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June 29, 2008 Fiddler Natalie MacMaster is one of those artists who really can have it both ways.
She grew up
in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, so she's steeped in that region's
distinctive style of traditional Celtic music. So she can easily and
intuitively play delicate airs and fiery, percussive jigs and reels in a
trad-bound style that will satisfy even the most And for the early part of her career, that's the approach she took. About 10 years ago, however, she began broadening her musical palette, drawing on rock and pop elements - and several of her albums since then have showcased a lively Celt-rock synergy. Indeed, she typically tours with a drummer, bassist and guitarist - as well as a bagpiper - giving her an ensemble that can raise a huge musical racket. MacMaster comes to the Power Center on Thursday for an Ann Arbor Summer Festival show. And this time out, she'll be joined for several numbers by her husband, Donnell Leahy, said Robb Woulfe, the festival's executive director. Donnell Leahy is the leader of, and one of the fiddlers for, the Canadian Celt-pop group Leahy. MacMaster's last album, "Yours Truly" from 2006, was co-produced by MacMaster and Leahy. Last year, MacMaster told The Ann Arbor News that "even if Donnell hadn't co-produced the record, his input would have been inevitable. Since he's also a fiddler, I really value his opinion, because he knows the instrument inside and out, and also knows my capabilities."
In addition
to her fiery fiddling talents, MacMaster is also a very charismatic
performer, with a playful sense of humor, a natural charm and an easy
give-and-take with the audience. And, as a highly talented step dancer,
she is not at all shy about unleashing an "Natalie is definitely a favorite with Summer Festival audiences," concurred Woulfe. "Since she combines traditional roots music with pop sensibilities, she appeals to people with a wide variety of musical tastes. And then there's her extraordinary showmanship - she absolutely tears up the stage with her high-energy fiddling and step dancing. She is an artist and entertainer at the top of her game." .........................................................................................................................................
June 9, 2008
Although it was still above 90 degrees in the shade when the music started shortly after 7:30 p.m., the dual fiddle wizardry of Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy was like a refreshing breeze over the crowd even as the married Canadian pair heated up the stage at the Long's Park Amphitheater. Sunday marked the second week of the 13-week free concert series at the park. The show began with a Cape Breton medley of tunes, evoking the sounds of MacMaster's Nova Scotia home, where she started playing the fiddle at age 9. After seeing her play Sunday, you might think she was born with a bow in her hand. Leahy, the oldest sibling in the musical Leahy family from rural Ontario, matched his wife note for note, charging through the music with relish. The couple demonstrated amazing synergy, tossing tunes back and forth between them, sometimes sharing melodies or harmonizing with one another. One would occasionally step back and allow the other the full glare of the spotlight. And the audience didn't waste time, either, clapping and dancing from the very first set. "It's always a treat for the two of us to share our passion in life, which is music, and go out on tour together," MacMaster told the crowd. "This is very much a family affair." Sunday's playlist ranged wildly, from "Tullochgorum," one of Cape Breton's signature fiddle tunes, to the frantic "Orange Blossom Special." One tune set, dubbed "Madness" by the band, is "a little chaotic," MacMaster said. "Everybody's going to do something a little bit different. It changes every night." Despite six years of marriage, both fiddlers maintain busy touring schedules individually, and joint performances such as Sunday's are rare for them. Their children — Mary Frances Rose Leahy, born in 2005, and Michael Joseph Alexander Leahy, born in 2007 — watched portions of the show from the foot of the stage, huddled in their young baby sitter's arms, where MacMaster could keep a maternal eye on them as she played. The two fiddlers shared the spotlight not only with each other, but also with their touring band: J.D. Blair on drums, Erin Leahy on piano, Sabin Jacques on accordion and 14-year-old Nathaniel Smith on cello. Calling it a Celtic music show was selling it short. Sunday's performance incorporated elements of classical violin, ragtime piano, Quebecois accordion, even an exhausting tap-shoe-and-drum set and a little vocal percussion. For the audience, it all boiled down to an excuse to dance. "It's good. It's fun," said 7-year-old Hannah, the enthusiastically dancing daughter of Rob and Kathryn Kapchinske of Lancaster. "It's kind of ..." — Hannah groped for words, waving her hand in the air until she grinned and finished — "real loud." "The beat is great," said Nina de Vitry, nearly 11, who was dancing up front with pal Emma Rast, 12. De Vitry, of Lancaster, has been studying violin for four years and has started playing fiddle styles over the past six months. Sunday's performance has inspired her to new heights, she said. "It's fun to dance with your friends," de Vitry said. "And when the musicians ask you to dance, you can't say no." The small dance floor at the foot of the amphitheater stage was packed for much of the performance by those who knew traditional Scottish and Irish dance steps and those who just wished they did, plus a fair number of people who just couldn't resist moving to the infectious, can't-sit-still melodies. The audience wasn't alone in dancing. MacMaster and Leahy are both accomplished stepdancers, and both did their share of fancy footwork on the stage. For 16-year-old dancers Lauren Tanking and Brigette Bircher from the Coyle School of Irish Dance in Harrisburg, the show became a night to remember when MacMaster leapt from the stage to dance a few rounds with them, arm in arm and kicking high. "It was amazing," Tanking said. Both teens grew up with the music, they said — Tanking in her Irish immigrant grandparents' home, Bircher from her mother, who also was an Irish dancer. "We didn't expect that," Bircher said of MacMaster's sudden appearance between them. "It just happened." Backstage after the show, MacMaster and Leahy said it's still a challenge to combine their music into a single performance. "It's harder than you would expect," Leahy said. "But we play different styles. If we put a tune together, we play it different and ... what happens is we mask each other's qualities." They're also a little timid when playing together, he said, because neither wants to take the limelight away from the other. It's even more difficult with two young children in the house, MacMaster added. "Sometimes we'll have a baby sitter in our home for four days, just so we can practice," she said. "We have to take our music home with us. "We both love music," MacMaster said. "Sometimes it's a grind, but when you put it together and get past those humps, it's a complete joy." .........................................................................................................................................
