PHOTOS

BIO

Rose Morrison is an artist who embodies the roar of the sea with a pure and delicate voice, captivating audiences for nearly 25 years as a professional musician. Hailing from Baddeck, Nova Scotia, Canada, this versatile fiddler has carved out an impressive career, collaborating with luminaries such as Oscar and Grammy Award winner Glen Hansard, Irish folk legend Breanndán O Beaglaoich (Breanndán Begley), and celebrated Scottish-Canadian tenor John McDermott. She has graced the stage of Carnegie Hall twice, most recently in March 2024 for a tribute to Sinéad O’Connor and Shane MacGowan. Rose has also recorded three albums, toured extensively across North America, Europe, and Japan with the Cottars, and won three East Coast Music Awards.

Her latest album, The River She Knows, marks a significant evolution in her artistry, reflecting a newfound connection to her Cape Breton roots after living away for over a decade. While Rose has long been recognized for her fierce, untamed fiddle playing, she has also been quietly writing songs for years, though rarely performing them. This album showcases her as a songwriter, a role she embraced with the encouragement of award-winning singer-songwriter and producer Dave Gunning, who collaborated with her starting in November 2021. The first song they worked on, “Let Our Love,” a simple yet powerful ode to enduring love, was released as a single in February 2022 to popular and critical acclaim.

The River She Knows features nine songs and one tune that Rose wrote or co-wrote over four years. The album reveals her emerging as a poignant and insightful songwriter, exploring themes of connection—to the river, the land, people, love, and ultimately, herself. The river she knows—Peter’s Brook—serves as a central metaphor for these connections.

This is Rose’s third solo album, following her 2010 debut The MacKenzie Project and Atlantic, which won the 2018 East Coast Music Award for Instrumental Recording of the Year. Additionally, she is set to release a duo album in the fall with frequent collaborator Breanndán O Beaglaoich. The pair met in Ireland in 2017, bonding over their shared love of music and the sea. Their collaboration includes a project for the Celtic Colours International Festival, Voices of the Naomhóg, which blends traditional Irish boat-building with music, Gaelic song, and dance.

Beyond her recording and performing career, Rose has served as Artistic Director of the Little Church in Big Baddeck concert series at the Vicar’s View venue for the past three years. This popular series showcases international artists in a quaint, intimate setting beside the Baddeck River, a place where Rose feels a deep ancestral connection.

Rose Morrison continues to enchant audiences with her rich musical heritage, deeply rooted in the natural beauty of Cape Breton and enriched by her diverse global experiences.