The Cottars are a Canadian Celtic musical group from Cape Breton Island formed in 2000.
[2] The Cottars were founded in late 2000 when two sets of siblings, Ciarán MacGillivray and Fiona MacGillivray of Albert Bridge, Nova Scotia, joined with Rosie MacKenzie (then age 11) and Jimmy MacKenzie of Baddeck, Nova Scotia.
The disc, with their single, a cover of Tom Waits's "The Briar and the Rose", showcased John McDermott's vocals along with Fiona's in two duets.
[11] Some time later, the group started performing again under a new arrangement in which the MacKenzie siblings were replaced with fiddler Claire Pettit and guitarist Bruce Timmins.
The band released their fourth CD, Feast, in February 2010 on Rounder Records, which features the new members, Timmins and Pettit, in addition to the MacGillivray siblings.