The Ross Family Press Release and Reviews
Read what the press are saying.
What: The Ross Family Ceilidh
Where: Stanley Bridge Hall (Women’s Institute operated). This charming, yet modernized rural hall is located near Cavendish at the crossroads of Rt. 6 & Rt. 224, adjacent to the Shell station.
When: Shows will take place every Monday & Wednesday, 7:30 p.m., from July 5 to September 15, 2010. Admission at the door only and is $12 per person/$8 per child 12 & under. Resulting smiles are free! Strawberries & ice-cream are offered at intermission and shows are approximately two hours in length.
Contact: Tel: (866) 298-8244 toll free
Email: rossfamily@pei.sympatico.ca
Who: The Ross Family is a young brother-sister foursome comprised of: Danielle (vocal/fiddle/dance); Stephanie (vocal/guitar/dance); Jonathan (host/keyboards); & Alex (drums/dance). Their mother, Dorothy (Arsenault) Ross joins them as guest step-dancer each night.
Background: The Ross Family has been performing in public since the late 1990’s. Some local festivals & events they were featured performers at repeatedly over the years include: Charlottetown Festival – Confederation Centre of the Arts; Rendez-vous Rustico; P.E.I. International Shellfish Festival; Abram’s Village Agricultural & Acadian Festival; ’Close to the Ground’ Concert Series; Le Festival acadien de Caraquet, N.B.; and others including numerous performances in Quebec.
The group performed at the 2007 Music P.E.I. Awards Gala held at the Confederation Centre of the Arts, where they also received a nomination in the Roots/Traditional category.
Also in 2007, the Ross Family released their debut CD, Island Feet, produced by Jon Matthews at Big Grey Studio. In addition to its old-tyme content, the 15-track recording features songs penned by Jonathan and fiddle tunes composed by Danielle.
The Ross Family Ceilidh: 2006 marked the first year for the bilingual Ross Family Ceilidh in Stanley Bridge, P.E.I. That year, the shows ran one night a week during July & August only. For the 2007 season, the show expanded to two nights per week starting in late June and running into mid-September. This was repeated in 2008 and 2009. This formula having proven successful, the 2010 season will continue with this trend.
Show description: Having musical parents of Scottish descent (Ross) and Acadian descent (Arsenault), the Ross Family is known for maintaining a hybrid of these distinct heritages, as well as acknowledging general P.E.I. themes, in their performances. The Ross Family Ceilidh offers a variety of approaches to keep things interesting and keep both local and out-of-province customers returning time and again!
Audiences can expect to hear and see pro synchronized step-dancing, toe-tapping fiddle tunes, upbeat traditional and original folk songs sung in French and English, with no shortage of humourous stories in between!! Throw in the down-home feeling the hall’s atmosphere immediately provides, and as the guest book often indicates, presented is a unique and enriching show, with tourists sometimes even citing it as the “highlight of their vacation!”
As Jonathan sums it up, "Our favourite aspect of presenting the Ross Family Ceilidh, and performing in general, is having the chance to do what we love for an appreciative audience and, more precisely, touching people while doing it."
Press Reviews
Ross Family Plays Together, Stays Altogether Great
December 6, 2007 - Cairns Media Magazine Review by Jay Scott Kanes
Enjoying a great ceilidh in "the hub of the universe"
August 29, 2008 - The Guardian Review by Todd MacLean
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