Growing up in Halifax and Antigonish, Allan picked up the music at home. There was no formal training of any sort, but many folks would drop by the house for tunes. Allan learned by ear and he attended every concert, dance and house party he could. For many years he toured with several well-known Cape Breton artists but these days, Allan mostly accompanies local fiddlers at dances, concerts and ceilidhs and will be performing with Shelly Campbell, Shelly Campbell and Andrea Beaton, and Troy MacGillivray and Brennan MacDonald during this year’s Festival.