Shane Dunne and Anne Archer performed together for about 15 years as members of the Kingston Ceili Band. When that group disbanded during COVID and following the death of their beloved fiddler, Maggie McIver, they became a duo called Siân—a Welsh moniker pronounced "shann"—a pun on the two names. Hear them put them together on Thursday, January 22. Details and reservations here.

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Seamus Cowan: Hello Anne! You’ve been playing here for about 10 years now, starting with the Kingston Ceili Band. I know COVID was really hard on keeping anything together. Is there hope for getting that band to reassemble?

Anne Archer: The Kingston Ceili Band had a good, long run—close to 40 years, I reckon—but with the deaths of two of its key players (our founder, Jack Hickman, a decade ago and our fiddler, Maggie in 2019), the band as we knew it is over. Out of its ashes, so to speak, sprang Siân.

Q: Playing the instrument you play is very specific to some certain styles of music. It’s almost like you’re a purveyor of that style whenever you make music. What inspired you to play that instrument and get into this music?

Anne: When I chose the flute so that I could play in the Junior High Band, I actually thought I was getting a recorder. I was flabbergasted when I opened the case and saw this shiny silver complicated-looking instrument. I couldn’t tell my parents that I had made a horrible mistake, so I stuck with it and have played flute now for most of my life. In fact, the flute—especially the wooden Irish flute—is now a defining feature of who I am.

I took a break while I was working on my PhD in English Literature and subsequently when I was an Adjunct Professor, but took it up again with a vengeance after I left university teaching. I joined the Limestone Board’s Partnership in Music Program (a program that became a substitute for regular music classes in senior public school) and became friends with Chris Coleman. We started playing together, mostly flute and clarinet duets, and he became my musical mentor. He suggested that I take up the tin whistle and Irish flute and join the Kingston Ceili Band—a life-shaping event indeed.

Q: Playing as a duo creates a real freedom but a necessary bond and trust in each other. What’s your favourite thing about playing as a smaller group now with Shane in Siân or Jon Mclurg in Shenanigans? 

Anne: Playing in a duo is intimate and challenging, and I play in a handful of them. My first experience with the rich flute and classical guitar repertoire was with Chris Giguere and our duo, CACCIA. We’ve been together now for over two decades and it continues to be a joy to play together. The energy is still fresh and the tunes still feel new.

When Shane Dunne and I started our duo, Siân, it felt like coming home. We’d been together in The Kingston Ceili Band for so long that we could read each other well. And Shane is a consummate arranger, as I hope you’ll see when we perform for you on January 22nd.

Making music with Jon McLurg in our duo, Shenanigans, is a rare privilege. Jon inhabits the music so completely and his musical soul is so generous… One woman came up to me after a performance and said that my flute picks up where Jon’s voice leaves off: a fine compliment, that!

Q: This live music scene and community that we are a part of is quite close knit. Do you find that the Scottish, Irish, Eats Coast roots scene in Kingston and area is supportive? What are some of your favourite acts in the area? 

Anne: My current favourite act in the Kingston area is not really an act but a happening: Quirks of Human Nature. Meg Freer and Deb Schuurmans run a monthly event at the Time Out Bar & Bistro in Kingston where poets are paired with musicians and invited to improvise. The results are always surprising and engaging; I was especially moved by the recent collaboration between poet David Malone and jazz singer Chantal Thompson. On April 21st, Ellen Hamilton, Chris Coleman and I will combine forces, and who knows what will transpire?!

Q: Playing the music you do, I’m sure you have many influences but what are some of the most interesting musicians you’d like to see or perform with?

Anne: Hmmm… My nephew, Trent Freeman, is in the JUNO Award-winning string quartet called The Fretless and I always jump at the chance to see the band when it comes to Eastern Ontario. I’m a big fan of small-to-medium-size music festivals like Blue Skies Music Festival (Clarendon) and Stewart Park Festival (Perth), and I wish I had time to take in all the wonderful acts that The Cove offers. Not out of complacency but out of gratitude, I can’t imagine playing with finer musicians that Chris Coleman, Chris Giguere, Debbie Twiddy, Jon McLurg and Shane Dunne. My hope is that they get as much out of our collaboration as I do and that our music-making continues for another long while.

Posted: Jan 12, 2026