Making waves on the national stage as 2025 JUNO and Canadian Folk Music Award nominees. From their intricate arrangements to their undeniable chemistry and electrifying musicianship, PEI’s Inn Echo has cemented themselves as a force in contemporary folk, Celtic and trad music.
In 2019, three musicians from different metaphorical worlds converged on Prince Edward Island, of all places. The timing was perfect for Inn Echo to form. They started to create a sound and a journey in music, unexpectedly.
What genre of music is this? The colloquial term “trad” or traditional can refer to a sound descended from Ireland, Scotland, and parts of Europe, fused with the enthusiasm of today’s generation of players. Inn Echo pays homage to these roots and adds their original tunes to the repertoire. So on first listen you can hear the history but you will immediately delight in a contemporary current.
For Inn Echo, a lilting fiddle is the voice, with its accent and expression. Though you won’t hear words being sung, there is a story to every tune, a narrative woven into each melody, and a heart beating beneath it all. All the while, a strong and nimble percussive acoustic guitar attack is a foundation on which the fiddles climb. You will hear blues, pop, and dub in the music, artfully woven by the fiddles who are master chameleons after all. There’s no denying the Celtic roots within, but this is something new. It starts with a story and ends with an impulse to stomp, clap, and move along.
Tuli (BC), Karson (ON) and Tom (USA) were music students far from home and perhaps it was the building of new spaces which sparked a gravitational pull to bind it all together. From fiddle to cello, guitar to fiddle the three started closely weaving what is now their distinct symphony of living tradition. Releasing HEMISPHERES September 2023 was the next frontier for the band with producers Jake Charron and Donny Richard at the helm.
Inn Echo composes the majority of the repertoire amongst the three of them, but the sets are anointed with some special composers subtly embedded for maximum drive. From Music PEI awards to tours of Austria and Ireland, Inn Echo is bar-none the traditional band to watch as they emerge as Prince Edwards Islands’ greatest Celtic fusion exports in years to come. This is the new traditional sound of Canada.
INN ECHO:
Karson McKeown – Fiddle
Tuli Porcher – 5 String Fiddle & Cello
Tom Gammons – Guitar
ARTIST WEBSITE: https://innechomusic.com/home