Nova Scotia fiddler Brad Reid fuses traditional Cape Breton fiddle with modern acoustic pop and jazz on his new album The Bridge, available everywhere as of May 19, 2023.

Guests include award-winning artists Kim Dunn, Troy MacGillivray, and Jennifer King. With bluesy piano riffs, punchy bass, and fluttering “Bridgerton-like” compositions (check out Ferry Air), this album will take you by surprise and at times leave you breathless.

The album is 10 brand new tracks of original tunes, inspired by connecting the old Cape Breton traditions with modern acoustic pop and jazz, from the great Scottish and Cape Breton composers, to contemporary pop and jazz artists like Taylor Swift and Herbie Hancock.

Reid describes his album as “like jam session where everyone comes from a different style of music, but then they just let go, and in that moment, that’s when the music transcends genres, to me, this album is tricky, playful, thoughtful, social, fun, and creative – all elements that I’m discovering make up who I am”.

Reid, whose background includes jazz saxophone, came to the fiddle honestly via his grandfather, a fiddler who grew up in Cheticamp, on Cape Breton Island. Growing up in the Halifax area, and hearing his grandfather play for years, it wasn’t until Reid attended a fiddle festival as a young teen that he saw kids his own age playing the fiddle, and wanted to take it up. Then when his grandfather passed away, Brad felt the call to keep the fiddle tradition going in the family.