maritime roots. Early life Rogers was born in Hamilton, Ontario to Nathan Allison Rogers and Valerie (née Bushell) ...

. Frequent guest musicians on his albums include Stephen Fearing and Hugh McMillan of

Spirit of the West Spirit of the West were a Canadian folk rock band from North Vancouver, active from 1983 to 2016. They were popular on the Canadian folk music scene in the 1980s before evolving a blend of hard rock, Britpop, and Celtic folk influences which m ...

. His latest CD, ''House of Cards'' (2009), produced by Keelaghan, is a collection of ten new original songs, some co-written with

Karine Polwart Karine Polwart ( ) (born 23 December 1970) is a Scottish singer-songwriter. She writes and performs music with a strong folk and roots feel, her songs dealing with a variety of issues from alcoholism to genocide. She has been most recognised fo ...

David Francey David Francey (born 1954) is a Canadian folk singer-songwriter. He is the recipient of four Juno Awards and three Canadian Folk Music Awards. Early life Francey was born in Ayrshire, Scotland. He immigrated to Canada with his family at age 12. ...

and others. The cd has been receiving critical praise both in Canada and abroad. Keelaghan is the Artistic Director of the Summerfolk Music and Crafts Festival in Owen Sound since 2011.

Discography

* ''Timelines'' (1987) * ''Small Rebellions'' (1990) * ''My Skies'' (1993) * ''A Recent Future'' (1995) *''Compadres'' (1997) (James Keelaghan, Oscar Lopez) ''Nominated for a

for Best Roots & Traditional Album – Group '' * ''Road'' (1999) * ''Home'' (2001) * ''Then Again'' (2004) * ''A Few Simple Verses'' (2006) *''¿Buddy Where You Been?'' (2007) (Compadres – James Keelaghan, Oscar Lopez) ''Nominated for a

for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year: Group '' * ''House of Cards'' (2009) * ''History: The First 25 Years'' (CD and DVD) (2013) * ''Second-Hand'' (2022)

References

External links

Official websiteUSA Songwriting Competition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keelaghan, James 1959 births Canadian folk guitarists Canadian male guitarists Canadian folk singer-songwriters Canadian male singer-songwriters Living people Musicians from Calgary People from Perth, Ontario 20th-century Canadian singer-songwriters 21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters Singers from Alberta