Born roughly the same time as the making of a documentary titled "The Vanishing Cape Breton Fiddler," MacMaster's career seems to have mirrored the area's re-emergence as a musical and cultural hub. Yet, MacMaster seems as closely tied to her native Cape Breton's transformation as anyone. But they haven't changed, and hopefully, neither have I. They're super-supportive and always have been. They're as excited about my dance as anyone's. They'll just say, 'Hey, there's Natalie.' They don't treat me any differently because of my success. "Nothing's changed," says MacMaster, who outside of playing a New Year's Eve show in Ottawa, was trying to lay low for the holidays. Sort of like J.Lo onstage for a wedding at the Elks' Lodge in the Bronx. So, in and among appearances with folklorist Garrison Keillor, guesting on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," lengthy West Coast road trips and festivals like Telluride and Merlefest, MacMaster has the time and - perhaps more importantly - the inclination to get back to her childhood roots by playing square dances. "Actually, I did about 125 shows, including the square dances. Īpparently the show count wasn't quite accurate - at least in MacMaster's mind. "I was on the road about 150 days in 2003 and did about 100 shows," says MacMaster from her current home in Lakefield, Ontario, about 70 miles outside Toronto, which also happens to be the hometown of her husband, Donnell Leahy, a well-known Canadian fiddler in his own right. Though she's a standout among Atlantic Canada's many great musicians and dancers, there's a no-nonsense reality about returning to her roots along Nova Scotia's rugged east coast. Īny notions of a swelled head after weeks of fans' adulation on the road or performing alongside the likes of Béla Fleck or Edgar Meyer in a studio for her latest album, "Blueprint," on Rounder, are quickly dispelled when MacMaster returns to Cape Breton Island's thriving music scene.
MacMaster, 30, is steeped by the generations before her in Cape Breton's rich Scottish culture, carrying forward the region's traditional music and dance that dates back some 200 years. While Jennifer Lopez may have laid claim to the just-plain-folks phrase she's still Jenny from the block, the pop diva has nothing on MacMaster, who's truly just Natalie from Cape Breton Island. Family and friends in her native Nova Scotia won't allow it. ĭespite the international acclaim, beside the fact she can draw from the A-list of Nashville's top musicians for recording sessions at the drop of a hat, Cape Breton fiddler Natalie MacMaster isn't about to get above her raising. Leave it to the people back home to keep you grounded.
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