Lisa MacIsaac is originally from Cape Breton and Brenley MacEachern from a small Scottish town in Ontario. They began singing and eventually writing together after a chance meeting at an open session in Toronto. I was anxious to meet them, but was quite surprised when I was paged to meet "Rock Mohammed" at the front desk. The burly Rock turned out to be the group's driver. He appeared to be a little out of place, and soon admitted that this was a new job. I assured him that the Folk Alley team was harmless, and that I would personally see to it that the band would have a blast. He relaxed.
In the studio, MacIsaac asked me how far we were from the Cleveland Playhouse. It turns out that she had performed there in a national touring musical tribute to The Mamas and the Papas, playing the part of Michelle Phillips. The revue was directed by John Phillips, an original Papa, who happened to have seen MacIsaac sing and called her out of the blue.
MacEachern then asked me how far we were from Chardon, Ohio. I thought that was strange, as it's my hometown. "I was married to a guy from there," she told me. It turns out I know the family; it is a small world.
During the interview, the two talked about writing styles on their latest album, No Fool for Trying; Lisa MacIsaac's initial fear of singing (she was a fiddler first); and how Adrian Lawryshyn, their quiet bass player, is an equal part of the trio.
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