Natalie MacMaster, Donnell Leahy push boundaries of Celtic music with new album
Cape Breton musician Natalie MacMaster and her husband Donnell Leahy have released a new album that pushes the boundaries of Celtic music.
The two fiddlers first played together on their first date, back in 1991.
“It was love at first fiddle even before I met Natalie. I’d heard Natalie’s music on a cassette tape my sister had,” Leahy told CTV Atlantic’s Katie Kelly.
“So I drove to Nova Scotia to meet the girl who played the music.”
“Pretty sweet,” says MacMaster. “Who does that?”
They’ve now been married for 20 years and are raising their seven -- also very musical -- children together.
“(The) babies aren’t very babyish anymore … our oldest is 17,” says MacMaster.
It's a busy life for the couple, who lives on a working farm in Ontario, along with homeschooling their kids and extracurricular activities.
But the couple found time to create a new album together during the pandemic.
They say their record -- “Canvas” -- started from scratch.
“We don’t have any preconceived ideas, any direction, we just have an open canvas … the music will decide what this is going to be,” says Leahy.
“We didn’t want to feel any restrictions,” says MacMaster.
The pair stretched the boundaries of Celtic-folk music on “Canvas” and experimented with global sounds.
“There's a Latin feel on this. Our oldest daughter is our keyboard player now and she’s right into Latin and so that has crept into our music,” Leahy says.
“I should mention Elmer Ferrer too, our co-producer, who’s from Cuba, he had an incredible influence on this sound as well,” adds MacMaster.
“And then there’s mom and dad’s favourite two tracks, and of course they’re traditional Cape Breton tunes played by their daughter,” the couple joked.
But does the married couple bump heads while working together?
“We tend to trust each other’s opinion and we come from different angles, but we kind of agree most of the time on things,” says Leahy.
They also agree on how much they love working together.
“Natalie brings a passion, like an unrelenting passion to everything she does,” Leahy says. “And to have that commitment to a project or to a task is so important and so needed.”
“I have my support right here and I need that now. It’s knowing that’s someone else you can bounce something off and you know how they think and they’re going to give you the real answer and that is my confidence,” MacMaster says.
“Canvas” is available now.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
Premiers not being truthful about carbon tax, Trudeau says while sparks fly in Ottawa
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Conservative premiers across the country are 'not telling the truth' when it comes to the carbon tax. Trudeau's comments came as fresh sparks were flying in Ottawa at a recalled House of Commons committee.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
'Ninja,' Twitch's biggest streamer, is diagnosed with skin cancer
American gamer and Twitch superstar, Tyler 'Ninja' Blevins, revealed he was diagnosed with melanoma, a form of skin cancer.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Here's what Trudeau says the upcoming federal budget will offer renters
The federal government will create a new 'Canadian Renters' Bill of Rights,' which would require landlords to disclose their properties' rental price history to prospective tenants.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.