Natalie MacMaster & Band

Overview

With a talent that remains both raw and wondrously refined, and backed by a band any top musician would be proud of, Natalie Mac Master continues to stun crowds around the globe. Well-known to international audiences as one of Canada’s major talents, she has been an ambassador for traditional East Coast music, and is credited with lifting the style to its contemporary prominence. Her live performances are renowned for their incandescent energy and toe-tapping, rhythmic intensity. She has shared the stage with Santana, The Chieftains, Paul Simon, Pavarotti, Faith Hill, Don Henley, Michael McDonald and dozens of distinguished symphony orchestras.

Related Sites

• Natalie MacMaster Official Web Site
• Find a video clip here

About the Artists

Capturing The Cape Breton Sound

Meet Natalie MacMaster: wife, mother and virtuoso Cape Breton fiddler.
You know her more as the latter than the former; an electrifying performer whose passionate proficiency on the beloved four-string amplifies the traditional East Coast sound for contemporary times.

It's a signature sound that has resonated with world audiences through 10 albums, multiple gold sales figures and 27 years; numerous Juno and East Coast Music Awards; two honorary degrees (from Niagara University, NY, and Trent University) and an honorary doctorate (St. Thomas University); the Order Of Canada - and a reputation as one of Canada's most captivating performers.

She also has the respect and admiration of the crème de la crème of top-notch musicians: master violinist Mark O'Connor, whose camp MacMaster frequents as a guest instructor; legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma - who recently invited her to prominently participate as a guest performer on his 2008 holiday-themed album Songs Of Joy & Peace; banjo prodigy Béla Fleck; fellow fiddling marvel Alison Krauss; spiritually electrifying superstar guitarist Carlos Santana - the list goes on.
But to Natalie MacMaster, her beloved family now shapes and informs her musicianship as much as the jigs, reels, air, waltzes, strathspeys, marches and traditional folk that feed her spiritual soul.

"Not so much the sound as the delivery," states MacMaster, who married handsome fiddle phenomenon Donnell Leahy of Leahy in 2002.

"I am a Mom now. I am a wife. Those things are my priorities in life, and I think people get a sense of that - of that part of who I am - through my show.  But my music itself hasn't changed."

If anything, family has reinvigorated Natalie MacMaster's commitment to the stage and her audience.

"I like being on stage even more," she enthuses. "When I appear onstage, that's my departure from Momhood - and I transform into Natalie MacMaster: the entertainer, the fiddler, the performer.  I relish that now more."

As do her audiences, who are left clapping, hollering and screaming for more as MacMaster and her band wow them with stylistic diversity as reflected in such top-selling CDs as the Grammy-nominated My Roots Are Showing, Blueprint and Yours Truly.  The applause only increases in excitement when MacMaster incorporates step dancing into her performance.

"I was 16 when I started focusing on the step dancing, and it was kind of a joke at the time," she recalls. "I was with a bunch of other young musicians and we all played and we all danced. It was a joke at the beginning, but then I began pulling it out of the hat so to speak when I needed to perk up the crowd, and it always did the trick. As the years went on, people came to expect it, so I still do a little of that - even when I'm pregnant."

But it's her majesty with the bow and her intricate technique in making the fiddle sing and championing the Cape Breton tradition that floors her admirers for over 100 shows per year.

"I guess culture and tradition never go out of style," MacMaster explains. "For my crowds, they've been there for so many years - they just keep building and hanging on. I think they've seen me go from a very youthful new sound into a maturity and a confidence through the years. I also think they receive whatever it is that I give, not through me trying, but only through the nature of music itself. I always get the sense from them that they deeply understand the unspoken essence of what I do.  That's probably a combination of the Cape Breton tradition and a combination of personality and time."

And she's not simply sticking to her roots.

