Natalie MacMaster
Encyclopedia
Natalie MacMaster, CM
(born June 13, 1972) is an award-winning fiddle
r from the rural community of Troy
in Inverness County
, Nova Scotia
, Canada
who plays Cape Breton fiddle music.
MacMaster has toured with the Chieftains
, Faith Hill
, Carlos Santana
and Alison Krauss
, and has recorded with Yo-Yo Ma
. She has appeared at the Celtic Colours
festival in Cape Breton
, Celtic Connections
in Scotland
, and MerleFest
in the United States
.
. She is the sister of Kevin and David MacMaster. She is the cousin of two other Cape Breton fiddlers, Ashley MacIsaac
and Andrea Beaton. She was born on June 13, 1972. In 2002, she married fiddler Donnell Leahy of the Leahy
family band, and moved to Lakefield, Ontario. In 2011 she moved to Douro, where she built a new house. In December 2005, she gave birth to a daughter, Mary Frances Rose. Her second child, a son, Michael Joseph Alexander, was born in June 2007. In 2007, MacMaster learned she was related to Jack White
. Her third child, a daughter, Clare Marie, was born in February 2009. Her fourth child, another daughter, Julia Elizabeth, was born in January 2011.
MacMaster began playing the fiddle
at the age of nine, and made her performing debut the same year at a square dance in Glencoe Mills, Nova Scotia. When she was sixteen she released her first album, Four on the Floor, and a second album, Road to the Isle, followed in 1991. Both of these self-produced albums were initially released only on cassette, but Rounder Records
omitted a few tracks and re-released as A Compilation in 1998.
In recent years she has expanded her musical repertoire, mixing her Cape Breton
roots with music from Scotland
and Ireland
, as well as American bluegrass
.
She has received a number of Canadian music awards, including several "Artist of the Year" awards from the East Coast Music Association
, two Juno awards
for best instrumental album, and "Fiddler of the Year" from the Canadian Country Music Association
. MacMaster was also awarded an honorary doctorate from Niagara University
in New York in 2006. In 2006, she was made a member of the Order of Canada
.
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
(born June 13, 1972) is an award-winning fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
r from the rural community of Troy
Troy, Nova Scotia
Troy is a small community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in Inverness County on Cape Breton Island.-References:*...
in Inverness County
Inverness County, Nova Scotia
Inverness County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Its territory is almost contiguous with the Municipality of Inverness County, which only excludes the town of Port Hawkesbury and First Nation reserves.-History:...
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
who plays Cape Breton fiddle music.
MacMaster has toured with the Chieftains
The Chieftains
The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...
, Faith Hill
Faith Hill
Faith Hill is an American country singer. She is known both for her commercial success and her marriage to fellow country star Tim McGraw. Hill has sold more than 40 million records worldwide and accumulated eight number-one singles and three number-one albums on the U.S...
, Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
and Alison Krauss
Alison Krauss
Alison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in...
, and has recorded with Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
. She has appeared at the Celtic Colours
Celtic Colours
Since 1997, the ' has featured hundreds of musicians from all over the Celtic world and attracted tens of thousands of visitors to Cape Breton Island...
festival in Cape Breton
Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....
, Celtic Connections
Celtic Connections
The Celtic Connections festival started in 1994 in Glasgow, Scotland, and has since been held every January. Featuring over 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops, the festival focuses on the roots of traditional Scottish music and also features international...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, and MerleFest
MerleFest
MerleFest is an annual "traditional plus" music festival held in Wilkesboro, North Carolina on the campus of Wilkes Community College . The festival, which is held the last weekend in April, is hosted by Grammy Award winner Doc Watson and is named in memory and honor of his son, Eddy Merle Watson,...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Background
MacMaster is the daughter of Alex and Minnie (Beaton) MacMaster, and the niece of Cape Breton fiddler Buddy MacMasterBuddy MacMaster
Hugh Alan "Buddy" MacMaster, is one of the most renowned artists in the tradition of Cape Breton fiddle music.-Early life:...