June 8, 2008 Was it hot Sunday evening? It's quite possible thousands of people on the Long's Park lawn in Lancaster, Pa., didn't notice. Although it was still above 90 degrees in the shade when the music started shortly after 7:30 p.m., the dual fiddle wizardry of Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy was like a refreshing breeze over the crowd even as the married Canadian pair heated up the stage at the Long's Park Amphitheater. Sunday marked the second week of the 13-week free concert series at the park. The show began with a Cape Breton medley of tunes, evoking the sounds of MacMaster's Nova Scotia home where she started playing the fiddle at age 9. After seeing her play Sunday, you might think she was born with a bow in her hand.
The couple demonstrated amazing synergy, tossing tunes back and forth between them, sometimes sharing melodies or harmonizing to one another, occasionally stepping back and allowing the other the full glare of the spotlight. And the audience didn't waste time, either, clapping and dancing from the very first set. "It's always a treat for the two of us to share our passion in life, which is music, and go out on tour together," MacMaster told the crowd. "This is very much a family affair." Sunday's playlist ranged wildly, from "Tullochgorum," one of Cape Breton's signature fiddle tunes, to the frantic "Orange Blossom Special." For the "Anniversary Waltz," the wildly dancing crowd was replaced by a small group of graceful waltzers. For some tunes the couple stood -- or danced -- while for mellower sets they sat and relaxed into the music. One tune set, dubbed "Madness" by the band, is "a little chaotic," MacMaster said. "Everybody's going to do something a little bit different. It changes every night." Despite six years of marriage, both fiddlers maintain busy touring schedules individually, and joint performances such as Sunday's are still rare for them. Their children -- Mary Frances Rose Leahy, born in 2005, and Michael Joseph Alexander Leahy, born in 2007 -- watched portions of the show from the foot of the stage, huddled in their young babysitter's arms where MacMaster could keep a maternal eye on them as she played. The two fiddlers not only shared the spotlight with each other, but also with their touring band: J.D. Blair on drums, Erin Leahy on piano, Sabin Jacques on accordion and 14-year-old Nathaniel Smith on cello. Calling it a Celtic music show was selling it short. Sunday's performance incorporated elements of classical violin, ragtime piano, Quebecois accordion, rock 'n' roll, even an exhausting tap-shoe-and-drum set and a little vocal percussion. For the audience, it all boiled down to an excuse to dance. "It's good. It's fun," said 7-year-old Hannah, the enthusiastically dancing daughter of Rob and Kathryn Kapchinske of Lancaster. "It's kind of..." -- Hannah groped for words, waving her hand in the air until she grinned and finished -- "real loud." "The beat is great," said Nina de Vitry, nearly 11, who was dancing up front with pal Emma Rast, 12. De Vitry, of Lancaster, has been studying violin for four years, and has started playing fiddle styles over the past six months. Sunday's performance has inspired her to new heights, she said. "It's fun to dance with your friends," de Vitry said. "And when the musicians ask you to dance, you can't say no." The small dance floor at the foot of the amphitheater stage was packed for much of the performance by those who knew traditional Scottish and Irish dance steps and those who just wished they did, plus a fair number of people who just couldn't resist moving to the infectious, can't-sit-still melodies. And the audience wasn't alone in dancing. MacMaster and Leahy are both accomplished stepdancers, and both did their share of fancy footwork on the stage. "We love it," MacMaster shouted. "Anybody who has got something to share, come on down here. If you're a little shy, go dance under a tree." For 16-year-old dancers Lauren Tanking and Brigette Bircher from the Coyle School of Irish Dance in Harrisburg, the show became a night to remember when MacMaster leapt from the stage to dance a few rounds with them, arm in arm and kicking high. "It was amazing," Tanking said. Both teens grew up with the music, they said -- Tanking in her Irish immigrant grandparents' home, Bircher from her mother, who was also an Irish dancer. Bircher also got the chance to dance with MacMaster once before, several years earlier at a solo show at the Whitaker Center in Harrisburg. "We didn't expect that," Bircher said of MacMaster's sudden appearance between them. "It just happened." .........................................................................................................................................
June 5, 2008
The award-winning musicians and Lakefield residents were honoured yesterday at Trent's afternoon convocation.
Hagman,
chairman of the modern languages and literature program, MacMaster, credited with lifting traditional East Coast music to its contemporary prominence, has won two Juno Awards, 11 East Coast Music Awards and several Canadian Country Awards for Fiddler of the Year. In 2000, she was nominated for a Grammy Award and in 2006, she became one of the youngest people named to the Order of Canada. Leahy, considered one of the best fiddlers in the world, has won three Juno Awards, created three albums that have collectively sold more than half a million copies and developed a summer music camp in the Kawarthas for young musicians.
MacMaster said music not only brought Leahy and her together, but "taught us about love, about joy and pain, and about God." "May the passions you pursue in life teach the same, through the love you have for what you do, the hard work you put into it and the joy you receive in all your accomplishments," she said. Leahy said this was their first recognition as a couple. "We are thrilled and honoured. Sometimes we think music can speak better than words so we thought we'd play a few tunes for you." They then put on a show for the crowd, moving around in their graduation gowns under the cloudy sky. Trent chancellor Roberta Bondar said the new honorary doctorates "really embody what we try and believe in so much here at Trent... and that is a passion and love for their wonderful music and the ability to reach out and touch others." "It's one of those things where you go through your life doing your thing and trying to be good at it. Then all of a sudden this honour comes by and you never expect it, you never think about it," MacMaster later told The Examiner. Leahy said their focus right now is family, which includes a 2 1/2- year-old daughter and an 11- month-old son. "So to be recognized as a couple, and as a couple in music, is awesome." Family was on the mind of many graduates yesterday, especially bachelor of science graduate Melissa Rae Lunn. Her stepfather, mother and husband were sitting in the third row and she's due to give birth to her first child next month. Lunn, who was on the president's and dean's honours list and also received the Bagnani Medal for highest overall standing in a general program, said the baby kicked throughout the ceremony. "That's our girl," her stepfather, Randy Wilson, said with a laugh. "To do all this and be that way and go to school, keep a house, she does a lot . . . small but mighty." Lunn's husband Jason said it was an exciting day and that the couple was rushing off to their first prenatal class last night.
