Quinn Bachand
Guitar
Quinn Bachand is coming to Music Camp this summer and we are extremely excited! With diverse musical talents and a bottomless pool of creativity, Quinn Bachand is recognized as the “Young Lion” of the Celtic guitar and “Canada’s top Celtic guitarist” (Ashley MacIsaac). Although Quinn plays a range of styles that include jazz and bluegrass, it is his talents in the world of Celtic music that are drawing the most attention. His virtuosic playing is more than eye-catching fret-board fireworks. A gifted and creative guitar player, Quinn adds a contemporary edge to traditional Celtic music. His unique harmonies, hard-driving strumming, inventive chord voicing and powerful rhythmic effects make even the most well-worn tunes seem new and exciting. An in-demand sideman, Quinn has also toured nationally and internationally with well known musicians including fiddling icons Ashley MacIsaac, Natalie MacMaster, and Jeremy Kittel.
Quinn has many impressive accomplishments to his credit. As a proficient multi instrumentalist, he is equally at ease playing Irish tenor banjo, claw hammer banjo, bouzouki, bodhran and fiddle and has done extensive recording for the popular software program “Band in a Box” (www.pgmusic.com). Many of his fans are unaware that Quinn is also a classically trained violinist, having achieved the Royal Conservatory of Music Grade 10 violin level. A respected music instructor, Quinn has taught privately and in workshops at music camps, festivals, and in an academic setting from high school to university levels.
In 2014, Quinn left his hometown of Victoria, British Columbia to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston on a full scholarship and graduated with honours. While on the east coast he joined forces with Grammy nominated composer/violinist Jeremy Kittel (Fleet Foxes, Turtle Island Quartet, My Morning Jacket) as a part of his new musical endeavor, Kittel & Co. In 2018, their record, ‘Chrysalis’, was nominated for a Grammy: Best Instrumental Composition alongside composers such as John Williams and Terence Blanchard.
As a writer, producer, multi-instrumentalist and ever the bold musical voyageur, Quinn has collected multiple nominations and awards over the years. His recording career includes three award winning Celtic music albums with sister Qristina which earned the dynamic duo two Irish Music Awards (Top Duo and Top Traditional Group) plus several nominations at the Canadian Folk Music Awards and Western Canadian Music Awards. Quinn has also recorded three CDs with his band, Brishen (what Quinn calls his “jazz music alias”). That notable discography includes 2013’s Brishen, which resulted in noteworthy recognition for Quinn, including an unprecedented five Canadian Folk Music Award nominations, top prize at the Independent Music Awards for Jazz Song with Vocals, and many more. Blue Verdun was released in 2017, and in 2019, Tunes in a Hotel, a recording that represents the latest evolution in Quinn’s ongoing reappraisal of Celtic, bluegrass, Jazz, Euro-Jazz, and Western swing traditions – a passionately creative trajectory that continues to delight fans as it challenges critics to come up with fresh new superlatives.
For more information about Quinn, visit https://quinnbachand.ca/