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Hailing from Cape Breton Island, award winning musician, Natalie MacMaster received her first fiddle at the age of nine, launching a career that has lasted for over 30 years. Her first recording was released when she was only 16 and she has never looked back. With amazing dedication to her craft, Natalie has received numerous awards in the US and Canada, recognizing both her musical talent and importance to Cape Breton’s fiddling tradition and international profile. Natalie has performed thousands of shows and collaborated with a multitude of world renowned artists.
Her most recent record release is One a collaboration with her husband, Donnell Leahy, musical leader of double platinum–selling, festival–headlining Celtic family group Leahy. It was a chance meeting with legendary producer Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper, Deep Purple), who recruited Justin Cortelyou (Taylor Swift, Ke$ha, Alan Jackson) to co–produce, that led to the recording sessions in Cape Breton. The result is quite possibly the best fiddle album ever recorded. The album includes the first ever recorded versions of the original material that Natalie and Donnell have begun writing together, and these fit seamlessly alongside their refreshing reinterpretations of traditional and contemporary tunes they have discovered in their musical exploration.
Following up on the release of One, Natalie and her husband have been captivating audiences with the “Visions Of Cape Breton & Beyond” Tour and offering musical insight into the remarkable place, people, and culture that has shaped their lives, music, and family. Natalie is excited to introduce audiences to her children who are growing by musical leaps and bounds. Natalie strives to bring up her children with the same home, faith, and musical heritage that she received. Fiddling, step-dancing, and piano lessons find their place alongside hockey sticks, school books, and family events. The children have embraced their centuries-old musical inheritance and look forward to sharing the joy they receive from it, benefitting from a musical progeny that ensures that a strong Cape Breton and Canadian fiddling tradition will exist for years to come.
Most recently, Natalie has been invited to perform with the chart-topping multiple platinum selling singer Johnny Reid on his cross-country “What Love Is All About” tour.