"I wouldn't
have been able to do it without these guys," Lunn said. "My chapter as a
student is done and as mother begins."
* Honorary
doctor of law degrees: Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy. .........................................................................................................................................
May 15, 2008 Natalie MacMaster is a world famous fiddler and step dancer. She first picked up the fiddle at age nine and is the niece of famed Cape Breton fiddler Buddy MacMaster. Among her numerous awards, she is especially proud of being named a member of the Order of Canada in 2006. Her latest album Yours Truly was co-produced by Natalie and her husband, fellow fiddle virtuoso Donnell Leahy of the Canadian band Leahy. Natalie has a Bachelor of Education degree from the Nova Scotia Teacher's College. As part of a national tour, Natalie will perform at Casino Rama on May 23 and 24. She will then take the stage at Ottawa's National Arts Centre on June 5 and Edmonton's Hawrelak Park Amphitheatre on Aug. 8.
Q -
What is your fondest memory from your family kitchen?
Q -
What kitchen aromas bring back fond memories?
Q -
Who is your favourite cook?
Q -
What is your favourite food to cook?
Q -
How did the first meal you prepared turn out?
Q -
What kitchen gadget can't you live without?
Q -
Is there a cultural dish that you prepare that ties into a holiday? .........................................................................................................................................
May 10, 2008 Lakefield's world renowned family music and dance troupe Leahy performs at Casino Rama on May 23 and 24. Special guest will be Natalie MacMaster, award winning fiddler, who is married to Donnell Leahy. MacMaster performed last week at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School, in Lindsay. She was joined on stage by sister-in-laws Erin and Maria Leahy.
Tickets ($25) are available at Casino Rama's box office at .........................................................................................................................................
May 6, 2008
Cape Breton Live was born in 2005 as a joint venture of Natalie MacMaster, Donnell Leahy and Cheryl Smith. The online radio program began with the intent of broadcasting 5 trial shows of live traditional music showcasing the talents of Cape Breton musicians. The initial run of shows were so well received worldwide that the program has now been online for over 2 years, has broadcast close to 50 shows, toured Quebec and Ontario and released 2 compilation CD's. Now you can take a little piece of Cape Breton home with you. The CD is available online at: www.capebretonlive.com and will be made available in local stores shortly. Track listing and sound clips are also available online. .........................................................................................................................................
April 29, 2008
The Shell Theatre in the Dow Centennial Centre is operated on the strong backs of local volunteers. Without them, the theatre wouldn’t be able to operate, according to the DCC events supervisor. “I can’t imagine not having them,” Marion Kluthe said. “They’re just fabulous. The generosity of giving their time is just unbelievable.” Kluthe estimated volunteers will have donated 3,000 hours of their own time to help operate the theatre by the time the current season officially ends in June.
Those hours
will have spanned concerts, dance performances, plays, ballets, magic
shows and comedy tours that featured headliners, such as Natalie
MacMaster and Kalan Porter, as well as amateurs, such as local students. “It’s not just they come and they usher,” she said. “You actually get to know these people; their heart, their soul. And it’s nice.” The volunteers fill front-line roles at the theatre, acting as ushers, and are responsible for offering the best customer service to theatre guests, Kluthe said. They are also tasked with taking tickets, seating guests and answering questions about the facility. “Without them, I don’t know where I would be.” Theatre volunteer Lesley Macmillan cherishes every hour she spends at the nearly four-year-old facility. “I’m a people person,” she explained. “So I like to be amongst people and it’s wonderful just seeing everybody.” The local volunteer has donated her time to the Shell Theatre since it opened in 2004. While there is the added bonus that volunteers are able to see some of the performances for free, Macmillan said the main benefit is catching up with acquaintances she hasn’t seen in months while keeping in touch with friends who frequent the theatre. “It’s amazing how many people you see that you haven’t seen for months and months and months.” Though Macmillan volunteers more than many at the theatre, Kluthe said all volunteers play an integral role in the operation of the facility, regardless of how much time they donate. “Whether they give 10 hours or 10,000 hours, they’re all important,” she added. .........................................................................................................................................
April 5, 2008 FORT WORTH -- For someone just fiddling around, she got good results. The Celtic Fiddle united the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra with Canadian bow master Natalie MacMaster at Bass Hall on Friday. It was a fine concert, but not necessarily for the expected reasons.
We also tend to anticipate step dancing as part of a Celtic evening. But MacMaster did not step dance Friday. Her pianist, Mac Morin, did on one number. And the headlining fiddler tap danced on another. But that was as far as that went. What MacMaster did do was play her instrument beautifully throughout the evening. This was not a night of horsehair-burning speed and violin gymnastics -- although the 35-year-old fiddler showed, in flashes, that she was certainly capable of that. Instead, MacMaster's strong suit was squeezing melancholy, Celtic-flavored laments from her amplified instrument with an emphasis on lyricism, not pyrotechnics. If Ever You Were Mine and Anniversary Waltz were especially sweet. The orchestra, under the baton of Jeffrey Pollock, was also in fine form. The show made good use of an ensemble that was heavy in the strings and a little light in the brass. Overall, it was a lovely, surprisingly low-key evening of music that transcended geography or stereotypes.
PHOTO: Celtic fiddler and
step-dancer Natalie MacMaster performs with the Fort Worth Symphony at
the Bass Performance Hall in downtown Fort Worth Friday. .........................................................................................................................................
