“But then one night we put Mary Frances on stage. We worried the expectations might be too much,” Leahy says. “Initially we were reluctant to let the kids perform. That the children were already being home-schooled (MacMaster has a teaching degree) made enacting that decision easier. Rather, the pair realized early on that being on the road without their kids was infinitely harder than touring with them. MacMaster is referring to her and Leahy’s seven gifted children, five of whom are often the showpiece of the MacMaster Leahy live set though not because the couple necessarily envision showbiz careers for the kids, who recently performed (actually knocked ‘em dead) on German TV variety show, Willkommen bei Carmen Nebel. And here I am now doing almost exactly the same thing. “But I was so in awe of Donnell’s family, of 11 siblings who could play and had a family band. “The fiddle was definitely common ground for us when we first got together,” MacMaster, a Member of Order of Canada since 2006, recalls with a chuckle. Their synergy was brilliantly showcased on the pair’s first recorded collaboration, 2015’s Bob Ezrinproduced album One, a crowning achievement complementing combined album sales of over one million, a CV listing cellist Yo-Yo Ma, bluegrass star Alison Krauss, and banjo ace Béla Fleck as past collaborators (and Shania Twain and The Chieftains as fans) plus a devoted audience stretching from Sydney, Nova Scotia to Sydney, Australia. Though MacMaster and Leahy followed different trajectories to this point - she a Cape Breton native who could step-dance before she could walk, he the oldest brother of acclaimed family group Leahy - both have confidently crested the traditional music peak. “It has carried me through my childhood, through my teens, my young adult life, my married life and now motherhood. “I’m continually amazed by what the fiddle has brought to my life,” MacMaster offers. They certainly couldn’t have imagined capping off what they jokingly refer to as their combined 83 years as performers with milestones including another hotly anticipated Christmas tour, an accompanying TV special, a pending third instalment of their Greenbridge Celtic Folk Fest, a recent Road Gold Award from the Canadian Independent Music Association, and last but certainly not least, the arrival of Maria, newest sib to Mary Frances, Michael, Clare, Julia, Alec and Sadie. Or that they would produce a large family and ensure their mantelpiece was jammed with JUNO and East Coast Music Awards while creating an inventory of achievements spanning the globe. Indeed, when MacMaster and Leahy married in 2002 - both were already stars in their own right - they could not have predicted their merger would recast what contemporary musical success looks like. Canvas follows MacMaster and Leahy’s 2015 release One, their first recording together which won Instrumental Album of the Year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards, and A Celtic Family Christmas, the best selling seasonal album and concert tour currently on stage at performing arts centers across North America.The Natalie MacMaster & Donnelly Leahy show has been rescheduled to November 4, 2023. Special guests include celebrated classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and Grammy award winning Americana music/Appalachian banjo/fiddle player, Rhiannon Giddens. On Canvas, the duo have incorporated new instrumentation and contributing musicians. Known as Canada’s reigning stars of Celtic music, the two musicians’ combined album sales exceed one million they sell out performing arts centers across North America and their enthusiastic traditional folk music-loving fan base (which boasts Shania Twain and the Chieftains) stretches from Sydney, Nova Scotia to Sydney, Australia. The entertainment world is filled with extraordinary stories of musical power couples, but few match the beguiling true-life tale of Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy.
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