Allan Kelly, Singer

P276_Alan-Kelly-singing-3rd-MFF-1960_John-Holland-in-bckgrd
P00276: Allan Kelly singing at the third Miramichi Folksong Festival, August 1960; John Holland is seated in the background.

Allan Kelly, a native of New Brunswick, was for many years one of the more popular singers at the Miramichi Folksong Festival, and in several cases he would sing multiple songs each night. By his own accounting, he learned several hundred songs in French and English from his father. Unlike some other traditional singers who specialized in certain types of songs, Kelly (besides being bilingual) featured a variety of songs in his repertoire, ranging from a diverse array of Acadian songs to Child ballads. Allan Kelly’s singing has been featured in multiple collections of Canadian folksongs, both in print and audio recordings.