Canadian Fiddles with Celts
By Daily Bruin Staff
Jan. 14, 2002 9:00 p.m.
 www. nataliemacmaster.com Natalie
MacMaster, who began playing her great-uncle’s fiddle at
the age of 9, is now nearing the end of her January tour of the
United States.
By Howard Ho
Daily Bruin Contributor
With home-grown charm and well-honed talent, Canadian fiddler
Natalie MacMaster hopes to conquer the musical world.
“I want to do it all, basically. That’s an important
part of me inside. As far as my career goals, there’s all
sorts of things left yet to do far away from home,” MacMaster
said.
One of these goals, which is coming into sight, is to complete
her January tour of the United States. MacMaster collaborates on
the tour with the Celtic band The Chieftans as she constantly
attempts to continue to expand her vision of the musical tradition
that has been passed down by her family.
“I’m constantly growing musically. Just from hearing
music, it expands your mind and lets your imagination run away with
really cool ideas. I love that. That’s a big part of why I
love what I do so much,” MacMaster said.
Certainly, MacMaster is pushing herself to do greater projects.
She has opened for Carlos Santana and has played with singer Alison
Krauss, American fiddler Mark O’Connor and the Boston Pops
Orchestra. She performed for ABC’s 2002 New Year’s Eve
Special hosted by Peter Jennings. She even turned down an offer to
be the featured musician in the Irish dance show “Lord of the
Dance” because it would inhibit her own exhausting schedule
of conferences, festivals, and tours.
MacMaster’s music, which some would characterize as
“world music,” ironically comes from as close to home
as an island off the east coast of Canada, Cape Breton. In the
community of Cape Breton, a distinctive style of fiddle playing has
emerged, which MacMaster hopes to share with a world that seems
increasingly prepared to love fiddle music.
“Yes, people are hungering for fiddle music. And the
people that don’t know they’re hungering for it just
haven’t heard it. If they ever did, they’d love it.
How’s that!” MacMaster said.
 www.nataliemacmaster.com Canadian sensation
Natalie MacMaster will be performing with The
Chieftains.
Beginning at the age of 9, MacMaster began playing her
great-uncle’s fiddle. Under the tutelage of her Uncle Buddy,
she showed a talent for the music. After self-producing two tapes,
MacMaster was on her way to the international success she enjoys
today.
Still, MacMaster does find time between her concert tours to go
home and play for the community. In fact, she is more nervous about
home concerts than international ones because people at home know
the music and can easily spot any mistake.
“Even though I’ve gone past home in a business
sense, that doesn’t mean it’s any less important.
There’s great people at home. I really want to give back to
the community,” MacMaster said.
Despite feeling homesick, MacMaster knows she cannot rest on her
laurels. Though receiving a Grammy nomination last year, MacMaster
has yet to win the award. Instead, she hopes to continue her
collaborations with other artists, such as The Chieftans, who
further increase her public visibility as well as artistic
viability.
“I think there’s the potential for crossover in any
music. The common ground is music; so if somewhere you can grab
something that works and think about it and work long enough at it,
you can connect it to any kind of music,” MacMaster said.
 BMG Records The Chieftains (left to right): Matt
Molloy, Paddy Moloney, Kevin
Conneff, Sean Keane, Derek
Bell, and Martin Fay.
In fact, MacMaster finds connections between her sound and
almost any music. Some of the artists she likes even make her a bit
embarrassed.
“I never thought I’d say this, but I was watching
the American Music Awards last night and Kid Rock, who I would
never say I’m a fan of his, the tune he did last night
sounded great. I was like, “˜Oh my gosh, this is a wicked
tune.’ It was really good and had a wicked groove. I’m
not the fiddle music girl even though I love fiddle music. I just
love music,” MacMaster said.
Driving her intense musical schedule are the vibes and energies
that come from the concerts. For MacMaster, it is her
inspiration.
“I’ve done so much travelling and performances of
all different kinds of crowds, and it’s just incredible to
see, as soon as you start stroking that bow and playing off the
rails and stuff, there’s another thing that goes on,”
MacMaster said.