March 13, 2008 Internationally renown fiddlers Natalie MacMaster and her husband Donnell Leahy are among six people who will be honoured by Trent University. Trent President Bonnie Patterson announced this year*s recipients of honorary degrees to be presented at the university*s convocation ceremonies June 4, 5 and 6. Joining Lakefield residents MacMaster and Leahy are an award-winning filmmaker, a pioneer in the Canadian broadcast industry, an renowned authority on rare books and a distinguished Parliamentarian Inuit filmmaker and sculptor Zacharias Kunuk, Alliance Atlantis Communications Incorporated Executive Chairman Michael MacMillan, Canadian literature champion Hugh Anson-Cartwright and former Secretary of State for External Affairs Flora MacDonald all will be honoured. "I am delighted the university will have the opportunity to honour such a talented group of individuals whose accomplishments embody the spirit of Trent," Patterson stated. "Each individual has made a significant difference both in Canada and around the world as leaders in their fields of music, film, business, humanitarianism and literature." Well-known to international audiences as one of Canada's major musical talents, MacMaster is credited with lifting traditional East Coast music to its contemporary prominence. Renowned for her flamboyant fiddling and step-dancing prowess, she has won two Juno Awards and eleven East Coast Music Awards, in addition to several Canadian Country Awards for Fiddler of the Year. In 2000, she was nominated for a Grammy Award and in 2006, she became one of the youngest people named to the Order of Canada.
Leahy,
considered one of the best fiddlers in the world, has played a major
role in the Peterborough area*s musical community. He has won three Juno
Awards, created three albums that have collectively sold more than half
a million copies, and developed a MacMaster and Leahy will be honoured during the afternoon ceremony June 4th. .........................................................................................................................................
February 22, 2008
Natalie
MacMaster, a fiddler and step dancer so adept at her instrument and
style that she has virtually single handedly brought Cape Breton music
to the world at large, will be ensconced at Randolph's Chandler Music
Hall for two evening performances, on Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 26 and
27, at 7:30 p.m. MacMaster is well known here What MacMaster and her four-man band bring to the music of their native Canadian island is intense energy wrapped in a very attractive package. The band performs the jigs and reels that have come to Cape Breton via Scotland and Ireland with a foot-tapping energy that invigorates and animates audiences. On the slow ballads, MacMaster plays, with what one reviewer has called "irresistible, keening passion." The music is in MacMaster's blood, as she is a daughter of this part of Nova Scotia, where the music of Scotland wound up after a tumultuous cross-Atlantic voyage in the 18th century.
This
performer obviously loves what she does and shows it in performance with
the apparent joy that emerges in the fiery jigs and reels, quieter
waltzes and new contemporary pieces. It is said by reviewers that her
audiences witness her absolute love of the music and, right from the
start, are convinced that something special is MacMaster has been fiddling since age 9 and has won numerous rewards for her early traditional recordings while also receiving a slew of accolades with her subsequent releases. In her more recent albums "In My Hands," which fuses jazz, Latin and the guest vocals of Alison Krauss, and the Grammy-nominated "My Roots are Showing," she has gained an even wider audience of followers. On the album "Blueprint," MacMaster's band included bluegrass stalwarts Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush and Edgar Meyer. This album won her the "Best Female Artist of the Year" and "Best Roots /Traditional Solo Recording" at Canada's East Coast Music Awards.
Over the
years MacMaster has had CDs charted on Billboard's Top 20 Selling World
Music charts and four of her releases have been certified "gold" (sales
of 50,000+) in Canada. MacMaster was one of the youngest people ever
named a member of the MacMaster's live shows are always energetic events. While this reviewer has not heard her most recent band perform, the combination of Mac Morin on keyboards, Matt MacIsaac on pipes, whistles and banjo, J.D. Blair on drums, along with cellist Nathaniel Smith, sounds interesting. Cape Breton music has a pulse different from the more recognizable Irish styles. With MacMaster and her band the listener is swept up in the sound and carried away to a place of harsh weather, bleak landscapes and strong family ties .........................................................................................................................................
February 17, 2008 TALK about feeling the love! The minute Natalie MacMaster stepped onto the stage at the Centennial Concert Hall Friday night, the audience responded with overwhelmingly resounding enthusiasm. Despite fighting a cold, the Cape Breton-born fiddler gave a high-energy performance in the first of three Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra Pops concerts. The audience was eating out of the palm of MacMaster's hand after just one tune. While her trademark step dancing was limited to just two numbers, every step she did take (and she's as agile as ever) met with fervent cheers. Even her talented pianist, Mac Morin, showed his dancing feet in the traditional Strathspey and Three Reels. If you didn't know better, you'd think his ankles were made of rubber. At the helm was P.E.I.-born conductor/composer/guitarist Scott Macmillan, also the arranger of most of the music on the program. The wisely balanced musical menu included two of his original works for orchestra, A Hail to the Gaels and Song for the Cape. The former began as a wistful Atlantic overture, evoking the smell of the ocean and craggy cliffs of the shore. It transitioned into a rousing and optimistic number, melodic and sprightly. Macmillan's loose-limbed conducting style seemed to strike a chord with the WSO, who responded with earnest energy. And then the star emerged. Dressed in a snow-white pantsuit, MacMaster entered modestly, seeming genuinely surprised at the loud reception. After just a few notes on her fiddle, the audience was swaying and tapping to Tunes a Plenty, a catchy medley of rhythmic Celtic melodies. The touching lament, If Ever You Were Mine, MacMaster's most requested tune, followed. Sad and romantic, the slightly rough edge that makes her playing so authentic added a bittersweet touch to this lovely song. Macmillan's inspired arrangement featured the cellos taking the melody momentarily -- very nice. O'Carolan's Concerto, written by 18th-century Irish harpist Turlough O'Carolan, was a classically styled work sporting a distinct Irish brogue. Its intricacy gave MacMaster a chance to show the depth of her technical abilities, staying jaunty throughout. Violinist Gwen Hoebig stepped from her seat as concertmaster to join MacMaster in two works, Bach/Devil's Dream, in which Hoebig opened with a Bach unaccompanied sonata that turned into a reel, foot-stamping included. MacMaster joined in and they played back and forth in a terrific exchange between Baroque and Celtic. Who knew they were so compatible? Anniversary Waltz was a sentimental favourite, and one that MacMaster usually plays with husband Donnell Leahy of the popular group Leahy. Hoebig used a modified "gypsy violin" style as the two played this plaintive melody, familiarly known as Oh, How We Danced. MacMaster's fresh personality and bouncy zeal is delightful and infectious -- and no one can touch her when it comes to playing the fiddle. .........................................................................................................................................
