Take a bow
Cape Breton’s Natalie MacMaster has dreams of putting aside world of touring to settle down
After entertaining audiences for 30 of her 40 years, Natalie MacMaster dreams of putting aside her fiddle and doing something else.
If revered Cape Breton- bred fiddler Natalie MacMaster had to give up the touring life, she would. In a heartbeat. “Without a doubt — without one ounce of a question,” MacMaster said via phone during a recent tour stop in Utah. “I keep saying to ( husband and musician) Donnell ( Leahy), ‘ I’m ready to just — quit.’ But great things keep on happening, which leads us to believe that a bit of touring lifestyle for the kids is good: They play in our show, I home- school them, there’s lots of rich educational experiences that come up as a family travelling. Even when I’m gone from home and they’re with their dad for a few days, there are great moments in that.
“We’re doing it because we think it’s enhancing their lives, but I would give it up in a second. I’ve done it for 30 years, I don’t need to do it any more.”
It’s not to say that the 40- yearold artist, a Juno- and Grammywinning performer whose pedigree includes performing with the likes of Yo- Yo Ma, Carlos Santana and Faith Hill, is no longer enjoying herself.
She would not have lined up a tour that includes a stop at North Vancouver’s Centennial Theatre if playing her violin and her wellworn catalogue songlist, which includes the material from her latest album Cape Breton Girl, had become a dull daily drudge.
However, there are times when she questions some of her touring plans, which are often made a year in advance in order to create a schedule that works for the whole family. ( MacMaster has five children including her latest, Alexander, who is just seven months old and was travelling with her at the time of the interview.)
“Last weekend we ended up doublebooking,” she said. “Donnell had to go to Vancouver to play with ( his family band) Leahy and I was playing my shows out here ( in the U. S.). Both of us were gone from home and the kids couldn’t go with us, it just didn’t make sense at all to fly with five kids. That happens to me two or three times a year.”
Thankfully, MacMaster said, she gets plenty of support from friends and family who lend a hand when things get tricky.
MacMaster admitted she didn’t over- think things too much, which probably explains why she wouldn’t mind giving touring up and settling for a life playing the fiddle at home rather than on the road.
She explained her musical career evolved organically, and she said she never really did much more than answer the phone when it was convenient, even for all those “fortuitous” collaborations that brought her into the spotlight.
And while life keeps taking her and her family down that ever so unpredictable path, the only thing she’s considering next is, perhaps, recording a children’s album.
“I find that if you try to plan your life too much, you’re gonna miss out on the good stuff,” she said. “If my husband and I had had these children when we were ready, we wouldn’t have any children right now. You can’t wait for a good time. There’s a bigger picture there and you’re cheating yourself if you’re trying to create those achievements or plans for yourself.”