A native Mic-Mac fiddler from Cape Breton Island, Lee Cremo was born into a fiddling family. According to the liner notes of The Champion Returns, Lee's great grandfather, Michael, was given a home-made fiddle by one of the original settlers from Scotland and learned the music of that era. The original fiddle was handed down from father to son until it reached Lee from his father Simon, also a fiddler of great reputation. This accounts for the distinct style of Scottish reels and Irish jigs heard in Lee's repertoire today.

Among Lee's many awards, he has been six-time Maritime Fiddle Champion, Canadian champion at the Alberta Tar Sands Competition and "Best Bow Arm in the World" at the World Fiddle Championship in Nashville, Tennessee. Lee is also a noted composer of fiddle music. The Champion Returns contains four Cremo originals: "Constitution Breakdown," "Tara Lynne's March to God," "Mystery Stepdancer" and "Timothy Ryan's Reel." On "Tara Lynne's March" he is accompanied on Celtic harp by Lucy MacNeil. The only drawback to this fine album is that it's short, making it an expensive purchase.

The Champion Returns
1995 Cremo Productions (LCD9501)

Intro by Glenn Stott; Constitution Breakdown; Old Man Dillon/Hills of Glenorchy/Stan Chapman's Jig; Tara Lynne's March to God; Four Jacks; Poor Girl's Waltz; Mystery Stepdancer; Buddy MacMaster's Strathspey/The London Hornpipe/Polish Polka Reel; Timothy Ryan's Reel; Old Southern Waltz; Beaton's Delight/Picnic Reel; Snow Deer; Sheehan's Reel/Pigeon on the Gate 30:37