February 14, 2008 For years now, Cape Breton's Natalie MacMaster has been wowing audiences with her feverish fiddle-playing and her stellar dance steps. Which probably explains how she's so deft at balancing her jam-packed schedule with her duties as a mom. With the birth of first child Mary Frances in 2005, touring became a true family affair for MacMaster and husband Donnell Leahy. But with another new addition to the fold -- Michael Joseph, born last June -- you'd think MacMaster's hands would be twice as full.
"Now that
there's two, there's not that much extra work," says MacMaster, the East
Coast fiddling phenom who kicks off a three-night stint with the
Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra tomorrow. "It's doable, because they travel
with me, and there are so many daily chores that are removed from your
schedule when you're travelling, like washing And while MacMaster prefers to tour almost exclusively with her husband (a fellow fiddler, and a member of the Leahy family band), diverging schedules will prevent the couple from spending Valentine's Day together this year. "I'll be seeing him off that morning," says MacMaster, the niece of Cape Breton legend Buddy MacMaster, from a rehearsal in Nebraska. "It's going to be hanging out with the kids and the babysitter. Maybe we'll go get an ice cream or something." No stranger to the symphony setup, MacMaster marks her second collaboration with the WSO's Pops ensemble this weekend. She says the set -- arranged by Halifax composer Scott MacMillan -- casts the traditional sounds she favours in a far more epic light. "I usually compare it to a speed boat versus a luxury liner," says MacMaster, who's also hard at work on a PBS special and a book. "When I play with my band, it's very manoeuvrable and fast and wild. And when I play with an orchestra, it's much more lush. Maybe the boat moves a bit slower, but there are a lot more luxuries."
A Grammy
nominee and multiple Juno winner, MacMaster is touring in support of the
2007 disc Yours Truly, a project she knew from the outset would be more
than just a traditional record. In fact, when all was said and done,
many of the album's songwriting credits went to MacMaster, who says
she's often shied away from taking too much of the "I didn't plan it like this, but there's actually a lot of my own compositions on the record. Usually I don't like my own stuff, but this time I liked it enough not only to record, but to favour it over a lot of other people's stuff." One of the tracks -- the haunting Song for Peter -- was written for a departed friend, late Canadian newsman Peter Jennings. Another -- a cover of the Irish standard Danny Boy -- found her collaborating with adult-contemporary icon Michael McDonald. In the past, MacMaster has worked with everyone from cousin Ashley MacIsaac to Celtic act The Chieftains to bluegrass legend Bela Fleck. Her pending PBS project has her paired with classical cellist Yo Yo Ma, and she says she looks for just one thing in a potential musical match. "It's all about their intentions for the music," she explains. "It's about keeping it pure and letting it breathe, and turn into what it should, as opposed to saying, 'OK, we're going to write a hit, or a pop song, or something like that.' " Speaking of family, MacMaster says she unfortunately didn't get to jam with another famous relative -- distant cousin Jack White of Detroit, who toured the East Coast as part of The White Stripes' Canadian jaunt last summer. "I've never met him," she says. "I actually wasn't at home -- I was out touring when he stopped through there. I might have even been in Detroit, come to think of it." .........................................................................................................................................
February
4, 2008
Ah, me fair MacMaster, ye play sooch a guld fiedle and make sweit musik. Yeah, it was Celtic night Nova Scotia-style at the Holland Performing Arts Center on Saturday. Natalie MacMaster, one of the world's finest Celtic fiddlers, was in town with her red-hot quintet to play the jigs, reels, marches, airs, clogs and other tunes for which she's become so justly popular. It was a lively show. For the better part of two hours, MacMaster pranced around the stage, playing her fiddle with such frenetic energy that it was a wonder the audience didn't jump up and step dance with her. Probably they were too exhausted from watching her play. Indeed, MacMaster often seemed more like a rock star than a Canadian folk musician. Tall and lean, she wore the sort of white silk suit and shaggy blond hair that would have made Rod Stewart proud. Stewart certainly would have appreciated MacMaster's performance style, since she spent the evening running from one part of the stage to the next to trade riffs and hot licks with the various members of her band. MacMaster plays a kind of Celtic music called Cape Breton fiddling, named for the region of Nova Scotia where it arose. It's basically a vigorous kind of Scottish folk music (Scottish immigrants first brought it to North America) that's full of traditional dance rhythms step dancing, Cape Breton square dancing and highland dancing. MacMaster, herself, proved to be an expert Cape Breton soft-shoe artist. To the untrained American ear, the style sounds like a mix of Appalachian folk, bluegrass and boogie-woogie Cape Breton music features all sorts of funky boogie-woogie-like progressions. MacMaster was able to play it all, tossing off vigorous jigs with a big tone, fearsome bow arm, uncanny sense of rhythms and an impeccable ear for melody. Her airs and other slow songs were heartfelt laments. In many respects, MacMaster's music sounded a lot like what you might hear while downing a Guinness in a local Irish pub. What separated MacMaster from the pub scene, aside from the high level of her playing, was the sound (and quality) of her band. The group: pianist Mac Morin, drummer J.D. Blair, bagpiper Matt MacIsaac and cellist Nathaniel Smith ? played with the hard drive and amplification of a top-notch rock band. MacMaster appeared at the Holland as the latest installment in the Omaha Performing Arts Society's popular entertainer series. And eh, MacMaster, thenk ye lass for sooch a guld concert, and let's hope ye be reit back to Omaha soon. .........................................................................................................................................
