Rachel Davis and Darren McMullen to perform at collaborative Avondale and Goderich Celtic Roots College and Festival concert

The Cape Breton Celtic duo Rachel Davis and Darren McMullen are performing at Avondale United Church Aug. 10.

By: Emily Stewart

Avondale United Church, in collaboration with the Goderich Celtic Roots College and Festival, will be bringing East Coast tunes to Perth County.

Cape Breton Celtic duo Rachel Davis and Darren McMullen will grace the Avondale stage on Aug. 10 starting at 7 p.m as part of the Cape Breton Music Concert. The duo combines vocals, banjo, fiddle and guitar to bring the Celtic sounds of Cape Breton to entertain audiences. Their debut album Home won the 2024 Music Nova Scotia Award.

"Not only are they tremendous musicians, but they are the nicest people I think I ever met and just great teachers,” said Dave Bates, member of Avondale’s music series planning team and board member of the Goderich Celtic Roots College and Festival.

The church’s music series planning team is also collaborating with the Goderich Celtic Roots College and Festival, where Davis and McMullen are performing and teaching. The musicians will have just finished performing in Goderich before heading over to Avondale.

The Goderich Celtic Roots College and Festival, which has more than 5,000 attending annually, began in 1993 as a day of music to honour a local teacher who passed away. Goderich is presenting Rural Roots events outside of the festival, mostly in Huron County but Avondale was able to get a show in for Perth County.

"We are coming together with Goderich to make this happen,” Bates said.

Terri Sparling, member of the Avondale music series planning team, is thrilled with the collaboration.

“Most of us are soloing on our events, you know, doing it on our own and so the opportunity to partner with such a fabulous and well known and well-respected festival and college as is the Goderich (Celtic Roots) College and Festival is just such an honour and to think we may be hosting the first of their Rural Roots opportunity is pretty cool,” Sparling said.

There’s been lots of excitement over the Cape Breton Music Concert, with tickets in demand before a poster was even created.

"A couple of people I've talked to have been interested in coming because they've been to Nova Scotia for vacation and they've had a little taste of it, and they think it's very cool that it's coming to their own communities,” said Bates.

Aleah Graff, community engagement coordinator and staff support for the music series planning team, is also looking forward to the concert and future opportunities from it.

“I hope that by hosting this group, we're able to expose ourselves to more of the Stratford and area community and even people outside of Stratford and within Canada at large,” she said.

Tickets are $20 each and can either be purchased online via Ticketscene (https://ticketscene.ca/events/64063/) or by calling the Avondale church office 519-271-7946 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.