Natalie MacMaster

Biography

Natalie MacMaster (born June 13, 1972) is a Canadian fiddler from Troy, Inverness County, Nova Scotia, who plays Cape Breton fiddle music. She 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.

Background

MacMaster is the daughter of Alex and Minnie (née Beaton) MacMaster and the sister of Kevin and David MacMaster. She is the niece of the late renowned Cape Breton fiddler Buddy MacMaster and the cousin of two other fiddlers, Ashley MacIsaac and Andrea Beaton. She is also distantly related to Jack White, whose paternal grandparents were from Antigonish and Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia.
In 2002, she married fiddler Donnell Leahy of the Leahy family band, and moved to Lakefield, Ontario. They have seven children, and have performed and recorded together as a duo, and occasionally include their children, who also play fiddle, in their performances.

Musical career

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 16, she released her first album, Four on the Floor, and a second album, Road to the Isle, followed in 1991. Her first album was self-produced, while her second was co-produced by John Morris Rankin (The Rankin Family) and Tom O'Keefe. Both albums were initially released only on cassette, but Rounder Records omitted a few tracks and re-released them as A Compilation in 1998. In 1999, she performed at the Juno Awards show in Hamilton.
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.
In 2004, MacMaster appeared on Sharon, Lois & Bram's 25th Anniversary Concert special titled 25 Years of Skinnamarink that was broadcast on CBC on January 1, 2004, at 7:00pm. She performed two songs with the trio, "C-H-I-C-K-E-N" and "Grandpa's Farm".

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)
The Rough Guide to the Music of Canada, 2005 (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)