February
3, 2008
Natalie MacMaster, the renowned Nova Scotian fiddler and step dancer, performed with her band of five on Friday night at the Lied Center. Her band consisted of a pianist, a pubescent cellist, a Nashville drummer, a bassist and a bagpipe/whistle player. MacMaster came on stage and began playing immediately, stopping only after a few songs to ask the audience to kick off their shoes and dance in the aisles - literally. Before the end of the first half of the show, she showcased her step dancing, sans fiddle, as she mimicked and complemented drum beats.
After
intermission, she shared her philosophy of surrounding herself with
musicians better than herself because, as she said, they make her look
good. She introduced each of the members of her band and they each got
opportunities to show off; the bassist sang a solo, the pianist step
danced a jig and everyone got a solo in one of the final MacMaster's music literally made toes tap and heads bob, and while no one took up her offer to dance in the aisles, she had everyone standing - and a few dancing and wiggling in place - during the encore performance. .........................................................................................................................................
February 1, 2008
Natalie MacMaster will never forget her first conversation with Peter Jennings. "He called me at home and told me he was a big fan, and he invited me to be on his news show," she said. "What really blew me away, though, was that he called personally. Imagine a man like that making his own phone calls." MacMaster, the Canadian-born Celtic fiddle virtuoso who performs Saturday night at the Holland Performing Arts Center, shouldn't have been surprised. Before becoming the anchor of ABC's "World News Tonight," Jennings had been an old-fashioned, shoe-leather foreign correspondent. So naturally he made his own phone calls. More importantly, though, Jennings loved folk music and jazz. It stands to reason that he would be one of the first journalists of national stature to recognize his fellow Canadian's talent and report about it. MacMaster repaid the favor following the anchor's death in 2005, recording a tribute called "Farewell to Peter." The song, an instrumental elegy, is the most heart-rending piece on MacMaster's 2006 album "Yours Truly." "Peter loved Cape Breton music, and the song was something I had to do," she said. You have to wonder whether Jennings, or most other people living outside Nova Scotia, would have known anything about Cape Breton fiddle playing were it not for MacMaster. She is perhaps the only famous exponent of this regional style of Celtic fiddle music, which is characterized by a pronounced rhythmic drive and intense up-bowing. "It never dawned on me growing up that I'd be doing this, since nobody I knew made a career out of playing Cape Breton fiddle," she says. "All the fiddlers I knew had day jobs." All the fiddlers MacMaster knew included, well, pretty much everybody she knew. Born in Nova Scotia in 1972, MacMaster grew up in an extremely musical family. In fact, her uncle Buddy MacMaster was widely considered to be Nova Scotia's top Cape Breton fiddler. "I still hear his sound in my head every time I play," she says. MacMaster began playing fiddle at age 9 and released her first album at age 16. She has gone on to record 10 more, with four of those discs being certified gold in Canada. MacMaster is known for her flamboyant virtuosity. She'll never settle for one note if she can play three or four. She's also known for her musical and professional seriousness. At one point, she gave as many as 250 concerts a year, playing everything from a gig for 200 Japanese travel agents to opening a concert for 80,000 Santana fans. Since the birth of her second child ? she now has a 2-year-old girl and a 6-month-old boy ? she has cut back considerably on her concerts. But she says she'll never entirely give up the road. "I've got a great baby sitter, a great band and a cushy bus, so I'm going to keep playing," she said. .........................................................................................................................................
February 1, 2008 When Natalie MacMaster performed at the 2005 Midwest Arts Conference in Indianapolis, she didn't just fiddle she clogged. Ancient Scottish and Canadian melodies flooded from her violin over the percussive taps of her clogs. With a four-piece band behind her, MacMaster invigorated the audience and inspired Shelley Dotson, the event services manager at the Touhill Performing Arts Center in St. Louis, to help bring the Canadian fiddler to Missouri. She seems to perform in a way as if no one else is there, says Dotson. Its like a garage performance, and you just happen to be watching. Whether she dances a quick jig or plays a Scottish ballad, MacMaster shares a piece of herself and her home at every performance. The violinists heritage is rooted in Nova Scotias music scene, and her energetic spirit and creative vigor add life to the ancient melodies she brings to the stage. As the niece of famed Canadian fiddler Buddy MacMaster, she has music in her veins. His musicianship coupled with her love of the people and traditional songs of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, make MacMaster a force on stage. The style of Cape Breton and our music is easygoing, and its meant to be interpreted however the individual feels it, she says. Take it for what it is. However, she isn't only tied to the music of her home. Just because I am a Cape Breton fiddler doesn't mean that's all I do, she says. MacMaster is one of hundreds of Canadian musicians who make up East Coast music, a genre of the traditional and contemporary tunes of Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. These musicians play the songs that have been handed down to them through generations. Its music that is very much homebred, says MacMaster, who comes from a family of musicians. Music that comes from the kitchen, really. Cape Breton fiddling can be traced back to ancient Scottish folk songs, but MacMaster doesnt stop at tradition. Yours Truly, her fourth album, comprises pieces written by the fiddler herself. Writing and recording original music was a first for MacMaster, who looked beyond traditional Canadian melodies. MacMaster infuses elements of jazz and rock into her music to create a more accessible, updated sound. Her music is a really effective combination of tradition and innovation, says Darry Dolezal, a cello professor at MU. It has folk roots, but she brings a lot of sophistication and modern ideas to it as well. With a cellist, bagpiper, drummer, pianist and MacMaster, the band isnt large, but its big enough to create an atmosphere that is purely Canadian. Although the concerts focus is the fiddling and Canadian music, its hard not to dance to the infectious beats that drive the show. Don't be surprised if MacMaster puts on her dancing shoes. Its actually not that difficult to fiddle and dance at the same time, says MacMaster, who has step danced longer than she has fiddled. But if you have to pick one over the other, keeping the melody going is the most important. Since the birth of her second child in June, MacMaster has had to make dramatic cuts in her touring. For now, she brings her kids on the road. She says motherhood and musicianship is doable but admits it can be cumbersome. MacMaster will continue to pursue the music that has always been a part of her. She hopes the people who listen will hear more than just an old folk tune. They enter into your soul, MacMaster says. There are a lot of great old melodies that are much more than surface tunes. .........................................................................................................................................
