The Hildaland duo of fiddler Louise Bichan and mandolinist Ethan Setiawan will travel to Qualicum Beach to play their unique fusion of the Appalachian and Scottish musical traditions.
The concert at the Rotary House on April 10 will be the band's first in Canada, although Bichan has visited the Island several times to visit her relatives.
Hildaland's music blends old-time, Scottish and bluegrass and is influenced by “both sides of the pond”.
“It’s some old traditional tunes and some of our own melodies as well,” said Bichan, who grew up on Orkney, an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland.
She met Setiawan, originally from Indiana, while the two attended the Berklee College of Music.
They released their debut full-length album, Sule Skerry, in 2023. The title track 'The Selkie of Sule Skerry' is based on an old folk tale about mythical shape-shifting creatures called selkies, which appear as seals underwater, but remove their seal skins and become humans when on land.
The band's name is also drawn from Orkney folk tales and translates to "hidden island", a reference to the selkies' home, Bichan said.
“The story goes that an Orkney farmer had his wife stolen away by one of the selkie men," she said. "And then he took revenge and figured out how to see Hildaland and sort of liberate it from the selkie people.”
Hildaland's songs are about half instrumental, with the other half including lyrics, she said, and added the duo favoured instrumental pieces in the early days.
Bichan has won awards for her compositions and playing, and has travelled far and wide to perform in various line ups since a young age. She started fiddling at around the age of seven years old, after she saw a child playing a fiddle on the school playground.
“I became pretty obsessed. I wanted to learn."
While in school, she used to ask her teacher permission to go for a drink at the water fountain, but would head to the nearby fiddle lesson room instead.
“The teacher would have to come and fetch me because my ear would be to the door listening," Bichan said.
She has appeared at the likes of the BBC TV's Hogmanay Live show, Edinburgh Castle, Reading Festival and Cambridge Folk Festival.
Setiawan has won accolades such as the 2014 National Mandolin Championship and the 2017 RockyGrass Mandolin Championship.
The show will be opened by the Oceanside Jammers. The Rotary House is located at 211 Fern Rd. W.
The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $30 and can be purchased through e-transfer to jabeaton@gmail.com.
