Our community has watched Irish Millie grow from a six-year-old fiddle student into one of Canada's brightest folk music stars, and her latest single brings that journey full circle. The 19-year-old Peterborough singer, songwriter, and fiddler has released "Allison," a deeply personal tribute to Sally Pirie, the teacher who first placed a fiddle in her hands and shaped everything that followed.
The opening track from her acclaimed EP 'Between Then and Now,' "Allison" tells the story of where Irish Millie's musical gift began. Built around the intimate interplay of fiddle and guitar, the song honors Pirie, who taught Irish Millie from age six until she was 12. Later, the young musician joined her teacher's beloved community band, The Fyd-l-Styx, a gathering of musicians of all ages devoted to old-time Canadian fiddle music and playing for the pure love of it.
When Pirie passed in December 2024, Irish Millie channeled her gratitude into music, first writing a jig in her mentor's honor, then building a song around it so the tune could carry forward. "And oh, the dancing in the rain, through the barn to western swing," she sings, "and oh, the people they would sing, but you wanted your own jig." The refrain returns again and again to that single, tender idea of finding your own voice.
The song's cover art captures the spirit of their relationship perfectly: the view from a window onto Pirie's garden. Irish Millie has spoken of how her teacher treated her like one of her flowers, rooting her, watering her, and trusting her to grow in her own direction.
Produced by Tyler Martin at Electric Alchemy in Peterborough and mastered by Gregory Pastic, "Allison" was crafted with restraint, letting the fiddle carry the memory and allowing the story to breathe. The recording includes a full-circle moment: Irish Millie's father, Murray Shadgett, who drove her to those early lessons, plays guitar on the song, joining his daughter in honoring the woman who started it all.
The release comes as Irish Millie steps onto the international stage. In 2026, she was named Breakthrough Artist of the Year through North2North, earning the opportunity to represent Canada at Sweden's Lilla By Festivalen in Rinkaby, where she performs on the main stage and in the festival's beloved Kanada Barn. Festival co-founders Malin Osth and Jonas Tancred have praised the Celtic pop rock energy she brings to the Canadian contingent.
A seven-time Canadian Folk Music Award nominee, Irish Millie earned two 2026 nominations for 'Between Then and Now,' including Young Performer of the Year—her fifth nomination in that category—and Single of the Year for "You Were There." She was also named Emerging Artist of the Year at the Goderich Celtic Roots Festival in 2026. Her previous album 'GRACE' drew praise from Celtic music icons Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy, who called it "fresh, lively… cool tunes and great playing."
Currently a full-time student in the University of Toronto's Music Industry and Technology Specialist program, Irish Millie balances her studies with an active touring, writing, and recording schedule. She has performed across Canada, the United States, and Europe, playing to audiences of more than 10,000 at Peterborough Musicfest. She remains deeply rooted in our community through initiatives such as Fiddling for Fox, which earned her the Peterborough Civic Award for Community Betterment.
Following her performances in Sweden, Irish Millie will tour Canada's East Coast throughout July 2026, bringing her genre-blending energy to stages across Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes. With "Allison," she invites us into the moment a young musician first understood where her gift came from—and reminds us that some of the most important people in our lives shape us long before we know how to thank them.
