Mary Beth Carty

Mary Beth Carty, winner of the 2024 Canadian Folk Music Award for Traditional Singer of the Year, performs original and ancient music rooted in the rich traditions of her Nova Scotian home. Born in Antigonish County, she blends the ancestral sounds of her Gaelic heritage with multicultural influences, soulfully accompanying herself on accordion, guitar, and wooden rhythm bones. With a knack for weaving wit and warmth into her shows, she invites audiences to sing along to original songs that sound old fashioned, and experience the breadth of emotion expressed in the Gaelic and Acadian traditional songs she has uncovered from deep within the archives of various Maritime folklore collections.

Mary Beth Carty’s music has found fans around the globe, earning her accolades and frequent radio play. Her album Crossing the Causeway reached No. 8 on the Folk Alliance International Radio Play Chart for 2023 and her songs have received airplay on BBC Scotland and BBC Alba, where her Gaelic singing strikes a chord with listeners. As veteran arts journalist and music historian Bob Mersereau observed, "What's most impressive is Carty's ability to shine in all these different musical and vocal styles, bouncing back and forth between languages, old trad numbers, her new adaptations, and her own compositions."