Fergus O'Byrne & Jim Payne (Newfoundland)
Jim Payne is from Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland and has been a professional performing artist and writer 
for 19 years. Long known as a leading performer and collector of Newfoundland traditional music, he is also one of the province's most prolific songwriters, working in several genres. Jim has directed, composed and performed music for some of the most popular theatre productions of the past two decades, as well as creating soundtracks for plays, documentaries and videos. He has performed extensively on radio and television in Canada and abroad, and has toured throughout Canada, the US, Europe, Japan and Australia. He plays guitar, accordion, mandolin, tin whistle and violin, and is a singer, storyteller, actor, writer, stepdancer, and teacher of traditional Newfoundland set and square dances.
Born in Dublin, Ireland, Fergus O'Byrne emigrated to Canada in 1967. While living in Toronto he became a founding member of the Irish folk band Ryan's Fancy. In 
1971 the group moved to St. John's, Newfoundland. During the next fourteen years, Fergus toured extensively throughout North America and Ireland as part of the trio. As a member of Ryan's Fancy, Fergus has been featured on many television shows throughout his career including the very popular C.B.C. series Ryan's Fancy, which ran as a national series for five years. Since pursuing a solo career he has continued to appear on both television and radio. He is featured in the CBC TV production of The Last Run, which is part of the Newfoundland curriculum for Music (Exploring Music) at the intermediate level. In 1987 Fergus graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland with a degree in Education. Since then he has had a concentrated interest in promoting folk music to children both as a classroom teacher and a performer.
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