You have to look a long way these days to find an unspoiled, regional music scene; especially one where kids grow up on Celtic folk tunes instead of Marilyn Manson. You can find that on the Atlantic coast of Canada, where the old songs are still played in family kitchens, and young garage bands are as likely to learn "Bog o’Lochain" as "Louie Louie." 

Two acts from that area hit the hub Thursday: the Newfoundland band Great Big Sea plays the Paradise, while the Cape Breton chanteuse Mary Jane Lamond (known as the singer of Ashley MacIsaac’s hit "Sleeping Maggie") hits Johnny D’s. The two acts don't sound remotely alike - the raucous, acoustic Great Big Sea could be Newfoundland’s answer to the Pogues, while Lamond favors a haunting, goth-influenced sound. But both recently appeared on the compilation album "Fire in the Kitchen," put together by folk booster Paddy Moloney of the Chieftains; and both perform the traditional songs they grew up with. 

Though Lamond now sings only in Gaelic, her background is a bit more urban. And her fans may be shocked to learn that she once played keyboards in a Montreal punk band. 

"Sure, I’m not in the closet about that - I’ll readily admit that I love Iggy Pop and the Sex Pistols," she said last week. "I’ve always been a person who looked to the alternative, and I loved punk music for the philosophy as well as the sound. That was the first time I cut my hair short, because I couldn’t do the Farrah Fawcett hairdo." 

After a spell in the fashion industry, Lamond rediscovered her roots. "In Cape Breton, music and songs are really the fabric of people’s lives. It’s never been a place where people accumulate a lot of possessions; there’s a lot of pride in the tradition and respect for what people do. I’ll give you an example: I was in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland recently, and I heard a traditional song that I’d also heard in Cape Breton - it was exactly the same melody, the same verses. So two communities with virtually no contact had maintained this song for nearly 200 years." 

Is there a danger of the music getting too commercialized? "There’s already a backlash in Canada, people saying ‘Not another band from Nova Scotia.’ But there are thousands out there with a lot of intrinsic value. I wouldn’t call myself a folkie; I’m more interested in combining traditional and modern elements." 

"Anything that exposes the world to our culture is a good thing," said Great Big Sea singer Alan Doyle, calling from a pay phone at Kennedy Airport. 

"We all grew up with music in our household, and I think Newfoundland is a place where children and parents do more things together. Everyone in the small towns has some great talent for parties, whether it’s dancing or playing accordion. When we had house parties, the stereo got turned off pretty early." 

You don’t have to be from Newfoundland to recognize one song in Great Big Sea’s repertoire: They turn the R.E.M. hit "It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)" into a sea chantey. 

"We wanted to support the struggling American artists, we figured they could use the money," Doyle said, laughing. "I know it was a protest song in the ‘80’s but we do it in a different spirit, because the singer is optimistic in the face of the apocalypse. That’s a Newfoundland kind of attitude." 

And, of course, people in America might think of Newfoundland as the end of the world. "That’s true. But we all know that it’s really the center of the world."