Fiddles on Fire with The Morgan Toney Trio and Shannon Johnson

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What's Happening

This event is part of the Plaza Series. New in 2025:

• Bring your own chair or seat.
• Grab a spot as early as 6:30 p.m.; all shows start at 7 p.m.
• No tickets required.
• Beverages/snacks for purchase in the pay-to-enter licensed area.
  $10 entry (includes one alcoholic beverage)
  $6 entry (includes one non-alcoholic beverage and snack)

Celtic, East Coast and Mi’kmaq music with The Morgan Toney Trio (Cape Breton) and Shannon Johnson with Jeremiah McDade (Alberta). 

The Morgan Toney Trio
The Mi’kmaw were likely the first people that European explorer John Cabot met in 1497 on the East Coast of what would come to be Atlantic Canada. That legacy of welcome, of bridging two worlds, lives on in the songs and fiddling of Cape Breton’s breakout roots artist Morgan Toney. With thousands of years of tradition behind him, Toney melds the Scottish heritage of this Nova Scotian island with Mi’kmaq songs, stories, and language in his genre of music, “Mi’kmaltic,” meaning Mi’kmaq + Celtic.

His new album, Heal the Divide (released on March 7th, 2025, with Indigenous label Ishkōdé Records), recognizes the difficult history the L’nuk (Mi’kmaq People) and all First Nations peoples have had in Canada, but it also celebrates the L’nu legacy in Canadian culture. It’s part of Toney’s larger vision to bring people together, to set our differences aside, and walk toward a place that Toney calls the “Promised Land”.

Morgan Toney proudly welcomes the rest of Canada and the world to L’nu traditions, as they contain many universal teachings.

He is joined by fellow musicians Keith Mullins on guitar, vocals, and percussion, and Ryan Roberts on mandolin and Vocals. Together, they have created a fusion of Culture, a Bridge between two Worlds, and a path ahead for Truth and Reconciliation.

Shannon Johnson
JUNO award-winning siblings Shannon Johnson and Jeremiah McDade have been playing music together their whole lives. Rooted in the Celtic tradition, their fiery performances capture all the energy of a down-home kitchen party. 

Shannon began performing professionally at the age of eight, wowing music fans and critics with her strong, pure playing, improvisational skills and sweet vocals. She has won classical violin and fiddling awards at national and international levels. 

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Bring your own chair or seat. Grab a spot as early as 6:30 p.m.; all shows start at 7 p.m. No tickets required. There will be a pay-to-enter licensed area where alcoholic beverages or snacks can be purchased. Tickets for the licensed area will be $10, including an alcoholic beverage, and $6, including a non-alcoholic beverage and snack.