Cape Breton loses pillar of Scottish music tradition

A Cape Breton musician is being remembered as someone who dedicated his life to preserving the island's traditional Scottish music while encouraging others to do the same.

Doug MacPhee, or Dougie, as he was affectionately known, died on Wednesday morning at the age of 85. 

A pianist who was both an accompanist and soloist, MacPhee was inducted into the Order of Canada in 2008 for his musical prowess and contributions to preserving Cape Breton's culture.

A native of New Waterford, N.S., MacPhee was taught to play the piano by his mother, while his grandfather was a champion fiddle player. 

Chris McDonald, an ethnomusicologist who teaches music theory at Cape Breton University, has documented MacPhee for a book about Cape Breton's keyboard players.

Career as recording artist

"When he was a very small child his mother would have all kinds of fiddlers over — it was a real hot spot for music," said McDonald. "He started to notice the piano is the one constant and it pulls everything together."

Around age 12, MacPhee suddenly began playing, much to the surprise of his mother who was in another room. Within a year, McDonald said MacPhee was performing at community picnics. 

Throughout his musical career, MacPhee released six solo recordings and recorded accompaniment on over 60 albums that included performances by Cape Breton fiddle legends such as Buddy MacMaster, Donald MacLellan, Johnny Wilmot and Carl MacKenzie. 

MacDonald said a distinctive feature of MacPhee's music was his ability to emulate Cape Breton fiddle sounds on the piano. 

WATCH: Doug MacPhee's piano solo at Cape Breton's Gaelic College in 2018:

"He wasn't just trying to play out the tunes … It was almost like he wanted to be a fiddler, but also wanted to be a pianist, so he was able to merge the two things very closely."

During this year's Celtic Colours International Music Festival in October, MacPhee was a featured artist at a concert honouring 50 years of CBC Cape Breton's Saturday evening radio program Island Echoes which pays homage to the island's traditional sounds. MacPhee was given thunderous applause as he took the stage to explain how he carved out his own sound. 

"I'm always influenced by a tune I'll hear on a fiddle," MacPhee told the crowd. "The way that they're playing it on the fiddle, I try to imitate it on the piano that way. And that's my style."

Created musical archive

For 25 years, MacPhee worked at the Beaton Institute at Cape Breton University, where he initiated a landmark archive of the island's musical history.

Richard MacKinnon, CBU vice-president academic, grew up in New Waterford where MacPhee was revered as a hometown hero who had toured across Canada and the United States. 

"He would listen to old archival tapes and know who the musician was by listening to how the person played," said MacKinnon. "I don't know if there's anyone else on the island who would have the depth of encyclopedic knowledge of the Cape Breton music tradition."

MacKinnon said younger musicians are now listening and learning from MacPhee's piano style.

Fiddler and piano player Howie MacDonald said MacPhee was a friend and mentor who took risks when he was playing. 

"He would tackle anything on the piano. It didn't matter what key. It didn't matter how difficult the piece was. Dougie would tackle it and they would play it live. Sometimes he would record it, you know, just amazing control over the keyboards. And he was an inspiration to myself."

In May 2021, MacPhee was given an honourary doctor of letters from CBU for his musical accomplishments. At that time, he was also praised for his work in supporting both Celtic Colours and the Gaelic College in St. Anne's.

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