interview: Natalie MacMaster
Tune into WMSE’s World Music Mondays as DJ Juliet talks to acclaimed fiddler, Natalie MacMaster before she and her fiddler husband, Donnell Leahy visit Milwaukee’s Irish Fest for a string of shows during the festival that week.
The entertainment world is filled with extraordinary stories. But few match the beguiling true-life tale of Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy, Canada’s reigning couple of Celtic music, whose dazzling career achievements underpin an incomparable off-stage life.
Natalie is one of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia’s most important exports and superstar in the Celtic music world. She’s a fiddler and step dancer who has built a multi-decade career on electrifying playing and must see live performances.
Donnell Leahy may have been the frontman in his sibling group Leahy, but he’s made a successful career as a solo artist and has cemented his reputation as a peerless instrumentalist, able to synthesize traditional influences with more contemporary Celtic/Folk sensibilities. Both he and Natalie are multi-award winners.