Maria Dunn Trio brings Celtic sound to Empress

Juno Award-winning roots artist Maria Dunn is returning to the Empress Theatre as part of the 2024-’25 Centre Stage Series on Friday, Oct. 25 at 7:30 p.m.

Dunn is part of the Maria Dunn Trio alongside fiddler Shannon Johnson and multi-instrumentalist Jeremiah McDade, both from the Juno Award-winning band, The McDades.

Dunn draws deeply on the folk tradition of storytelling through song.

Melding North American roots music with her Scottish-Irish heritage, she sings about the resilience and grace of ordinary people, past and present.

Dunn’s music mixes folk with Celtic, bluegrass and country roots melodies.

In the spirit of folk greats Woody Guthrie and Buffy Sainte-Marie, Dunn’s songs document both momentary snapshots and life-long lessons.

Classically trained in piano as a child, Dunn spent 13 years as a volunteer DJ in a campus and community radio station where she was immersed in the sounds of folk and roots songwriters, singers and instrumentalists.

Dunn began penning her own music in the mid-’90s, often focusing on issues of social justice and community.

Dunn has released seven albums, including her most recent effort, Joyful Banner Blazing, which celebrates gratitude, solidarity, joy and the love that fires our actions to make the world a better place.

It won the traditional roots album Juno in 2021, and topped many 2021 year-end lists, including No. 6 on Alberta-wide CKUA Radio’s Top 100 albums; No. 2 on Penguin Eggs Critics’ Poll Albums of the Year 2021 (Roots Music Canada); and five months on the Folk Alliance International Folk Chart, peaking at No. 7 in March 2021.

Now based in Edmonton, Dunn was born in Scotland. The sounds of her birthplace are often reflected in her powerful songs, while others contain influences from Africa, Asia and Canada’s First Nations.

In addition to her work as a songwriter and musician, Dunn has researched, developed and performs four multimedia people’s history shows, weaving original songs and oral history interviews), in collaboration with videographer Don Bouzek: On the River (with Indigenous women’s trio Asani), Packingtown, GWG: Piece by Piece (with historian Catherine C. Cole, and Troublemakers.

Dunn tours solo and with ensemble to theatres, folk clubs, conferences and festivals across North America and in Europe.

Tickets to see the Maria Dunn Trio are at www.macleodempress.com, 403-553-4404 or at the Box Office on Main Street.

All Empress concerts sponsored by Alberta Foundation for the Arts.