By JARED WEBBER
A full audience at the Provo Tabernacle clapped to the sound of stirring Celtic music Monday night.
Two families, the Davis and the Bigneys each took a turn to entertain the audience with traditional folk music. The Davis family music group, who label themselves Fiddlesticks, opened for Kirkmount, three young brothers who play Scottish and Irish jigs.
“It’s a traditional trio,” said Simon, the youngest of the brothers. He is 12 years old, and has been playing the cello for three years. The other brothers are Alex, 16, who plays the harp and Sam, 14, who plays the fiddle.
“We had not the intention of starting a group, it just worked out,” said Sam, who wrote many of the pieces they played Monday night.
The three became interested in Celtic music when they attended a Celtic music camp with their grandfather, a fiddler from Nova Scotia.
“Sam really took to it,” said Marilyn Bigney, mother of the boys. “Actually, they played classical music before that.”
With the influence of their grandfather, the boys learned how to play with some of the greatest names in Celtic music. After this training the boys began to practice and refine their new-found passion.
“It’s interesting to me, it’s our heritage; our great grandfather played it, our grandfather helped us to get into it,” Sam said.
The boys’ mother is proud of the fact that they are preserving part of their family history. The brothers’ great-great grandfather played once on the rural, isolated island of Cape Breton.
“The boys are living tradition, preserving genealogy,” Marilyn said.
This Saturday, the Kirkmont will be heard live on KUER 90.1 at 5 p.m and again Sunday at 3 p.m.
Much of the music on Kirkmount’s CD, “Late Summer Air” was written by Sam, who has titled many of the pieces from familiar events that sparked the song.
“Names come out of the head, I name them after people (and even) dogs,” said Sam.
“My friend Angus,” is about his dog and “Aunt Vera’s Tea Kettle” is about one of Sam’s relatives.
The boys are locals from Woodland Hills. They spend between six and eight hours practicing each day. They spend part of their day at school taking AP classes and use the rest of the day in home school.
