It is my distinct pleasure and my honor to send Canada’s Celtic gem, Natalie MacMaster, a few questions, and here is what she had to say.

DEB: A consummate Celtic fiddler with an exuberant stage presence, Natalie MacMaster has been playing the music of her beloved homeland, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, since the age of 9.    1.  How did you get started on the fiddle, how many instruments do you play, and who were your early influences? NATALIE: “I got started when a grand-uncle of mine from Boston Denny 3/4 size fiddle to the house. It fit me perfectly. I was 9 1/2. All the fiddles we had at home were too big! Buddy MacMaster my uncle was my biggest influence. I heard him most and watched him play countless times at family functions.”

DEB: You began your professional career at 16 years of age in 1988, by recording your debut album Four on The Floor.  Since then, you haven’t been idle. You have released 12 solo albums, 4 collaboration albums which led to a collaboration Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance-Songs of Joy & Peace with Yo-Yo Ma in 2010, you were nominated for Best Traditional Folk Album for My Roots Are Showing in 2000, as well, you won a Canadian Folk Music Award for Instrumental Group of the Year in 2015 with Donnell Leahy, followed by an East Coast Music Award for Fan’s Choice Entertainer of the Year also Instrumental Recording of the Year in 2016, once again, with Donnell Leahy. Your Solo career has been just as impressive with 7 JUNO nominations with 2 wins for Best Instrumental Album, My Roots Are Showing 1999 and In My Hands, 2000, 9 East Coast Music Awards, 5 Canadian Country Music Association Awards as Fiddler of the Year from 1997 to 2001 which garnered you a CCMA Hall of Honour Award, 3 gold albums with overall sales exceeding 300,000. You are a Member of the Order of Canada in 2006, a GEMINI Award for Best Performance or Host in a Variety Program or Series in 1999, and you have 3 Honorary Doctorates in Theology at Halifax, NS, Trent University Peterborough, and Niagara University in New York. As well, you are a Casino Nova Scotia Music Hall of Fame Inductee in 2016, and you have the distinct honor to have received a Doctor of Divinity, not to mention you are married to 1 of Canada’s beloved award-winning multi-instrumentalists, Donnell Leahy, while you homeschool your 7 children on the farm while you have toured the globe (solo, as a duo with Donnell Leahy, with your band and family, (including your children).

Plus, you have 3 current albums out featuring 2015’s album-ONE (with Donnell Leahy), 2016’s A Celtic Family Christmas, and 2019’s Sketches, your 1st solo album in 8 years.    DEB: 2.  How do you juggle it all and when do you find time to be just Natalie? NATALIE: “Haha! When you put it like that, I am old!! At 48, and doing all these things, that’s the Natalie I’ve become! But I make time to go for walks with friends once in a while, other than that, my life is my family and music and it is very rewarding and fulfilling to know you are where you are supposed to be. That fills me.”

DEB:  3.   What is it like to be 1 of the most recognizable female fiddlers especially in a predominately male regarded industry?   NATALIE: “Hmmmm…. I’ve never really pondered that. Of course, I am aware that I’ve had a dandy go of it and have accomplished lots, but it’s funny how a person doesn’t often focus on where they are. I always focus on where I’m going. Perhaps too much so and I need to savor the accomplishments already achieved.“

DEB: 4. Since your professional music career began back in 1988, did you ever imagine that your career would unfold the way it has? Also, did you ever think your songs would have influenced the world as they have? NATALIE: “NEVER!!! No, this was not in my mind, this was not my goal. I never had a goal other than to play. The music career just unfolded and it has been a wickedly exciting adventure that continues to twist, turn, and unfold.  I have said before, don’t be limited by your dreams, because sometimes what life has for you is better than what you could have imagined!! As far as influences, I never take time to acknowledge that. I wouldn’t want to be so presumptuous!! But to be honest, it’s been long enough and I am now mature enough to say yes, there has been influencing as I need to respect those who have shared with me the impact. I am just really grateful to be dedicated to this form of communication.”

DEB:5. What does success mean to you?  As well, what do you believe is your secret to longevity? NATALIE: “the secret to longevity is being really interested in what you do and genuinely loving it. I love music and love being intimately involved with it. That kind of love never fades. Success to me means longevity!! It means being able to be excited about your career even after 39 years! I still get giddy with music!! And now my children provide a new blossoming of that excitement!”

