Canadian legend James Keelaghan to tour in Maine

New England Celtic Arts in partnership with The Franco American Heritage Center will present the award-winning Canadian legend James Keelaghan at The Franco American Heritage Center in Lewiston on Tuesday, Nov. 16; at Skye Theatre Performing Arts Center in South Carthage, on Wednesday, Nov. 17; and at Unity College Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday, Nov. 18. Curtain is at 7 p.m. at FAHC and Skye and 7:30 p.m. in Unity. There is a pre-show jam session 45 minutes prior to curtain at Skye and Unity. Audience members are encouraged to bring their instruments and jam with the artists for a few minutes.

Called Canada’s finest singer-songwriter by one of the most respected music journalists of the last 50 years, James Keelaghan is an artist who has proven to be a man for all seasons. His masterful story telling has, over the course of eleven recordings, been part of the bedrock of his success, earning Keelaghan nominations and awards – including a Juno (Canada’s Grammy) – and acclaim from Australia to Scandinavia.

Possessed of an insatiable appetite for finding the next unique story line, Keelaghan forges his pieces with brilliant craftsmanship and monogrammed artistic vision, making him one of the most distinctive and readily identifiable voices on both the Canadian and international singer-songwriter scenes. 



His journey has attracted fans of literate and layered songwriting to join him on his artistic expeditions, some of which weave their way through marvelously etched historical stories with underlying universal themes, others of which mine the depths of the soul and the emotional trails of human relations.

“I’ve always had the urge to write,” says the Calgary native who has been calling Winnipeg home for the past few years. “Some things weren’t being said in the way I wanted to say them, something were not being written about at all. That’s why I started to write the historical material. That led me to writing my own personal narratives as well.”

Keelaghan is a disciplined visionary with several aces up his sleeve. He loves language and history, a subject in which he earned a degree; he is a skilled thespian, which explains his ability to make an immediate connection with a live audience; and he has an ear for memorable melodies and harmonies that make those melodies glisten.

Says Keelaghan, “I’m good for 80 or so books a year, mostly history and non-fiction, but inspiration can come in many forms. I’m always on the lookout for a good story or idea. My sister told me the story that became Kiri’s Piano, a song that visits a dark chapter in Canadian history: Japanese interment camps in the second World War. The image of someone sacrificing their prized possession in order to maintain their dignity was too powerful to ignore.”


Not only does Keelaghan lay claim to a deep catalogue of timeless originals like Kiri’s Piano, Fires of Calais, Cold Missouri Waters, Jenny Bryce, and Hillcrest Mine, he is also a possessive interpreter of outside material, a fine example being his gripping take on Gordon Lightfoot’s epic Canadian Railroad Trilogy from the Lighfoot tribute disc Beautiful. There are also a number of illustrations of his interpretive skills on his 2006 recording A Few Simple Verses, an homage to his roots in traditional music.

The closing tune on that spellbinding set, My Blood, written with Jez Lowe, is one of many examples from Keelaghan’s career of his inviting collaboration into his creative process.



Admiration and respect for his work amongst his peers is reflected in the words of David Francey who recently stated that “James Keelaghan is a voice in contemporary Canadian songwriting that has helped us define who we are as a people. He writes with great humanity and honesty, with an eye to the past and a vision of the future. He has chronicled his times with powerful and abiding songs, with heart and eyes wide open.”

It was Dave Marsh, the award-winning American music critic and historian who not so long ago stated that James Keelaghan is “Canada’s finest songwriter.” Those few but powerful words of praise say it all about an artist who continues to set the bar at a lofty height.



James 11th CD, House of Cards was released on Oct. 12, 2009 by Borealis records. Ten new originals, some of them co-writes with such folk luminaries as David Francey, Karine Polwart and Rose Cousins make it one of his best yet.

The Franco American Heritage Center is located on 46 Cedar Street in Lewiston. Skye Theater is located 3 miles West of East Dixfield village at 2 Highland Drive off Winter Hill Rd and US RT. 2 in South Carthage. UCCPA is at 42 Depot Street in Unity. For reservations at the theater you wish to attend call: FAHC at (207)-689-2000, Skye Theatre at (207) 562-4445, or UCCPA at (207) 948-7469. Tickets are $12 at FAHC and $10 at Skye and Unity. More information is available at: www.necelticarts.com