Brad Reid’s boot stomps as his fiddle sounds its Cape Breton heritage. It’s a high-top leather boot he bought touring Russia with Cirque du Soleil, where he played clarinet, sax, and guitar — while skating. Reid thought he’d landed his dream job — good pay, challenging music, traveling the world.
NEW Scotland is Reid’s latest album, a musical tapas with a foundation of Cape Breton fiddle featuring flavors from across genres and lands — Latin influences with congas, classical, and jazz elements, even going into hip hop and more urban territory. “There’s definitely foot-stompin’ Cape Breton excitement,” says Reid.
“There are also ambient, goosebump moments and some ‘fiddle meet Dr. Dre’ tunes where you might wanna get the subwoofer goin’ in the Toyota Corolla, rollin’ downtown, shootin’ the drag.” NEW Scotland leads listeners through a broad range of emotional landscapes, but, ultimately, leads to hope.
Brad Reid plans to follow up NEW Scotland with more music and performances. Stay tuned for more! Take a listen to Brad Reid’s NEW Scotland on Spotify or wherever you listen to music. Want to learn more about Brad? Check out our exclusive interview.