Mike Regenstreif posted the following message today about Kirk MacGeachy on Maplepost:

I'm very sad to report that Kirk MacGeachy died suddenly from a heart attack in his sleep on Sunday morning. He was just 56 years old.

Kirk was the lead singer of Orealis, and several earlier Celtic bands, and also worked in a duo with Dave Gossage and as a solo artist. He was also a professor of geology at John Abbott College in Montreal. Kirk was married to Pat since 1971.

I knew Kirk almost since he and Pat first moved to Montreal from Scotland in the early-1970s. I used to book his earlier band, Brahan Seer, and the first version of Orealis, at the Golem, the club that I ran in the '70s and '80s. More recently, he was a guest several times on Folk Roots/Folk Branches.

In the wee hours of Saturday morning I was joking with Kirk and Dave Gossage at the bar in the hotel we were all staying at during the Ottawa Folk Festival. Kirk was complaining that they didn't have any decent beer. Thinking back, it's hard to believe that he'd be gone 24 hours later.

Kirk's obituary, visitation and funeral information are at... http://tinyurl.co.uk/4arr