The highlight of each performance had to be Natalie joining The Chieftains at show’s end to fiddle and dance. MacMaster capably and expertly delivered the goods. The Chieftains obviously saw something in Natalie that their audiences would soon come to appreciate. In March of 1996, Natalie received a phone call from Ireland’s The Chieftains requesting that she open for them on a four-week tour of the United States. And for several years, she has acted as guest instructor and performer at the world renowned Mark O’Connor Fiddle Camp in Nashville. Natalie has headlined in cities such as London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Brussels, and Tokyo. A broken fiddle string couldn’t keep her down as Natalie continued playing using only her bottom two strings. In June of 1995, Natalie won over a crowd of 80,000 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, as opening act for Carlos Santana. Natalie’s phenomenal stage presence has led to considerable media attention. In 1995, she was nominated as Entertainer of the Year. In 1994, her third album, Fit as a Fiddle, earned Natalie the Instrumental Artist of the Year Award. In 1992, she won the Roots/Traditional Artist Award. Natalie’s first three recordings gained major nominations and awards from the East Coast Music Association.
#Natilie macmaster full#
Whether performing with a small format or with her full band, Natalie’s concerts are a dazzling blend of musical virtuosity and lively step dancing. Natalie has become a musical ambassador for a new musical generation of Cape Breton musicians. From a small beginning playing at dances and concerts in and around Cape Breton to representing Nova Scotia on the world’s stages. From the early days, she was encouraged by her father and musically influenced by her uncle, Buddy MacMaster, an undisputed master of the Cape Breton fiddle. Natalie began playing at age 9 after having been given a small fiddle by her great uncle. She was raised in a musical family steeped in Scottish heritage. It’s knowing that’s someone else you can bounce something off and you know how they think and they’re going to give you the real answer and that is my confidence,” MacMaster says.Your Connection to traditional and contemporary World Music, including folk, roots, global music, ethno and crosscultural fusionsĬomposer, virtuoso fiddler and skilled step dancer Natalie Ann MacMaster was born on Jin Troy, Nova Scotia, Canada. “I have my support right here and I need that now. “And to have that commitment to a project or to a task is so important and so needed.” “Natalie brings a passion, like an unrelenting passion to everything she does,” Leahy says. They also agree on how much they love working together. “We tend to trust each other’s opinion and we come from different angles, but we kind of agree most of the time on things,” says Leahy. “And then there’s mom and dad’s favourite two tracks, and of course they’re traditional Cape Breton tunes played by their daughter,” the couple joked.īut does the married couple bump heads while working together? “I should mention Elmer Ferrer too, our co-producer, who’s from Cuba, he had an incredible influence on this sound as well,” adds MacMaster. Our oldest daughter is our keyboard player now and she’s right into Latin and so that has crept into our music,” Leahy says. The pair stretched the boundaries of Celtic-folk music on “Canvas” and experimented with global sounds. “We didn’t want to feel any restrictions,” says MacMaster.
“We don’t have any preconceived ideas, any direction, we just have an open canvas … the music will decide what this is going to be,” says Leahy. They say their record - “Canvas” - started from scratch. It's a busy life for the couple, who lives on a working farm in Ontario, along with homeschooling their kids and extracurricular activities.īut the couple found time to create a new album together during the pandemic. “(The) babies aren’t very babyish anymore … our oldest is 17,” says MacMaster. They’ve now been married for 20 years and are raising their seven - also very musical - children together. “So I drove to Nova Scotia to meet the girl who played the music.” I’d heard Natalie’s music on a cassette tape my sister had,” Leahy told CTV Atlantic’s Katie Kelly. “It was love at first fiddle even before I met Natalie. The two fiddlers first played together on their first date, back in 1991. Cape Breton musician Natalie MacMaster and her husband Donnell Leahy have released a new album that pushes the boundaries of Celtic music.
0 kommentar(er)
