Tonight’s venue is a unique one. The Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site in Baddeck honours the legacy of its namesake, inventor Alexander Graham Bell, who just happened to be a great lover of music and a fine piano player as well. After travelling the world, he chose to live with his wife Mabel on Cape Breton Island. While he is famously quoted describing the island’s beauty as unrivalled, surely it wasn’t just the scenery that compelled him to have Beinn Bhreagh Hall built across Baddeck Bay overlooking the village—we think the music might have had something to do with it, too. The Bells lived on the island during a formative time for Cape Breton’s traditional music and tonight’s concert features some homegrown music that can trace its roots back to those days, when waves of Gaelic-speaking Scottish immigrants established themselves in Inverness County. That’s where Heather Rankin grew up, surrounded by Gaelic Scottish culture in Mabou. With her siblings in the award-winning, chart-topping band The Rankin Family, the singer and step dancer performed around the world in concert and on television, popularizing the Gaelic-influenced music of her community, and helping to create an environment for traditional Cape Breton music to thrive. Heather takes the stage tonight with the sublime accompaniment of Jamie Robinson on guitar and Mairi Rankin on fiddle. This music’s influence can also be felt with Kevin Henderson and Neil Pearlman. Neil grew up in a musical family in Maine, USA, immersed in Scottish and Cape Breton music and dance and his piano playing is rooted in the traditional Cape Breton style. Neil adds elements of jazz, syncopation, and unexpected chord progressions to this base, stretching traditional boundaries that allow Kevin’s traditional fiddle lines to twist and turn into fresh, unpredictable spaces. Their combined sound is fiery yet precise, moving from heart-wrenching airs to sparkling reels in the blink of an eye.