3 Cape Breton musicians inducted into island’s music hall of fame

John Allan Cameron was much-decorated during his lifetime in music, including receiving the Order of Canada.

On Tuesday, he was posthumously announced as one of this year's three inductees into the Cape Breton Music Industry Hall of Fame.

"John Allan Cameron is known as the Godfather of Celtic music, and he really helped popularize Celtic music to a national audience,” said Marc Botte, board chair of Cape Breton Music Industry Co-operative, which hosted Tuesday’s announcement at the Gaelic College in St. Ann’s Bay, N.S.

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

"This is really incredible. This is something you really wouldn't expect, or I wouldn't expect at this stage of my life,” said Joella Foulds, another of the new inductees.

At a different stage of her life, Foulds managed Cameron near the end of his career.

"(I) actually helped him through his final recording, and so it's really great just to think of myself as even close to in that category,” Foulds said in an interview at her home in Southside Boularderie.

The third name announced on Tuesday was the late fiddler Winston Scotty Fitzgerald.

"Who inspired most, if not a lot, of our Island fiddle players who came after him,” Botte said.

The trio announced for 2024 join Rita MacNeil, Matt Minglewood, the Men of the Deeps, and Buddy MacDonald's song "Getting Dark Again," which were the Hall of Fame’s first-ever inductees in 2023.

The plan is for the Hall itself to be located on the new Nova Scotia Community College campus in downtown Sydney, which is scheduled to open in September.

"And we're also working with the Cape Breton Regional Municipality to build a 'walk of stars' down the newly-renovated Charlotte Street,” Botte said.

The 2024 induction ceremony with a full concert is set for June 20 at Sydney's Centre 200.

For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.