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	Haines & Leighton Mark Haines and Tom Leighton established themselves as a duo in 1992 with the release of their first CD, "Foot To Floor, Repeat On Beat". They perform an original and traditional repertoire influenced by their Celtic and North American folk roots. Engaging humour and personality has made them popular in several circuits performing in theatres, festivals, concerts, and clubs. Their ramblings have taken them along Canadian highways from Ontario to the Maritimes, into the mountains of New York, across the sea to Britain and around the world to Taipei, Taiwan. Mark's voice is one of a kind. Add Tom's superb harmony arranging skills, and the stories and pictures in their songs come vividly to life. They are multi-instrumentalists combining the "tug at your heart strings" traditional fiddle, accordion, guitar, bouzouki, and bodhran, blended with the "turn on your ears" new technology of synthesizers, tone generators and processors. With all this at their command they make a very big sound, Tom sometimes playing three instruments at once; left hand pumping the accordion and bass, the right hand thumping the drum, while his feet deftly work the pedals of the keyboards. Tom and Mark were commissioned to write arrangements of Canadian traditional music for the Canada Pavilion at Epcott Centre, Disney World, Florida. They celebrated the release of their second CD, "Optimists Jig"" with a busier schedule of concerts and festivals including performances with the Kingston Symphony Orchestra. "Optimists Jig"receives air play on Canadian national radio and selected folk stations across North America and is featured as TV theme music for "Antiques Country"" WNED, Buffalo, New York. In the fall of 1999 they hosted The Canadian Maritime Celebration at the Grand Formosa Regent Hotel, in Taipei Taiwan. Winter 2000 found them in the cast of "The Needfire", a Mirvish Production celebrating Canadian and international Celtic artists, staged at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto, Ontario.
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