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CTV News
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
‘I didn't know I wanted to be the bagpipe girl, but here I am': P.E.I.'s Alli Walker reinvents country music
You can take the girl out of the Maritimes, but you can't take the Maritimes out of the girl — just ask Prince Edward Island's Ali Walker. The rising country artist, now based in Nashville, is leaning into what makes her different: a love of traditional Celtic music and a set of electric bagpipes. 'I honestly really fell in love with bagpiping because there's the College of Piping in Summerside, and my mom happened to work there,' said Walker in an interview with CTV's Katie Kelly. 'So I was kind of surrounded by it.' That early connection to her roots would end up shaping her future. A few years ago, she worked the pipes into a tune called Whiskey's Gone — the song that became her most popular. 'I didn't know I wanted to be the bagpipe girl,' said Walker. 'But here I am — the bagpipe country music girl. And I love it because it's so fun and so different.' That difference helped her land a dream moment: performing alongside her childhood idol, Shania Twain in St. John's last year at the Churchill Park Music Festival. 'I recorded a video of me playing my electric bagpipes to Any Man of Mine, and my manager sent it to her team,' said Walker. 'Shania loved it… and they were like, 'Yeah, she wants you to come on stage.' It was in front of tens of thousands of people.' That viral moment capped off a breakout year for the singer-songwriter, who relocated to Nashville from Toronto 12 months ago and quickly built a team that now includes a record label, publishing deal, and agents. 'The team has grown exponentially, which is crazy and exciting,' said Walker. 'But also difficult to handle all in one year.' Still, she's managed to stay creative. Her latest single, I Saw the Devil, continues her genre-blending streak — fusing rock, country, and of course, the bagpipes. 'It's honestly everything I've been wanting to move towards,' said Walker. 'A little bit more rock, a little bit of country, and a little bit of bagpipes.' Now touring across Canada, the U.S., Europe, the U.K., and Australia, Walker brings a little piece of home with her wherever she goes. 'I'm so proud to be from the Maritimes,' said Walker. 'So to have everyone's support is incredible.' For more P.E.I. news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
Irish Times
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
The Guide: CMAT, Fontaines DC, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and other events to see, shows to book, and ones to catch before they end
Event of the week Lovely Days Live From Friday, May 23rd, until Sunday, May 25th, S James's Gate, Dublin, 5pm, €44.50 (sold out), An enclosed three-day festival with no concern for what the weather might hold sounds like a plan, right? The Guinness brewery's popular Storehouse visitor attraction and its associated areas will open their doors to some of the best Celtic music acts around. The big hitters at these over-21 events include the Scottish producer and DJ Barry Can't Swim (Friday, May 23rd), the rapidly rising Irish singer-songwriter CMAT (Saturday, May 24th, with support from Morgana) and the all-conquering Fontaines DC (Sunday, May 25th, with support from Lankum ). Proceeds go towards the recently established Guinness Dublin 8 Community Fund. Gigs Drawing from the Well Tuesday, May 20th, NCH, Dublin, 8pm, €35/€30/€25, Drawing from the Well: Edwina Guckian. Photograph: Maurice Gunning The seventh collaboration between the Irish Traditional Music Archive and the National Concert Hall continues with a line-up of leading traditional musicians delving into archive collections. Veteran greats such as Andy Irvine, Dónal Lunny and Matt Molloy will perform alongside the Ye Vagabond brothers, Diarmuid and Brían MacGloinn, the harpist Laoise Kelly, the sean-nós dancer Edwina Guckian and the flautist and singer Ríoghnach Connolly. An extra welcome addition to the concert is a rare performance by the Begley family – Cormac, Breanndán and Clíodhna. Sophie Ellis-Bextor Wednesday, May 21st, and Thursday, May 22nd, 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 7pm, €44.20, Five years ago, during Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, the English pop singer and songwriter Sophie Ellis-Bextor performed weekly lo-fi concerts live from her kitchen on Instagram. Those kitchen disco shows and her subsequent podcast, Spinning Plates , led to a resurgence in her popularity, which was advanced further by the use of her song Murder on the Dancefloor in the final