Esteemed Cape Breton singer-songwriter Buddy MacDonald has been entertaining audiences for more than 45 years. The 2022 East Coast Music Association (ECMA) Stompin’ Tom Award-winner was exposed at an early age to the singing and storytelling of some of the great singers of his native Island. Much of his songwriting is still influenced by this style that he was so familiar with as a young boy on the North Shore, and his songs have been performed and recorded by artists around the world. Buddy has entertained audiences throughout Canada, the United States, Germany, Scotland and the Scandinavian countries, performing as a solo act and in different combinations with other musicians from Cape Breton including Natalie MacMaster, Howie MacDonald, Ashley MacIsaac, Dave MacIsaac, and John Allan Cameron among many others. Buddy was host of the late-night Festival Club at Celtic Colours from 1997-2022 and has performed all over the Island with musicians from both sides of the Atlantic including Scotland’s Dougie MacLean and Archie Fisher, and Ireland’s Tommy Makem and Michael Black. Buddy’s iconic song, “Getting Dark Again”, was inducted into the Cape Breton Music Industry Hall of Fame in 2023. Whether in a small country hall, pub, festival or concert theatre, Buddy’s love of writing, singing and entertaining comes across to bridge the gap between performer and listener.