. She is the sister of Kevin and David MacMaster. She is the cousin of two other Cape Breton fiddlers, Ashley MacIsaac
Ashley MacIsaac
Ashley Dwayne MacIsaac is a Canadian professional fiddler from Cape Breton Island.His album Hi™ How Are You Today?, featuring the hit single "Sleepy Maggie", with vocals in Scottish Gaelic by Mary Jane Lamond was released in 1995...
and Andrea Beaton. She was born on June 13, 1972. In 2002, she married fiddler Donnell Leahy of the Leahy
Leahy
Leahy is the name of a Canadian folk music group. The eight band members, all from the Leahy family of eleven siblings, are from Lakefield, Ontario and have been actively touring Canada and internationally since the early 1980s when they were known as The Leahy Family...
family band, and moved to Lakefield, Ontario. In 2011 she moved to Douro, where she built a new house. In December 2005, she gave birth to a daughter, Mary Frances Rose. Her second child, a son, Michael Joseph Alexander, was born in June 2007. In 2007, MacMaster learned she was related to Jack White
Jack White (musician)
Jack White , often credited as Jack White III, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and occasional actor...
. Her third child, a daughter, Clare Marie, was born in February 2009. Her fourth child, another daughter, Julia Elizabeth, was born in January 2011.
MacMaster began playing the fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
at the age of nine, and made her performing debut the same year at a square dance in Glencoe Mills, Nova Scotia. When she was sixteen she released her first album, Four on the Floor, and a second album, Road to the Isle, followed in 1991. Both of these self-produced albums were initially released only on cassette, but Rounder Records
Rounder Records
Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...
omitted a few tracks and re-released as A Compilation in 1998.
In recent years she has expanded her musical repertoire, mixing her Cape Breton
Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....
roots with music from Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, as well as American bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
.
She has received a number of Canadian music awards, including several "Artist of the Year" awards from the East Coast Music Association
East Coast Music Association
The East Coast Music Association is a non-profit association that hosts an annual awards ceremony based in Atlantic Canada for music appreciation on the East Coast of Canada...
, two Juno awards
Juno Award
The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
for best instrumental album, and "Fiddler of the Year" from the Canadian Country Music Association
Canadian Country Music Association
The Canadian Country Music Association was founded in 1976 as the Academy of Country Music Entertainment to organize, promote and develop a Canadian country music industry. The association changed its name to the Canadian Country Music Association in 1987.-Awards:The CCMA held the first Canadian...
. MacMaster was also awarded an honorary doctorate from Niagara University
Niagara University
Niagara University is a Catholic university in the Vincentian tradition, located in the Town of Lewiston in Niagara County, New York. Originally founded by the Congregation of the Mission in 1856 as Our Lady of Angels Seminary, it became Niagara University in 1883. The University is still run by...
in New York in 2006. In 2006, she was made a member of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
.
Albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
Certifications Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales thresholds) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... |
US Grass | |||
| Four on the Floor |
|
— | — | |
| Road to the Isle |
|
— | — | |
| Fit as a Fiddle Fit as a Fiddle Fit as a Fiddle, an album by Natalie MacMaster, was released in 1997 on the Rounder Records label.-Track listing:# "Strathspeys & Reels" – 4:20#*"John Campbell's" #*"Miss Ann Moir's Birthday" #*"Lady Georgina Campbell"... |
|
— | — |
Music Canada Music Canada was a Canadian music television miniseries which aired approximately monthly on CBC Television from 1966 to 1967.-Premise:This series featured various special productions of music and dance, from classical to modern styles.-Scheduling:... : Gold |
| A Compilation |
|
— | — | |
