Irish Millie and Gustavo In Picton

 

Irish Millie is nineteen and she comes from Peterborough and that's all she has to say about that as she settles down into a sunset show at Waring House, the popular Picton inn. She is quiet about her awards and nominations and her 2026 selection as the North2North Breakthrough Artist, which led to her representing Canada at Lilla By Festivalen in Sweden. Although there is a jazz festival incursion going on downtown, the showroom by the roundabout is full of roots fiddle aficionados and fans of the internationally burgeoning artist who is on the verge of a new degree of fame with an album of new original tunes due at the end of August.

 She has set up her floor pedal array, and adjusted it with the tip of her bow, and tuned her fiddle quietly as her accompanist for the evening, the accomplished Brazilian guitarist and singer Gustavo Fofão, has set up the P.A speaker tower and gone over a few complicated passages on his guitar. She mentions that she has played in Picton before, but always with her Dad on guitar. As the performance begins, her solo fiddle infiltrates the dining room din with a playful rococco curvature.

 

Eyes and ears are drawn to her spotlit form and caught in the flares of her peach-and-rhubarb aura,  embellished by a flowery summer dress and some simple gold earrings. As the acute momentum of the music takes hold, the heel of her right black boot stomps down on a device that generates a catalyzing dancehall thump, to which the room will be pulsing for the rest of the evening.  

Gustavo offers surging flourishes of rhythm as Millie calls out key changes, racing through medleys of jigs and reels "some of which I don't even know the names of", touching down on a Leahy tune and an original ballad, all with virtuosic expertise. She spangles the proceedings with toe taps on another electronic box that brings a tambourine backbeat into occasional play, and she generously provides plenty of room for Gustavo's heartfelt vocals on his own repertoire, to which she contributes an enthusiastically empathetic harmony blend.

      photo by David Hynes

Through the intense muscular effort and elbow grease, and the natural creative synchronicity of the two artists, the performance level remains high throughout three sets of emotionally immediate love songs, breakneck instrumentals, and even a sea shanty from Gustavo.Their energy contributes a levitating effect to the already inspirational twilight dazzle of mid-August, but only a few waitresses actually capitulate to the rhythm, dancing a few steps as they cross the room with their trays. 

Her new album is to be called Can You See Me? Gustavo is featured on one song called Joel's Tune, the only instrumental song on the record. It's out right now on Bandcamp if you want to hear it, and it will be released on all streaming platforms on August 27th. In terms of future plans, people can find Irish Millie's shows and schedule on her website at www.irishmillie.ca 

In addition to that she will be heading back to school for her third year at the University of Toronto in September. She is studying Music Industry and Technology.

As Irish Millie morphs on into the next level of her musical calling, she will only become more widely appreciated and take on bigger venues and career opportunities. I'm already wishing I had danced.