DEB:  You have toured with some of the world’s most notable names in entertainment history like the Chieftains, Faith Hill, Carlos Santana, and Alison Krauss, and you have even recorded with Yo-Yo Ma.   6.  After touring internationally, what is it like to perform in your home town, to a sea of familiar faces? NATALIE: “Hometowns are both the best and the most difficult!! There is an irreplaceable warmth and connection that feeds your heart, and there is also one big pile of nerves to keep you humbled!!“

DEB:   7.  When you first started out in this industry, what was the most valuable piece of advice you were given? NATALIE: “Great question!!  I really can’t think of any advice. I always wished I was guided more though. I wished the industry gave me their opinion more! That’s something you’ll never hear! I don’t know what vibe I gave off but I was never told what to do or how to do it. I found this difficult when deciding on clothing for awards shows or photoshoots. I wish someone would’ve stepped in to give me more direction. Same with the music. I was always so open to opinions. I always wished I had a record company that would suggest what direction to go and things like that. I was always open to musical adventure and change. Anyway, I still hope for that! I still have this urge to have fun with it and do the unexpected. Check out our Please Please Snow video that the kids did. Donnell and I do a special performance in the middle of the video and the intent was to way overdo it! BUT I actually liked way overdoing it and I said to Donnell, let’s do our next photoshoot way over the top! “

DEB:  My father was a guitarist, bassist, fiddler, mandolin, banjo, and piano player, and I learned guitar quite early at the age of 8.  He hosted weekly kitchen sessions, I learned to step dance and have adored my Irish/Scottish/English mixed nationality, and fully appreciate Celtic music.  It is truly a breath of fresh air to see your 9 piece family unit growing together, learning, and performing together.   8.  At what age did you engage each of your 6 children Mary Frances, Michael, Claire, Julia, Alex, and Sadie with their first music and dance lessons?   As well, when will you start with your 2-year-old daughter Maria? NATALIE: “Maria had not started yet! She’s 2! But generally, 4 is the age we start them in the fiddle and dance. I think of it like vegetables. A parent knows they are good for you so they make you eat it. We do the same with music!! In a loving subtle way of course!!”

DEB:   Some artists seem reluctant to speak of just how frustrating and baffling the whole experience of navigating the general music realm is, let alone add in the restrictions that COVID-19 places on our lives or how hard it is to still be ambitious about getting their art recorded, seen, or sold.  I love how you have chosen to engage with your fans during these unprecedented times.  Every year,  your A Celtic Family Christmas exceeds all expectations with riveting family performances bringing the Cape Breton Christmas to your fans.  And this year there were exceptions. Although the Covid-19 Pandemic has thrown a candy-cane themed twist into the plan, as on a normal year, your entire clan would be on the road, performing in theatres bringing the music of the season with fiery fiddle performances, Celtic dancing, and a family-centered feeling of celebration to communities across North America.  Instead, your annual concert will continue as part of your MacMaster and Leahy annual tradition as you engage fans but, instead of bringing the music to the masses on stage, you are inviting all your fans into your beloved home VIRTUALLY, to share the same flavor and traditions your family shows are famous for.  Fans don’t delay, get your rare up close and personal concert ticket today, and support your local theatres who are also struggling with the quarantine. Supporting the music venues that have hosted these concerts is a priority for Natalie and Donnell, whose annual tours sell out in days and have been a huge part of Christmas celebrations in everything from large cities to tiny east-coast towns annually in Canada and the US for the past five years. With a mix of both song and dance, they will take you on a journey of virtuoso performances, telling the story of the night before Christmas in the Leahy-MacMaster household.  

Through Homeplay.live – the community theatres will be selling tickets for the concerts, which will be screened online to ticket-holders. This allows each purchaser to share the experience with their households in a safe way while maintaining a high broadcast quality. “I’m Natalie MacMaster and together with my husband Donnell Leahy and our seven children, we will be celebrating Christmas virtually this year!! For decades, we have toured extensively at Christmas, but this year marks our most unique one, taking the stage to our home! We will spend just over an hour sharing with you much of our music and culture, Christmas traditions, and general real-life family dynamic in the comfort of our own home!! We are quite excited to play our music for you (which includes the children as well for many of the tunes), do some dancing, some singing, some baking, talk about Christmas memories past, and even have our band join us for a couple of virtual performances! Given our children’s ages and personalities, there will be many candid moments along the way. I’ve heard it said that every disadvantage creates an opportunity. Well, we have embraced this chance to perform for a crowd in such a unique way and are eagerly awaiting the moment you all show up at our front door, ready to welcome you home!“ Click this outstanding list in blue below for a local North American theatre nearest you, that is hosting this fantastic concert starting Dec. 3rd through December 31st, 2020.   

https://www.natalieanddonnell.com/shows

December 3rd at 7:30 pm in Twin Falls, Idaho – Fine Arts Center – College of Southern Idaho (USA);

December 5th Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre, Nova Scotia  (CANADA);

December 5th Peterborough Memorial Centre. Peterborough  (CANADA);

December 5th City of St. Albert, Alberta  (CANADA);

December 5th Cowichan Performing Arts Centre, Duncan, BC (CANADA);

December 5th Nazarath College Arts Center, Rochester, NY (USA);

December 5th at 7 pm Zeiterion Performing Arts Center, New Bedford, MA (USA);

December 5th at 730pm Harbourfront Theatre, Summerside, PE (CANADA);

December 6th Parker Arts, Parker, CO (USA);