scene of the 2023 film Saltburn . Will Barry Keoghan, its Irish star, be in town to re-enact that most audacious dance-off? You wish! Throwing Muses Wednesday, May 21st, Cyprus Avenue, Cork, 7pm, €28, ; Thursday, May 22nd, Róisín Dubh, Galway, 7.30pm, €29, ; Friday, May 23rd, Whelan's, Dublin, 8pm, €32.50 (sold out), Throwing Muses: Kristin Hersh Intimate shows from one of the United States' finest alternative rock groups are rare, so to have three in a row is a godsend. Touring as a trio – original founding member Kristin Hersh, original drummer David Narcizo and bass player Bernard Georges, who has been a member since 1992 – Throwing Muses will be delving into their acclaimed back catalogue as well as their most recent album, Moonlight Concessions. The must-see support act for all shows is the Dublin-based band Dose, featuring the former Bitch Falcon singer Lizzie Fitzpatrick. READ MORE Stage Dathanna Geala Amháin: Bright Colours Only Saturday, May 17th, Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar, Co Mayo, 8pm, €18/€16, ; Wednesday, May 21st, Axis Ballymun, Dublin, 8pm, €18/€16, ; Friday, May 23rd, and Saturday, May 24th, Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich, Belfast, 8pm, £16/£14, Dathanna Geala Amháin Pauline Goldsmith's play about an Irish wake has toured internationally to acclaim, but for the first time it tours as Gaeilge (translated by Séamas Mac Annaidh) under the guiding hand of Muireann Kelly, artistic director of An Taibhdhearc, the National Irish Language Theatre. Brídín Ní Mhaoldomhnaigh stars. Performances include English surtitles. In conversation Rebecca Solnit Friday, May 23rd, Merrion Square Park, Dublin, 8pm, €14/€12, There isn't an important subject under the sun that the US writer and activist Rebecca Solnit hasn't tackled. From politics, human rights and art to environmentalism and feminism, she is, as the New York Times has described her, 'the kind of rugged, off-road public intellectual America doesn't produce often enough', with 'a rare gift to turn the act of cognition, of arriving at a coherent point of view, into compelling moral drama'. Solnit will be in conversation with Caroline Erskine to discuss topics from her new essay collection, No Straight Road Takes You There: Essays for Uneven Terrain. The event is part of International Literature Festival Dublin. Film Fastnet Film Festival From Wednesday, May 21st, until Sunday, May 25th, Schull, Co Cork, various venues, times and prices, It might be bold to claim, as its artistic adviser, the director Lenny Abrahamson, does, that this is the world's friendliest film festival, but when it comes to an event that connects film-makers, industry guests and the local community in celebration of film, there's little doubt he's right. Alongside the array of screenings, workshops and masterclasses are must-see public interviews with Domhnall Gleeson, Nicola Coughlan, Barry Keoghan, Rebecca Miller, Aidan Gillen, Bill Pullman, Clare Dunne, Maria Doyle-Kennedy and Ronan Day-Lewis. Visual art An Artist's Presence From Saturday, May 17th, until Sunday, September 15th, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, free, Helen Mabel Trevor: Self-Portrait How artists position themselves in their work, figuratively at least, is the focus of this exhibition, which is curated by Katie Buckley of the gallery's prints and drawings collection. Artists from the 18th to 21st centuries are represented, including William Orpen, Nancy Lee Katz, Seán Keating, Elisabeth Vigée-Le Brun (Marie Antoinette's favourite painter) and Amelia Stein. On Tuesday, May 27th (Education Studio, Level 1, 11am, €5), Buckley will be in conversation with Stein, the Dublin-based photographer, as part of the gallery's informal Talk and Tea series. Still running Ollie ... One Love, One Life Saturday, May 17th, and Sunday, May 18th, Helix, Dublin, 8pm, €37, Gary Cooke This has to be a first: the dramatisation of the career of the committed chairman of an Irish soccer club, in this case Ollie Byrne of Shelbourne FC. The actor and comedian Gary Cooke's solo show, written by Gary Brown, brings to life not only Byrne's dynamic, ebullient character but also the passionate nature of football devotees. Joe O'Byrne directs. [ Ollie Byrne: 'I have invested in shares and I have done well, but also not so well' Opens in new window ] Book it this week Hibernacle at Orlagh House, Dublin, July 4th-6th, Beth Orton & Sam Amidon, Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, July 16th and 17th, Barbara Knézevič, Sirius Arts Centre, Cobh, Co Cork, October 4th-December 20th, Miss Saigon, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin, January 13th-17th,
