With great sadness, we announce the passing of Brian Pickell on February 25, 2025.
Details about a celebration of life will be shared soon. Condolences and connections can be sent to condolences@brianpickell.com.
[2025-03-10]
About
Brian Pickell has been playing and composing traditional music for over thirty-five years. In the 1970s, he was a founding member of the Humber River Valley Boys who played from Atlantic to Pacific and produced three vinyl albums. They played all of the major Folk and Bluegrass festivals.
In the early 1980s, due to a repetitive strain injury, he returned to photography for a living and spent several years shooting for the Toronto Star. He has several books to his credit, including the Official Hockey Canada History of the legendary 1972 Russia Canada Series and two full colour books with Grit Laskin on the World of Instrument Making.
Brian returned to professional music in the late '80s with the Dawnbreakers and Ian Bell. You may have heard them on CBC as the Vinyl Cafe Orchestra with Stuart Maclean. They have produced three CDs. Brian began performing with the Pierre Schryer Band in 1994 and has toured widely in Canada, the U.S. and overseas and produced two CDs. He also performs with other musical entities and has recorded with artists such as Sneezy Waters, Grit Laskin, Oliver Schroer and the Schryer Triplets.
For several years, Brian has been involved with the teaching of composition, guitar and mandolin at venues such as the Goderich Celtic Roots Festival, Northwest Fiddlefest in Smithers, British Columbia, and AlgomaTrad Music & Dance Family Camp.
In 2002, with Canada Council support, he produced a CD of his own compositions, played by an all-star cast of Ontario Fiddlers and other musicians. The contact with these players and the popularity of the tunes led to the formation of the Brian Pickell Band and also the creation of a book of musical notation of 51 of his tunes.
In the spring of 2005, The Brian Pickell Band launched a new CD featuring many more original compositions. It is full of superb virtuoso and ensemble playing.
During this entire period, Brian has been composing many tunes and sharing them with other musicians and performers. His tunes are featured on the albums of many performers worldwide, including these artists: Sandy Stanage (Scotland), Deaf Shepherd (Scotland), Tony McManus (Scotland), Liz Doherty (Ireland), Patrick Orceau (France/USA), Gretchen Koehler (USA), Halali Fiddle Band (USA), and Canadians Nicholas Williams, Pierre Schryer, The Schryer Triplets, Allison Lupton, and Oliver Schroer.
Brian's Music
The tunes and songs echoed across oceans.
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The Brian Pickell Band
James Stephens
Julie Schryer
Pat O'Gorman
Shane Cook
Pulled together by the magnetic, globe-trotting compositions of Brian Pickell and a love of traditional music, the group is both stunningly musical and energizing to listen to. The band combines the talents of Shane Cook; (multiple winner of the Canadian and Grand Masters Fiddle Contests and the American Grand National); renowned Ottawa multi-instrumentalist James Stephens on fiddle, mandolin and viola; and Pat O'Gorman, an admired mainstay of the Canadian music scene, on flute, whistles and pipes. Julie Schryer is widely considered to be one of the finest piano accompanists in Canada, and Brian is an accomplished composer, guitarist, and banjo and mandolin player. Together, they are a musical force of nature.
Brian's compositions are now being played and recorded widely: Deaf Shepherd (Scotland), Tony McManus, arguably the greatest guitarist in Celtic music (Scotland), Liz Doherty (Ireland), The Halali Fiddle Band (USA), Oliver Schroer (Canada), Nicholas Williams (Canada), Pierre Schryer (Canada) and numerous others. They are clearly fresh sounding, yet very friendly to old-time and traditional music.
The material ranges from driving and raucous to warm and lyrical. Although all the players possess impressive individual skills, this effort is very much about the great joy of playing together.
More
Never boring, seldom predictable, the melodies are interesting but not so bizarre that they are not also singable.
Sherry Johnson
Canadian Folk Music/
Musique folklorique canadienne
I have long been an admirer of Brian's tunes, as they manage to be contemporary, but to fit so seamlessly into the fabric of traditional music.
Warren Robinson
Artistic Director, Celtic Roots Festival
Brian Pickell and his band are at the vanguard of a new living tradition. Brian's original melodies have been instantly embraced by musicians both on the concert stage and in the kitchen. These tunes now rest easily with the traditional favourites on both sides of the ocean.
Ian Bell
Artistic Director, Marine Heritage Festival
Contact
For all inquiries, or just to say hi, contact brian dot pickell at sympatico dot ca.