The Royal Ball

Come one, come all, to the Royal Ball of the season! There’s no other band around like Gordie MacKeeman and His Rhythm Boys and local legend Andrea Bettger.

 Led by fiddling wiz Gordie “Crazylegs” MacKeeman, this roots quartet features all-star pickers and singers, playing everything from down-home country to reckless rockabilly to intricate bluegrass. The band has spent the past years exciting crowds all over the world, from Denmark’s Tonder Festival and the U.K.’s Glastonbury and Cambridge Folk Festivals, to Merlefest in North Carolina and the Port Fairy Folk Festival in Australia. Crowds love them everywhere they go, thanks to Gordie’s charm, his flying fiddle and feet as well as the band’s unique blend of just about every roots genre going. They love it all, old and new, and put on a variety show that has the fans dancing, laughing and singing along.

Since moving to Yellowknife in 2008, Andrea Bettger has become a sought-after performer and teacher. She has developed fiddling programs for youth and adults both within Yellowknife and throughout the NWT, and has become heavily involved in the Aurora Fiddle Society. Andrea has written and self-produced a fiddling book with recordings for beginners, devoted special attention to Métis and Northern fiddling and has been promoting the sustainability of this style through her performances and her teaching. She has performed and recorded with countless musicians over her years in the North, including The Jerry Cans, Kim Beggs, Pat Braden, Tracy Riley, Carmen Braden, and Leela Gilday. She has played as part of opening bands for Buffy Sainte-Marie and Jimmy Rankin. She was selected as a Northern-fiddling representative to perform at the Northern Scene showcase in Ottawa in 2013.