The Barra MacNeils are touring this spring in support of their latest release On The Bright Side, and will be at The Academy Theatre on May 25 at 7:30 pm.

It’s billed as an upbeat album, with fiddle tunes “that you know will erupt into a flurry of step-dancing on stage.”

There are distinctive family harmonies; an array of rhythmic instruments weaving through and around various themes—some decidedly classical but then, suddenly, very traditional Cape Breton; the lads singing a cappella; a thoughtful solo gradually merging into a frenzied all-hands-on-deck medley.

As always, the five MacNeil siblings—Lucy, Boyd, Stewart, Kyle and Sheumas—combine on a vast array of instruments including accordion, guitar, piano, fiddle, bodhran, mandolin, banjo, Celtic harp, tin whistles, bouzouki, flute, underpinned by Jamie Gatti on bass.

Pre-sale beginning March 6 at noon and ending on March 9 at 10 am. Public sale starts March 9 at 10 am.

Click  and enter the code "celtic" to get your tickets. Tickets are available online at www.kawarthatickets.ca, in person at the box office or by calling the box office at 705-324-9111.