Natalie MacMasterĪ good example of MacMaster’s energy during her live performances was documented in a double album recorded live, released in 2002. The success of these releases led to the re-release of A Compilation in 1998. In 1997, Rounder Records made No Boundaries available in the United States and also re-released Fit As A Fiddle. Special note should be made of guest appearances by Cookie Rankin on “Drunken Piper,” Bruce Guthro on “Fiddle &Bow,” and a host of Canada’s best musicians. From beautiful classic pieces through ragtime and country music, Natalie continues to step across musical lines. Natalie’s diversity extends to places her fans could have never imagined. Produced by Chad Irschick (The Rankin Family, Loreena McKennitt, Susan Aglukark), No Boundaries is exactly that. In the spring of 1996, Warner Music Canada negotiated a major label deal with Natalie for the album No Boundaries. Her third Indie release, Fit as a Fiddle, racked up sales of more than 30,000 copies on CD and cassette. Natalie’s first two independent recordings, Road to the Isle and Four on the Floor, have each sold in excess of 12,000 copies each … and that’s on cassette only. The highlight of each performance had to be Natalie joining The Chieftains at show’s end to fiddle and dance. MacMaster capably and expertly delivered the goods. The Chieftains obviously saw something in Natalie that their audiences would soon come to appreciate. In March of 1996, Natalie received a phone call from Ireland’s The Chieftains requesting that she open for them on a four-week tour of the United States. And for several years, she has acted as guest instructor and performer at the world renowned Mark O’Connor Fiddle Camp in Nashville. Natalie has headlined in cities such as London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Brussels, and Tokyo. A broken fiddle string couldn’t keep her down as Natalie continued playing using only her bottom two strings. In June of 1995, Natalie won over a crowd of 80,000 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, as opening act for Carlos Santana. Natalie’s phenomenal stage presence has led to considerable media attention. In 1995, she was nominated as Entertainer of the Year. In 1994, her third album, Fit as a Fiddle, earned Natalie the Instrumental Artist of the Year Award. In 1992, she won the Roots/Traditional Artist Award. Natalie’s first three recordings gained major nominations and awards from the East Coast Music Association. Whether performing with a small format or with her full band, Natalie’s concerts are a dazzling blend of musical virtuosity and lively step dancing. Natalie has become a musical ambassador for a new musical generation of Cape Breton musicians. From a small beginning playing at dances and concerts in and around Cape Breton to representing Nova Scotia on the world’s stages. From the early days, she was encouraged by her father and musically influenced by her uncle, Buddy MacMaster, an undisputed master of the Cape Breton fiddle. Natalie began playing at age 9 after having been given a small fiddle by her great uncle. She was raised in a musical family steeped in Scottish heritage. She's toured with countless performers, including the Chieftains, Faith Hill, Carlos Santana and Alison Krauss, and has been awarded two Juno Awards (Canada's equivalent to the Grammy).Your Connection to traditional and contemporary World Music, including folk, roots, global music, ethno and crosscultural fusionsĬomposer, virtuoso fiddler and skilled step dancer Natalie Ann MacMaster was born on Jin Troy, Nova Scotia, Canada. She's released nine albums, including Yours Truly (2006), Natalie and Buddy MacMaster (2005) and My Roots Are Showing (1998). MacMaster's enthusiastic charm and extraordinary skill has landed her star billing on the international folk circuit and multiple Grammy nominations. The tradition was on the wane when, in 1972, a CBS documentary provocatively titled The Vanishing Cape Breton Fiddler jump-started preservation efforts in the fiddling community. The niece of renowned Canadian fiddler Buddy MacMaster, she's taken up the mantle as standard-bearer for Cape Breton fiddling, a method of Scottish-style violin-playing that's evolved over the last century on this island neighbor to Nova Scotia. But Natalie MacMaster manages this feat, drawing listeners in with her playful showmanship, and then holding them rapt with astounding technical flourishes. It's not easy to make traditional Irish-Scottish music sound sexy and yet still seem wholesome.
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