Music of Nova Scotia
After the defeat of the French and prior expulsion of the Acadians, settlers of English, Irish, Scottish and African descent began arriving on the shores of Nova Scotia.
It was during this time that a large African Nova Scotian community took root, populated by freed slaves and Black Loyalists and their families, who had fought for the Crown in exchange for land.
There is also a strong folk music culture, including Stan Rogers, who was born in Ontario to a Nova Scotian family, and sang ballads of seagoing Maritimers, though again little reflecting the area's Scottish traditions.
Scottish traditional music has remained vibrant throughout the province into the 21st century, most notably in the northern region and Cape Breton, and has produced several performers of international renown.
A prime example of this is Cape Breton's Rita MacNeil, a mainstream singer whose music combined country/folk with the Scottish culture around her, including recording her show Celtic Fantasy.
The province is the heart of two vibrant and popular styles of Celtic music and dance derived from the influence of its Highland Scottish settlement.
More recent performers with a Celtic sound in their music include the pop crooning of Sarah McLachlan from Halifax, Mary Jane Lamond and flautist Chris Norman.
The annual Halifax Celtic Festival often includes several Irish musicians, and Irish-themed pubs with live music are common throughout the province.
Hank Snow, born and raised in Brooklyn, Queen's County, Nova Scotia, was signed to RCA Records in 1936, but became famous in 1950 when he was invited to appear at the Grand Ole Opry.
Portia White of Truro, Nova Scotia, one of the greatest contralto voices in the history of Canadian classical music, made her stage debut in 1941.
Eddy made his debut in 1953 performing for the Halifax Coloured Citizens Improvement League at the Odeon Theatre with a revised upbeat country sound.
In 1966 The Men of the Deeps, the coal miners of Cape Breton began, and tour all over North America to this day The pop and country sounds of the 1970s were exemplified by Springhill, Nova Scotia native Anne Murray and her Haligonian producer Brian Ahern.
Both the punk and new wave movements found fertile ground in Halifax, the latter producing a band whose lead singer, Sarah McLachlan, would be snapped up in the 1980s and moved to Vancouver, to later become a huge international star.
This was followed by the Halifax music explosion of the 1990s, which saw bands such as Sloan, Eric's Trip, Jale, Thrush Hermit and Newfoundland émigrés The Hardship Post obtain international recognition and recording deals with labels such as DGC and Sub Pop.
Though the initial excitement generated during this time has abated, Nova Scotia remains at the forefront of the internationally successful Canadian music wave, with artists who came out of that era, such as Joel Plaskett, and hip hop hero Buck 65 continuing to gain worldwide respect and attention.
While historically isolated from the Toronto-centric Canadian hip hop scene, Nova Scotia has an increasing number of nationally known acts.
