Kelly Hood is from Lively, Ontario and currently resides in Toronto with her New Zealand husband Pat and their two children, Padraic and Finn. She is a respected piper playing both Uilleann and Small pipes. Her father was a Scottish emigree and her mother hailed from New Brunswick. Kelly grew up in the small but tightly knit hardrock mining communities of Northern Ontario and commenced piping with the Walden Highlanders at age 11. Her piping has taken her to Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and the States.
Kelly has been heard regularly on the CBC with the show "East Meets East", a mixture of South East Asian and East Coast Celtic musicians and singers recorded in concert at the Glen Gould Theatre in Toronto. Kiran Ahluwahlia, Shahid Ali Khan and Mary Jane Lamond were the featured singers. She plays with Toronto bands Spraoi and LOKA and has just released her debut CD, "Little Woolly", a collection of lullabyes and airs for young babies.
Kelly plays uilleann pipes made by David Quinn and Benedict Koehler.
Her recording credits include Jon Brooks, John Eccleston, Carol Ashton, Jim Fay, Noah Zaccarin, John Borra, Leah Saloma, Scotia Bank, Alexander Keith's and she's the featured piper on a slew of Solitudes records from the Reid-Taheny Band and the Five Fifths. Kelly will be collaborating on a new album with Scottish folk legend Enoch Kent and she performs regularly with ex Brolum guitarist Andy Webster.
Besides her piping Kelly is known as a master seamstress and the camera bags she designed and made for IMAX have been to the top of Mount Everest and orbitted the earth in the space shuttle.
Little Woolly... music you can hear with your heart...this recording feels like your favourite pair of slippers...comfort food for the soul... The rendition of The Eagle's Whistle is a classic!
Scott MacAulay
Executive Director
The College of Piping (P.E.I.)
"Little Woolly Lullabyes" is a must have for any family's music collection. A beautiful blend of familiar, and not so familiar traditional lullabyes from Scotland and Ireland. The lullabyes are played on small pipes and whistle by Kelly Hood, a very accomplished musician. A great gift for a new baby, and a new Mommy, and Daddy too!
Carol Ashton
Early Childhood Educator & Children's Storyteller
(Canadian Association of Storytellers for Children)