"I am a very musical person," MacMaster declares. "I love music, and I don't just love Cape Breton fiddling, although it's my favourite: I love jazz and pop rock and country. I grew up listening to Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Def Leppard, AC/DC, Anne Murray -- if I hear something really great, like Bonnie Raitt's Luck Of The Draw and ‘Good Man, Good Woman,' I want to be a part of it. That love spawned a few tunes like ‘Catharsis' I recorded on No Boundaries - my first rock piece - and ‘Flamenco Fling' on In My Hands.  I heard flamenco guitar playing and I thought it was awesome, and thought I could put a fiddle tune over flamenco rhythms.  I guess I've never felt that because I'm from Cape Breton, that's all I can do. I've always felt like I can play music however I want to play it, although everything is rooted in the tradition of Cape Breton fiddling."

Born June 13, 1972 to her parents Alex and Minnie MacMaster in Troy, Inverness County, Nova Scotia, Natalie MacMaster's impressive musical lineage includes a cadre of amazing fiddlers, including her uncle, fiddle prodigy Buddy MacMaster (with whom Natalie recorded the 2005 gem Traditional Music From Cape Breton Island); her cousins Andrea Beaton and Ashley MacIsaac, and the late, great Canadian folk icon John Allan Cameron.

However, MacMaster forged her own sound, debuting her fiddling prowess at the age of nine-and-a-half years at a Glencoe Mills, N.S. square dance. She delivered her first album, Four On The Floor, at the age of 16.

"It's been quite a journey, traveling through many different paths," says MacMaster, who also holds a Bachelor of Education degree from Nova Scotia Teacher's College.  "I remember the excitement of me just being able to take what was in your mind and put it out on an instrument, which, when you're learning, isn't so easy. So when it happens, there's a great feeling of satisfaction and it keeps you wanting more."

Her career hasn't been without its challenges. "I was incredibly shy on stage until I was in my early-to-mid 20s," she explains. "I went through a phase of nerves - where you got better and better and then there was more at stake almost for you, in that you really felt the personal pressure to be as good as you could be. It was at a point in time where people were expecting you to be good because you established some sort of familiarity with the crowd. It lasted for a year or so - where I was so nervous going on stage. Finally, I said to myself, I can't continue like this. I'm driving myself crazy. I can't perform to the best of my ability because these nerves are affecting my bow. So I put mind over matter, triumphed and transformed that negative nervous energy into positive nervous energy.  It made me stronger rather than weaker."

This strength and confidence has only manifested itself through the years, whether it's through album such as the gold Fit As A Fiddle that marks her fueling tradition or exploring Texas and bluegrass swing, Gaelic singing on the gold No Boundaries; a touch of folk rock and new age during the gold In My Hands; a contrasting embrace of the modern and old roots on Live; or the upcoming new traditional-flavoured album she'll record for release in the fall of 2009.
It has served Natalie MacMaster on stage, whether performing with The Chieftains, Paul Simon, Faith Hill, Luciano Pavarotti or in front of millions on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, the ABC 2002 New Year's Eve Special and Good Morning America.
It has thrilled audiences throughout Europe and North America, especially in her native Canada, enabling MacMaster to passionately perform and promote the universal language of her Cape Breton sound.

And at a youthful 36, her strength and confidence in performing the fiddle continues to drive her passion and hunger to explore her love of music even further - and satisfy her audiences, and herself, in the process.

Which is why Natalie MacMaster is so thankful for her gifted talent.

"I have a gratefulness and an appreciation," says MacMaster. "I am grateful for the ability to play music to people, for the ability that I have to extract so much from a tune or a melody and the rich feeling I get from it. Music has given me another layer and dimension of feeling because it really broadens the soul and really broadens the heart, you know?"

Mac Morin: Dancer, Piano & Keyboard player, is a talented Troy, Cape Breton native whose ancestors were noted Cape Breton step dancers for several generations. Including Mary C. MacDonald Morin (Mother) and John R.'Roddie Eddie' MacDonald (Grandfather). Mac has been dancing for over 10 years, first being taught by his mother and then the talented Warner sisters of Mabou, Cape Breton. Since then he has taken on the role as teacher in various private and workshop venues.