| No Boundaries No Boundaries (Natalie MacMaster album) No Boundaries, an album by Natalie MacMaster, was released in 1997 on the Rounder Records label.-Track listing:# "The Honeysuckle Set" – 5:42# "My Friend Buddy" – 4:07# "Fiddle & Bow" – 5:10# "Reel Beatrice" – 3:30... |
|
— | — |
|
| In My Hands In My Hands In My Hands, an album by Natalie MacMaster, was released in 1999 on the Rounder Records label.The album won the 2000 Juno Award for Best Instrumental Album.-Track listing:# "In My Hands" - 4:23# "Welcome to the Trossachs" - 7:17# "Gramma" - 2:35... |
|
32 | — |
|
| My Roots Are Showing My Roots Are Showing My Roots Are Showing, an album by Natalie MacMaster, was released in 2000 on the Rounder Records label. The title is word play, as the phrase is most often regarded when discussing hair color.-Track listing:... |
|
— | — | |
| Live Live (Natalie MacMaster album) Live, a double album by Natalie MacMaster, was released in 2002 on the Rounder Records label.-Track listing:Disc One - In Concert # "Farewell" – 7:46# "Fairy Dance" – 5:05... |
|
— | — | |
| Blueprint Blueprint (Natalie MacMaster album) Blueprint, an album by Natalie MacMaster, was released in 2003 on the Rounder Records label.-Track listing:# "A Blast" – 5:27#*"Bishop Faber MacDonald's Strathspey"#*"Frank & Julie Leahy's Strathspey"#*"Maggie Cameron's Stratspey"... |
|
— | 6 | |
| Yours Truly |
|
— | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| CAN AC RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... |
|||
| 1996 | "Catharsis" | — | No Boundaries |
| 1997 | "Fiddle and Bow" (with Bruce Guthro Bruce Guthro Bruce Guthro is a Canadian singer / songwriter, from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Guthro has recorded as a solo artist, and in 1998 also joined Scottish folk rock band Runrig, whilst still pursuing his solo career... ) |
— | |
| "The Drunken Piper" (with Cookie Rankin The Rankin Family The Rankin Family is a Canadian musical family group from Mabou, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. The group has won many Canadian music awards, including 15 East Coast Music Awards, six Juno Awards, four SOCAN Awards, three Canadian Country Music Awards and two Big Country Music Awards.- Career... ) |
— | ||
| 1999 | "In My Hands" | 18 | In My Hands |
| "Get Me Through December" (with Alison Krauss Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in... ) |
40 | ||
| 2004 | "Appropriate Dipstick" | — | Blueprint |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||
Music videos
| Year | Video | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | "Catharsis" | |
| 1997 | "Fiddle and Bow" (with Bruce Guthro Bruce Guthro Bruce Guthro is a Canadian singer / songwriter, from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Guthro has recorded as a solo artist, and in 1998 also joined Scottish folk rock band Runrig, whilst still pursuing his solo career... ) |
Andrew MacNaughtan |
| "The Drunken Piper" (with Cookie Rankin The Rankin Family The Rankin Family is a Canadian musical family group from Mabou, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. The group has won many Canadian music awards, including 15 East Coast Music Awards, six Juno Awards, four SOCAN Awards, three Canadian Country Music Awards and two Big Country Music Awards.- Career... ) |
||
| 1999 | "In My Hands" | Christopher Mills |
| "Get Me Through December" (with Alison Krauss Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in... ) |
Mark Hesselink | |
| 2004 | "Appropriate Dipstick" |
Other appearances
- Traditional Music From Cape Breton Island, Nimbus NI5383, 1993 (two tracks)
- Celtic Colours — The Road Home, 1997 (one track)
- Celtic Colours — The Second Wave, 1998 (one track)
- Celtic Colours — Forgotten Roots, 1999 (one track)
- Roots Music: An American Journey, Rounder 0501, 2001 (one track)
- Songs for the Savoy, 2001 (one track)
- Celtic Colours — The Colours of Cape Breton, 2002 (one track)
- Celtic Colours — Volume VII, 2003 (one track)
- Yo-Yo Ma & Friends: Songs of Joy and Peace; Songs:A Christmas Jig/Mouth of the Tobique Reel; 2008 (Sony BMG)
- Thomas Dolby: Amerikana EP, Songs:Toad Lickers and 17 Hills, 2010 (Lost Toy People, Inc)
External links
- Natalie MacMaster official website
- TED Talks: Natalie MacMaster fiddles in reel time at TEDTED (conference)TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading"....
in 2002 - TED Talks: Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy play the Cape Breton fiddle at TEDTED (conference)TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading"....
in 2003