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Canada's Shreem Mixes Celtic Roots Music With Hip Hop, Loops, & Beats

Ben Binversie
Shreem in the Lake Effect Performance studio

Canadian musician Shreemis Jay Andrews, originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and now based in Toronto. He's in Milwaukee to perform at Irish Fest all weekend. Shreem uses traditional Cape Breton fiddle tunes is his music, but his mix of very traditional fiddle tunes, hip hop, overdubs, and house is unique in the world of Celtic music.

"I had to find my sound," Andrews explains. "You know, I didn’t really want to copy people. I mean there’s a lot of people who have done electronic/Celtic stuff. But I wanted to make it a little bit more, a little bit more modern, contemporary, in the sounds and how hard it hits."

And it does hit hard. Andrews arrived in the studio with a laptop and some headphones. His musical partner Kerry Fitzgerald brought the fiddle — the one traditional instrument in the mix. They chatted with us and performed three songs, which you can hear below:

Bonnie North
Bonnie joined WUWM in March 2006 as the Arts Producer of the locally produced weekday magazine program Lake Effect.