Jerry Douglas News

Could the breakup of a group involving two sets of siblings be anything other than a soap opera?

Consider the tale of the Cottars from wind-swept Cape Breton in Nova Scotia -- the heartland of Scottish culture in Canada.

Among the cast of characters: four talented teen musicians; a folklorist father guiding the band's musical direction; and frustrated U.S.-based management struggling to keep two family factions together.

The plot line has the Cottars splitting within months of releasing their acclaimed Rounder Records debut, "Forerunner," and only weeks after a high-profile 23-date North American tour with the Chieftains.

It's a situation the band's exasperated manager, Pam McDermott, describes as "absolutely crazy."

The two sets of teenage siblings in the Cottars are vocalist Fiona MacGillivray, 16, and keyboardist/guitarist Ciaran MacGillivray, 18, plus fiddler Roseanne MacKenzie, 16, and guitarist Jimmy MacKenzie, 18. All grew up immersed in traditional Cape Breton music.

When they signed to Rounder in November 2005, label co-founder Ken Irwin predicted success for the Cottars, noting that the company had also signed roots-music artists Alison Krauss, Jerry Douglas and Mark O'Connor as teenagers.

Rounder first tapped Cape Breton's folk heritage in the 1970s, signing regional names like Buddy MacMaster and the Beaton Family. Cape Breton fiddler Natalie MacMaster is also signed to Rounder. The Cottars -- whose name derives from an archaic Scottish word for "peasant" -- were expected to surpass such acts' sales during their multi-album deal.

"We felt we had something with the Cottars," Irwin says. "For the most part, Celtic vocals have not gotten to a wider audience. We felt the Cottars were the group to do that.

BANDMATES 'DEVASTATED'

Such hopes were dashed when the MacGillivrays' mother, Beverly, notified McDermott by letter that the act was disbanding.

"The four kids have been unhappy in the last while," she wrote, adding that "for Ciaran and Fiona, any future this band could have is not inducement enough to endure any more antagonism or stress. We feel our responsibility here is as parents first -- and as band personnel second."

The move came as a blow to the MacKenzies. "Jimmy and I are devastated," Roseanne MacKenzie says. "We haven't been able to talk to Fiona or Ciaran. We are going to miss playing music with them."

McDermott, whose Boston-based McDermott Entertainment has managed the Cottars since 2002, says she and the label have been trying to halt the breakup since receiving MacGillivray's letter on April 24.

According to McDermott, nine months of bookings in North America, followed by European dates in 2007 and a 10-week Australian tour in 2008, had been planned. But the Cottars will complete only eight North American festival dates this summer before disbanding.

"What's wrong with this story?" McDermott says. "Six months ago, we were sitting at a conference room table celebrating signing with Rounder. Now, the MacGillivrays want the band to disband. Why would the MacGillivrays agree to sign with Rounder if this had been in the works?"

Beverly and Allister MacGillivray declined to comment, and the MacKenzies' parents could not be reached.

'LOSING CONTROL'

Once a child performer himself, Cape Breton-born Allister MacGillivray played in the 1960s and 1970s as a guitarist with Canadian/Irish act Ryan's Fancy and Irish duo Tommy Makem & Liam Clancy. In the 1980s, he returned to Cape Breton to concentrate on songwriting and writing books about the island's musical culture.

Insiders say the MacGillivrays controlled the day-to-day operations of the band. Allister chose its material and co-produced/arranged its albums while his wife supervised the act on the road.

"Beverly and Allister ran this group with an iron fist," Canadian folk singer and family friend John McDermott says, "but I don't think they understood what an amazing position the group was in." Sources suggest that a growing international schedule coupled with outside pressures on the teenagers while on the road may have been beyond what the MacGillivrays could deal with -- or wanted their children to cope with.

"The guts of the issue is that the MacGillivrays were losing control (of the act)," Pam McDermott says.

With the Cottars' career ending, Roseanne MacKenzie is playing in John McDermott's band. The singer (no relation to Pam McDermott) financed the Cottars' 2002 debut, "Made in Cape Breton," and released it in Canada on his own Bunnygee Music label.

Reuters/Billboard