Ross & MacKenzie
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Music
Press
"Two of my favorite artists have tried their hand at a collection of Burns and have created one of the loveliest CDs I've ever heard. Ross Sutter and Laura MacKenzie have joined forces on this recording Ye Banks and Braes, Song and Music of Robert Burns and I'm so glad they did. Ross has a lovely strong voice and plays very solid guitar. Laura has a sweet voice which goes well with her sweet nature, plus she's a very talented multi-instrumentalist, holding forth on wooden flute, Scottish small pipes, Border half-long bagpipes, whistle and concertina. Ross is the creator of one of my favorite kid's CDs Mama Will You Buy Me a Banana. Kids love that CD, and it doesn't drive adults crazy either. Laura has a list of wonder CDs to her credit including The Pinery that she teamed up with Daithi Sproule to record. Together these two great artists have created a monument to Burns' genius. Their treatment is gentle and precise and just bloody lovely." - Jack Baker, Irish American News - Irish American News
Discography
Ross and Laura together:
Ye Banks and Braes
Over the Water
Mama Will You Buy Me a Banana?
Hear select pieces at: http://www.rossandmackenzie.com/music/3481
Solo albums by Laura:
Laura and the Lads
Evidence
Photos
Bio
Biography
Well known for his exceptional baritone voice, Ross Sutter is superb singer of traditional song. He plays an impressive collection of instruments (dulcimers, button accordion, bones, guitar) and is a dynamite player of the Irish bodhran. His thirty years of experience performing and teaching Irish and Scottish music in schools guides their appearances on the children's stages.
A Bush Foundation Performing Arts Fellow, Laura MacKenzie has been well-honored in the world of traditional music, performing on a dazzling array of wind-powered instruments (flutes, whistles, pipes, concertina). She is also a fine singer, and her duet vocals with Ross are especially captivating.
Ross & MacKenzie have been performing together for aeons, appearing at festivals and concert halls as well as schools and community centers. Their musical chemistry is an amalgam of the warmth, humor and understanding gained through many years in traditional music.
They have performed at the Dublin Irish Festival, Winnipeg Folk Festival, Milwaukee Irish Fest, the Celtic Festival of Fargo/Moorhead, the Northeast South Dakota Celtic Faire and they have been mainstay performers at the Irish Fair of Minnesota, the Minnesota Scottish Fair and the Scottish Ramble as well as numerous other festivals, fairs and concert halls, presenting the balladry of Ireland and Scotland, songs of Robert Burns, and dance tunes of the Scottish and Irish countrysides.
Ross and Laura also offer a wide variety of workshops including demonstrations of all things wind powered, hands on pizza box bodhran lessons, song games, and all kinds of singing workshops.
Ross and Laura have performed at the Milwaukee Irish Fest many years back in the 1990s and eager to return.
When joined by sean nós dancer/fiddler Danielle Enblom extraordinaire, they become Northern Gael, a powerful blast of traditional music and dance! Danielle is a marvel with children and can get an audience of 300 kids up on their feet and learning old style Irish steps in no time at all.
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