January 31, 2008 Natalie MacMaster is undoubtedly proud of her heritage. Hailing from the Eastern Canadian island of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, MacMaster has forged a career out of melding the native traditional music of her home with a few modern trappings. Pulled from traditional Canadian square dances, filled with Scottish and Gaelic foundations and infused with touches of American folk, country and jazz, she described it best as "music to dance to and have a hoot." So, it was no surprise that her concert at the Overture Center Wednesday night served as a musical travelogue, history lesson and folk dance festival. A fireball of energy with a fiddle in her hand, MacMaster rarely stopped her percussive step-dancing throughout the 2½-hour set. Backed by a talented five-piece band, most of the songs quickly sprung to life, before venturing into new directions. "Flea as a Bird," a Scottish clog, was accented by JD Blair's jazzy drum interlude. Virtuosic 13-year-old cellist Nathaniel Smith drove "Volcanic Jig" from its mournful center into an angry dirge that was soon accented by a staccato response from MacMaster's fiddle. The slower "Josefin's Waltz" displayed the rich tone of her instrument. As the band began "G Medley," MacMaster prompted the three-quarter capacity audience to move, saying, "Don't worry about etiquette. This is a beautiful theater, but it needs to be shook up a bit." As she played, she danced across the stage, twirling and whooping in time. Throughout the evening MacMaster was a gracious host. It was almost as if she was welcoming the crowd into her living room, as she spun tales about her family and her own musical path on the Canadian island. When she asked if anyone else was from Cape Breton, one fan shouted out that she had honeymooned in the island's small town of Mabou. "Well, then I know where you stayed," MacMaster slyly replied. "Because, there is only one place there." After an intermission, multi-instrumentalist Matt MacIsaac performed an intensely rhythmic bagpipe piece before MacMaster took the stage by herself for the traditional "Tullochgorum" - a piece that featured her fastest and most intricate fiddling of the night. "Madness" was a musical amalgamation highlighting the diverse skill sets of the band members. At the end of the set, "Reel of Tulloch" roused the clapping crowd to its feet and found MacMaster removing her tap shoes to mix a few Moonwalking moves into her energetic highland steps. .........................................................................................................................................
January
19, 2008 All was seemingly calm as Natalie MacMaster balanced a phone in one hand and her 7-month old son, Michael Joseph, in the other. The conversation flowed easily at first as the famed Cape Breton fiddler discussed the art of collaboration, her 2006 album Yours Truly and a trimmed touring schedule of 75 to 100 concerts this year for the working mother of two (daughter Mary Frances turned 2 in December). Then came an eruption on the phone line, a vocal dissension from Michael that quickly shifted MacMaster's role from musician to mom. "Oh, and this was all going so smoothly," she remarked. But it is a brief interruption. Michael is soon settled, making another appearance later by way of a curious coo. Otherwise, the balancing act resumed. Certainly the Grammy-nominated MacMaster is not the first professional musician to juggle parenthood and a career. But although making her family her priority, especially since Michael's arrival, MacMaster better appreciates her music, a mesh of the Celtic-based traditional sound that is all but a second tongue on Canada's Cape Breton Island with adventurous contemporary and Americana accents. "I have this sort of abandon now," she said. "Having two children and being married is my focus. That is No. 1 for me. That means music has taken on a slightly different air. I've realized I don't have to play music. But I want to. And I can choose to play as much or as little as I like. On those terms, I'm finding I'm enjoying it more. I guess the pressure is off. "I've actually been fortunate enough to have had good business experiences during my career, so I've never really had pressure put on me. But certainly the pressure I exert on myself is off. With Michael, I was off about five months from show to show. I really felt myself longing to get back onstage. And once I was onstage, I just appreciated it a lot more." Perhaps that's because fiddling has surrounded MacMaster for much of her life. Her husband is fiddler Donnell Leahy, who co-produced Yours Truly. Her uncle is Cape Breton fiddle great Buddy MacMaster, who cut a sublime album of traditional music with his niece in 2005. Her cousin is renegade fiddle stylist Ashley MacIsaac. And one of MacMaster's finest albums, 2001's Blueprint, a Nashville session featuring the progressive bluegrass playing of B la Fleck, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas and others, was co-produced by the extraordinary West Coast fiddler Darol Anger. "There is certainly a community out there of fiddlers," MacMaster said. "They share a commonality, a passion. It's close-knit, it's supportive and it's wonderful." Two extended fiddle communities have profoundly influenced MacMaster's music. One is the Mark O'Connor Fiddle Camp, an institute of sorts founded by the Grammy-winning, bluegrass-turned-classical artist. Scores of all-star instrumentalists, including MacMaster, have been instructors. It was at an O'Connor Camp that MacMaster met Anger. "Darol once put it this way: 'There was life before camp and there is life after camp.' I really understand that distinction," she said. "So much of my world has opened up in such a positive way through meeting fiddlers at those camps." But the deepest and most supportive fiddle community for MacMaster has been Cape Breton itself. The Nova Scotia island has been a home for fiddle music since Scottish immigrants started settling there in the 18th century. MacMaster's music has regularly adopted contemporary instrumentation (guitars, keyboards, electric bass), but there is a rustic, wooden tone to her playing that heavily references Cape Breton tradition. She embraces the style completely on the second disc of her fine 2002 concert album, Live, which was cut with an unadorned trio at a Cape Breton square dance. "You're surrounded by music there," MacMaster said of Cape Breton. "It's in the environment around you. Your father plays. Your uncle plays. Somebody in your family plays and they teach you, inspire you and make you want to learn. There's a real hand-me-down tradition to this music. But you also play piano. You also dance. And it becomes part of life as opposed to, 'I want to be a music star.' That has its merits, too. But this music is something special. "It's a true music. It comes from hardships. It comes from joys. It comes from life, culture and tradition born way back in Scotland that has survived today. This is music that speaks to a person's human spirit." .........................................................................................................................................