Along with other highly regarded dancers, Mac was a step dance instructor during the International Celtic Colours Festival held in Cape Breton yearly since 1997. Mac has also made a big name for himself as an accomplished Cape Breton-style piano player.

After two years on the road with Natalie MacMaster's band back in 2000, touring all over the world and sharing the stage with such artists as the Chieftains and Mark O'Connor, Mac has since toured with Howie MacDonald's 'Celtic Brew' and 'Rise & Follies of Cape Breton' shows, the Rankin Sisters, and is kept busy supplying accompaniment for fiddlers such as Ian MacDougall, Andrea Beaton, Rodney MacDonald, Glenn Graham, Howie MacDonald, Jackie Dunn, Wendy MacIsaac, Troy MacGillivray, Shelly Campbell, and Buddy MacMaster to name just a few.

Mac re-joined Natalie's band in the summer of 2006 and is now touring the world again providing piano accompaniment and stepdancing.

Mac is also a full-time member of the energetic Cape Breton band 'Beolach' which features fiddlers Wendy MacIsaac and Mairi Rankin, Guitarist Patrick Gillis, Piper Ryan J. MacNeil, Drummer Matthew Foulds and Mac on Piano. The band has toured Canada, United States and Europe and released a self titled CD in 2002 and 'Variations' in 2004

Born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Matt MacIsaac was exposed to and surrounded by piping at an early age. A great-grandson to Pipe Major John A. (Black Jack) MacDonald of the Cape Breton Highlanders, Matt has followed his traditional lineage as a piper just as his relatives have before him. He is truly a natural talent.

After spending his early childhood years listening to family members play the pipes at gatherings and ceilidhs, Matt began his formal training as a piper and received his first instruction from Scott MacAulay at the College of Piping in Summerside, P.E.I. Although born in Cape Breton Matt grew up in New Brunswick where he continued his piping tuition with the Fredericton Society of St. Andrews Pipe Band organization under the leadership of Pipe Major Sandy Gordon moving through the ranks quickly joining the grade 2 band by the age of 12.

After a two year stretch with Fredericton Matt relocated with his family back to Nova Scotia and joined the grade 1 Halifax Police Association Pipes and Drums under the direction of Pipe Major Doug Boyd and later Pipe Major John Walsh. Matt continues to perform and compete with this organization which is now known as the 78th Highlanders Halifax Citadel (2003 North American Pipe Band Champions). See Natalie MacMaster web site for more....

Nathaniel Smith began studying cello at five years of age and quickly developed an interest in playing cello in a variety of musical settings. He is a two time winner of the alternative instrument category at the Southern Regional Fiddler's Contest.

He won first place in the American String Teacher Association Alternative Music Competition in 2005, which included a winner's performance at the Nugget Casino in Reno, Nevada where he received the award for best musicianship and also where he first met Mark O'Connor.

He has performed in concert with Mark while attending the Fiddle Camp in Nashville and the Strings Conference in San Diego and he in 2006 completed a national tour with Mark O'Conner's American String Celebration. His mentors include cellists Natalie Haas, Rushad Eggleston and Tristan Clarridge. Nat pursues classical studies with Carlton McCreery at the University of Alabama, with whom he has studied for eight years.

He was the principal cellist in the Mississippi All-State Orchestra for 2006 and currently plays cello in the Belhaven College String Quartet and is the assistant principal cellist for the Belhaven Chamber Orchestra. He enjoys playing many musical styles and adapting them to the cello. He studies with a local jazz guitarist, adapting many tunes from the jazz repertoire to cello. He is the cellist, bassist, and composer in his local band, 18 String Theory, and is a sought after soloist in the Jackson area, frequently performing and recording with local jazz, classical and traditional musicians. He is currently an 8th grader and is 13 years old.