![]() The latter two garnered East Coast Music Awards, and Fit as a Fiddle struck Canadian gold (50,000 copies sold). Two independent records followed: c Road to the Isle (1991, ACC- 49290) and Fit as a Fiddle (1993, NMAS-CD 1972 CBC Maritimes). Natalie MacMaster's first recording, 4 on the Floor (ACC-4979), was released independently in 1989. It's keeping the tradition alive, and who can really argue with that?" Recordings, Awards, and Activities 1989 -Present She explains, "Some people will argue that this ruins the tradition, but it doesn't really. The Cape Breton style still has some rawness." She occasionally layers the traditional music with her original contemporary stylings. "The only place you can find it is on Cape Breton Island. "It's not a very common fiddle style," says MacMaster. MacMaster's traditional Cape Breton fiddling style is based on a rich Highland Scotland repertoire of 17th-, 18th-, and 19th-century airs, strathspeys, marches, jigs, reels, and hornpipes. Two years later she performed at Expo 86 in Vancouver. At 12 she toured the North American Celtic festival circuit. As a child, she jammed with Cape Breton fiddlers Buddy MacMaster (her uncle) and Ashley MacIsaac (a distant cousin). She made her debut playing at Cape Breton square dances, and for three years travelled to mainland Antigonish to study violin with Stan Chapman. When she was nine years old her great-uncle gave her a miniature violin, and she began to learn traditional fiddle tunes by ear. ![]() Natalie MacMaster's mother taught her to step dance at age five. Thomas) 2003, hon D MUS (Niagara U, NY) 2006. Fiddler, step dancer, composer, producer, teacher, b Inverness County, NS, B Ed (Nova Scotia Teachers' College), hon doctorate (St. For more on Natalie MacMaster, visit her website, or find her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.Natalie MacMaster's traditional Cape Breton fiddling style is based on a rich Highland Scotland repertoire from the 17th to 19th centuries (photo by Richard Beland, courtesy Natalie MacMaster). She Who Must Be Obeyed homeschools her kids, as does Natalie MacMaster. It has longevity even if it’s not the current fad and not on Top 40 radio. That fad has come and gone but there’s always a demand for Celtic music. Twenty or maybe even thirty years ago, there seemed to be more of a focus on Celtic music and Riverdance and Rita MacNeil and the Rankin Family. What is the current Celtic music scene like? How has it changed since the Riverdance days? They all know how to do the traditional Cape Breton step-dancing steps and the steps that Donnell grew up with – the Ottawa Valley style step-dancing. Our parents spoke it but it definitely skipped a generation. I don’t speak Gaelic and neither does Donnell. The kids are learning a bit of Gaelic, and on the new CD they sing “Silent Night” in Gaelic. How important to you are other Celtic traditions? You keep the purity by having kids hearing it and feeling it before seeing it. It’s not passed down through notes as much as it’s passed down through ear. The ear comes first and the notes are second. ![]() Not that we’re against notes.īut I definitely think if you can only have one or the other, the most important thing is your ear. But in terms of us teaching them fiddle, we don’t use notes at all. Our kids are taking Royal Conservatory piano so they’re learning notes there. Did you also learn strictly by ear? Is that how you’re teaching your children? I remember your husband saying that he and his siblings couldn’t read music. So between them, when one or two are away, they manage it and there are a couple of relatives who help out as well if necessary. With the best brother-in-law in the world! There are three boys who run the farming operation. How do you manage to tour for 1/3 of the year and still keep the cows fed? It would be a very unloving thing to say, “Come live with me! Abandon all your generations of farming and the land that you love.” And knowing that, there was no strain, no pulling, it just was.įarming is a 24/7 commitment. It was so obvious in my mind that him coming from a farming background and having lots of cattle and owning a home and owning farm acreage and me renting an apartment in Halifax it was the right thing to do. NM: When we were still dating, I remember saying that if one of us had to move, I’d move to Ontario. Natalie & Donnell performing at the 2016 Lowell Folk Festival! □: #music #musicfestival #festivalseason #summer #folk #concert #hadablast #celtic #capebreton #novascotiaĪ photo posted by Macmaster & Leahy on at 10:56am PDTĪpt613: What was the biggest adjustment to joining a large extended family and moving to a farm?
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