January
16, 2008 (The edited article appeared in the Dayton City Paper Vol.5/No.03/January 16th, 2007)
The
willowy resonance of the fiddle, long and flowing, trailed across the
ocean to North America, far from its native Scottish soil, taking root
in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada. Natalie MacMaster was born into
this melodic heritage in Inverness County, Nova Scotia from a long
lineage of musicians. Her uncle, Buddy MacMaster as well as two of her
cousins, Ashley MacIsaac and
Andrea Beaton,
are also well known Cape Breton fiddlers. Natalie first took up the
fiddle when she was nine and has since become a world renowned fiddler
in the Cape Breton style, winning awards and accolades along her
journey. Her style is one steeped in tradition, yet elements of jazz,
bluegrass and Latin influences pepper the many raucous reels and jigs,
making them forever J.T.: Coming from such a musical background, do you view your music as an extension of your family, almost like an heirloom?
Natalie: Yes! Well put. Definitely it's an extension, but more than
an heirloom. An heirloom is something that's delicate and something
that's? well, then again, it has been passed down from generation to J.T.: Now, have you ever started on a piece with one thing in mind, but it turned into another type of animal, all on its own?
Natalie: Well, certainly when writing, yes. When performing and
playing a tune that I already know, we call that 'going in the woods'.
It's a term, like when you start something and you don't end up where
you started and basically made a royal mistake and went into another
piece, that's called 'going in the woods'. Well, I have gone in the J.T.: In terms of your original pieces, have you ever started on, lets say a sadder or slower piece and it metamorphosed into something completely different. Natalie: Yes it has. Now, for me, because I'm not a vocalist, there's that whole element. Melodies are just melodies and I guess you could say, 'Did you ever start a piece that intended to be something and turned into something else?' All the time that happens. I start a few bars of something and I think, 'Oh, this is going to be a great?' and it ends up being something else. The key to that, for me anyway, is just letting it go where it wants to go without trying to make it become something, because if you force it, then you usually end up with something that sounds like it's forced. Just let it flow. J.T.: Why do you think that Celtic styled music is so widely accepted internationally?
Natalie: I think because it's music that comes from a real place and
it's a tradition. It's stood this test of time. It's not a fad. It'll be
here long after you're gone. It has truth and honesty to it by the very
nature of it. That's real and people like what is real. People J.T.: I recently watched a Celtic performer and I noticed that during the performance, the music seemed to draw the people in as if they were one group instead of separate individuals. From the stage, do you see your music as bringing people together to experience it as a community instead of singular observers? Natalie: All the time I see unity. The music creates, especially folk or Celtic or Cape Breton or whatever you want to call it?f iddle music? it definitely brings people together. No question. I love it! I love it for that reason. I get up on stage and I see all these people from all different backgrounds and all different beliefs and all different shapes and sizes and they all come together. Here they are all together and they're very?joyous and celebrating music together. Definitely exciting. J.T.: There is so much sadness conveyed in some of your music?why do you think that the fiddle can bring about such a range of emotion, from a raucous reel to a melancholy melody in so few turns?
Natalie: I think just by the nature of the instrument. It's just a
J.T.: Are there pieces that you perform that still hold the same energy within you as the first time you performed it?
Natalie: Yeah, that's a great question. Sometimes the more you play
a tune, the more you can let go of the thought process to play the tune
J.T.: Your rendition of Danny Boy with Michael McDonald lent such a soulful texture to this familiar song. How far can Celtic music be pushed into other genres? Natalie: Oh, I think it can go anywhere. It can go anywhere and any genre at all. I think any instrument can cross over into any culture. It might not be part of the tradition, and therefore might create a type of sound within the tradition. It's all about the player? the talent of the player. J.T.: With all of the styles and genres that you've so artfully wended together, what is your next goal? Natalie: Well, let's be clear that those touches of different styles are not coming from my fiddle. I play Cape Breton fiddle. They come more from the arrangements. For the most part, those influences are all sort of coincidental. It's on my bio somewhere?'touches of jazz, classical, bluegrass'?I've never played bluegrass and they're referring to my album Blueprint where I have the crème de le crème from the bluegrass world, but I was just looking for really great players. My producer, Darrell Anger, he's right in with those guys. They're the best of the best. So, luckily I had a great producer who had great relationships with these people and they also recognized and respected my talent and, lo and behold, we got to work in the studio together. The fact that it was bluegrass was an afterthought. For example, the Latin thing?that comes from my tune Flamenco Fling and that was a tune where I had this great melody written by a friend of mine and I took it to my producer and I was like, 'Listen to this. I think that this is something really fun. It has kind of a Latin feel.' He listened to it and said, 'Totally! Let's write a third section to it and let's put a horn section in it and maybe a Flamenco guitarist like Jesse Cook' and we let it have that Latin sound that it had naturally. So it's more of a natural thing.
|
Was
it hot Sunday evening? It's quite possible thousands of people on the
Long's Park lawn didn't notice. 
Leahy,
the oldest sibling in the musical Leahy family from rural Ontario,
matched his wife note for note, charging through the music with relish.
Before
presenting them with their honorary doctorate degrees, Trent University
Prof. Roy Hagman quipped that Natalie Mac-Master and Donnell Leahy are
the "Brad and Angelina" of the fiddling world. 
"We've
seen spectacular success," Hagman said. "Thus they've ensured that a
great folk tradition, far from dying out, would thrive and grow into a
new century." 
The
Shell Theatre is expected to use 3,000 volunteer hours this season to
put on its shows – ranging from Natalie MacMaster to the Lights Up
Performing Arts Society-sponsored Splash Hip Hop Show.
Most
of us, for example, tend to think of Irish music when the Celtic
adjective is used. But while MacMaster did one number from the Shamrock
Isle, most of her program was Scottish music (turns out those Celts were
everywhere -- Ireland, Scotland, Boston Garden) filtered through the
styles of her native Nova Scotia.