December 6th at 2 pm Key City Theatre, Cranbrook, BC (CANADA);

December 6th at 730 pm Confederation Centre of the Arts, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

December 8th Texas A & M University, College Station, TX (USA);

December 9th at 730 pm Vic Juba Community Theatre, Lloydminster, AB (CANADA);

December 10th Baker Center – Ohio University, Athens, Ohio (USA);

December 10th at 8 pm City of Lethbridge, Alberta (CANADA);

December 11th Artesian Performing Arts, Regina Saskatchewan (CANADA);

December 11th Stockey Centre, Parrysound, Ontario (CANADA);

December 11th Sanderson Centre, Brantford, Ontario (CANADA);

December 11th Wharton Center for the Performing Art, East Lansing, MI (USA);

December 11th at 7 pm Wentz Concert Hall, Naperville, IL (USA);

December 11th at 7 pm University of Maine – Orono, Orono, ME (USA);

December 11th at 8 pm Capital Centre, North Bay, ON (CANADA);

December 12th TCU Place, Saskatoon, SK (CANADA);
December 12th  Capitol Theatre, Moncton, NB (CANADA);

December 12th Algoma Arts Festival Association, Sault Ste Marie, ON (CANADA);

December 12th Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, Chicago, IL (USA);
December 12th Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Burlington, VT (USA);
December 12th Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, Great Barrington, MA (USA);
December 12th Fine Arts Centre- College of Southern Idaho, Twin Falls, ID (USA);

December 12th at 7 pm  Washington Center for the Performing Arts, Olympia, WA (USA);

December 12th at 7 pm KCP Presents – Catamount Arts, St. Johnsbury, VT (USA);

December 12th at 730 pm Community Performance Series, Potsdam, NY (USA);

December 12th at 730pm Chandler Center for the Arts, Randolph, VT (USA);

December 12th at 8 pm Warm-Up to Coldsnap, Prince George, BC (CANADA);

December 12th at 8 pm Huntsville Festival of the Arts, Ontario (CANADA);

December 12th at 8 pm Bardavon Theatre, Poughkeepsie, NY (USA);

December 13th Keyano Theatre, Fort McMurray, AB (CANADA);

December 13th George Mason University Center for the Arts, Fairfax, VA (USA);

December 13th at 3 pm Quick Center for the Arts, Fairfield, CT (USA);

December 13th at 4 pm The Cabot, Beverly, MA (USA);

December 13th at 7 pm Midland Center for the Arts, Midland, MI (USA);

December 13th at 7 pm Oshkosh Opera House, Oshkosh, WI (USA);

December 16th Corporation of the Town of Oakville, Ontario (CANADA);

December 17th Admiral Theatre, Bremerton, WA (USA);

December 17th at 7 pm Tower Theatre, Bend OR (USA);

December 17th at 8 pm Capilano University, North Vancouver, BC (CANADA);

December 17th at 8 pm Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts, Ontario (CANADA);

December 18th Sellersville Theatre, PA (USA);

December 19th Centre in the Square, Kitchener, Ontario  (CANADA);

December 19th Rotary Centre for the Arts, Kelowna, BC (CANADA);

December 19th The Lensic Performing Arts, Santa Fe, NM (USA);

December 19th at 7 pm Peterborough Concert Series, NH (USA);

December 19th at 7 pm City Opera House, Traverse City, MI (USA);

December 19th at 7 pm Mount Baker Theatre, Bellingham, WA (USA);

December 19th at 7 pm Laxson Auditorium – California State University, Chico, CA (USA);

December 19th at 730 pm Edmonds Center for the Arts, Edmonds, WA (USA);

December 19th at 730 pm Brockville Arts Centre, Ontario (CANADA);

December 19th at 8 pm Livermore Valley Performing Arts, Livermore, CA (USA);

December 20th  Winnipeg Folk Festival, Manitoba (CANADA);

December 21st Grand Theatre, Kingston, Ontario (CANADA);

December 21st at 8 pm DeCoste Entertainment Centre, Pictou, NS (CANADA);

December 23rd Imperial Theatre Saint John, Saint John, NB (CANADA);

December 23rd at 7 pm Waterville Opera House, Waterville, ME (USA);

December 23rd at 8 pm Astor Theatre, Liverpool, NS (CANADA);
and December 24th at 7 pm Flato Markham Theatre, Markham, Ontario (CANADA).

NATALIE: “Thanks for the praise! Yes, our virtual Celtic Family Christmas show can be watched multiple times until New Years’ so it is not too late to purchase a ticket!! It’s been a really great experience! Support your local theatre! “

Fans can stay in touch with you by visiting:

https://www.natalieanddonnell.com
https://www.facebook.com/nataliemacmaster
https://twitter.com/natmacmaster
Natalie MacMaster – Topic – YouTube

Thank you, Natalie, for your time. Merry Christmas and may your 2021 be a healthy, happy, prosperous, and successful adventure.