Celtic sister act opens spring tour — and first concert of ’22 — in Tucson

“We can’t wait to be back in Tucson,” Cassie McDonald said in an email interview. “It’s been a long, cold Canadian winter up here, so a little sunshine will be really welcome.”

Wednesday’s concert breaks the sister’s longest streak of inactivity since they started playing together a dozen years ago and it comes as they are wrapping up the follow-up to their 2016 critically-acclaimed album “The Willow Collection.” “Gold and Coal,” like the “Willow” album, is built on a theme — this time of coal and gold mining.

“There’s such a rich history of music surrounding the gold rush era, especially in the American West,” MacDonald aid. “It’s been a really interesting project and we can’t wait to share it with everyone.”

MacDonald also talked about the first time she and Maggie performed live after the pandemic lockdowns, returning to the States and chronicling their journeys through food.

“Food-agraphic” memory: “Maggie often jokes that I have a ‘food-agraphic’ memory and I have to say, I had some of my favorite meals of all time while we were in Tucson. We had never had Mexican cuisine before and, boy, we hit the jackpot when we arrived in town.”