Ontario, in eastern Canada, is a musical melting pot when it comes to traditional music, taking influences from settlers from England, Scotland, Ireland, Sweden, Hungary, and Germany, to name but a few, along with music from the First Peoples who lived in the area before all those folk came along. It’s also a musical crossroads within Canada, for the country sounds of the plains to the west, Quebecois nearby, and Cape Breton to the east.

December in Ireland and Scotland is time of short days, long nights, rain, wind, snow, sleet, and the occasional clear day with sparlikng sun or frosty night filled with an extravagance of stars.

Making your list, checking it twice -- whether that’s for Christmas, Kwanzaa, Chanukah, Solstice, or a host and hostess gift for the many gatherings of this season, music is always a good gift, one