Fit for a king: P.E.I. band Ten Strings and a Goat Skin to perform for Swedish royalty

Ten Strings and a Goat Skin can now count royalty among their growing number of fans.

The P.E.I. band has been asked to perform for the king and queen of Sweden on Feb. 21 at the Vasa Museum in Stockholm as part of Canada 150 celebrations.

"I could not tell you how they got our information or figured out who we were or what kind of music we did, but we're very happy they did in the end," said Rowen Gallant, a fiddler with the band, in a phone interview Sunday before catching a flight for a gig in Quebec City.

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Heard it at breakfast

Gallant said he and his bandmates — his brother Caleb Gallant and friend Jesse Périard — were sitting down for breakfast during a tour in Scotland last month when they got an email from their manager — who happens to be Rowen and Caleb's father, Mark Gallant — saying they'd been invited by the Canadian Embassy in Sweden to play for King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia.

"I don't think there's anything that really prepares you for having that news," Rowen Gallant said.

We've been doing a little bit of research, though. They seem like, as far as monarchs go, pretty cool.- Rowen Gallant

"It's really wonderful but honestly I have absolutely no idea what to expect. We've been doing a little bit of research, though. They seem like, as far as monarchs go, pretty cool."

It's another accolade in what is shaping up as another banner year for the bilingual acoustic trio from Rustico, P.E.I.

Nominated for Juno

Earlier this month, they were nominated for a Juno award for their album Auprès du Poêle.

In 2016, they were nominated for four Canadian Folk Music Awards, and in December Auprès du Poêle was named critics' choice by the Canadian folk roots magazine Penguin Eggs.

Gallant said the amount of recognition they've received for the album is "beyond anything I would have imagined out of a small project like this.

"We were very proud of what we came out of the studio with, but in the end we would have been proud of it no matter what and I suppose this is all just a bonus."

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