Canada’s fiddle culture is diverse and multifaceted, as much as any country where the violin plays a central role in its folk music. Canada’s fiddle styles — Métis, West Coast, Ottawa Valley, Québec, Acadian, et al — are distinctly Canadian in their evolution, and each region is also unique to itself.
Like American styles of fiddle music — Appalachian, Bluegrass, Texas Swing — it is ultimately descended from the Celtic music. Canadian fiddle has a lot of French in it, and a lot of Scottish.
Perhaps the most renowned and popular of this folk music of Canada is the regional style of Cape Breton. It's a small island on the tip of Nova Scotia, but its influence is vast. Cape Breton players are renowned, and arguably none more so than Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy, who along with two of their children, Mary Frances and Michael Leahy (on piano, and guitar and accordion respectively), are touching down in Trail for a Charles Bailey Theatre show, Monday, April 7.
MacMaster and Leahy last swung through the area in 2022 — a Christmas show — also with Mary Frances and Michael. This time, it’s just the four of them — “a more compact version,” MacMaster said, called the “Four on the Floor” tour.
“It’s a small run that we’re doing, but something we’ve wanted to do for a year now,” MacMaster said in a phone interview from the road. “The show has got the same energy and appeal, but because there’s no drums or electric guitar, that sort of thing, you really just hear more of the style of fiddling. But not in a ‘this is less’ kind of way, but in a ‘this is more’ kind of way.”
As compact as they may be, their shows are generating the same electricity as with a larger ensemble.
“I said to Donnell walking off the stage [at a recent show], it’s just as boisterous as if we had a big band behind us pounding it out. I think people really appreciate getting to hear the details of everything we’ve done.”
Of all the Canadian regional styles of fiddle music, Cape Breton is a sonic cable direct from the Scotland of the 18th Century, as Gaelic as anything.
“Cape Breton music is Scottish music,” MacMaster said. “It came over from Scotland in the mid-1700s, during the Highland clearances [the mass eviction, and often forced relocation, of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and islands].
“And interestingly enough, the fiddle styles of Scotland have evolved much more than the Scottish styles in Cape Breton. Basically we have an older form of Scottish music existing not in Scotland but in Cape Breton.”
That’s not to say the music has not grown and evolved in its own right. It’s a distinct style, but it’s recognized around the world.
“We have more fiddlers per capita than anywhere,” MacMaster said. “Because it’s got such a strong sound, known in Canada, in the U.S., overseas — places with fiddle cultures will know about Cape Breton.”
When you think of Celtic music, you might first think of the intricate, emotionally charged melodies, in otherworldly modes — half major, half minor — on fiddle, bagpipe, accordion … But this is originally dance music, after all — jigs, reels, strathspeys … and key to it is the hard-driving rhythms that power the melodies. The rhythm is probably the strongest attribute of the Cape Breton style, MacMaster said. “That driving rhythm is very unique to the Cape Breton style.”
And the piano is a formidable accompaniment to the sound.
“When I talk about the driving rhythm of the Cape Breton style, a lot of it does come from the piano accompaniment. It’s got a distinct style of its own, that’s getting more popular. Other places and styles are catching on to it and incorporating it into their own music.”
Mary Frances is handling the piano on the “Four and the Floor” tour. She has incorporated Latin and Jazz influences into her playing, which adds an extra layer of verve to the sound.
Michael on the guitar fills out the sound, and he is also renowned for his accordion playing.
But the fiddle playing, of course, is at the top of the bill. MacMaster and Donnell Leahy, who married in 2002, helped bring Cape Breton music and Canadian music to international attention.
"I’ve been doing this for 43 years, there’s just a freshness to it," MacMaster said of the touring. "I attribute that to having gone through so many versions — being single for so many years, travelling, having children, and playing through all of that, then amalgamating with my husband.
“Donnell is an incredible fiddler, and honestly he could do the whole night himself. But what a treat to hear him play a little more than normal, and hear all the intricacies he’s doing. He’s absolutely captivating, and I speak that honestly — not just because he’s my husband.
“Then I do my own thing — I’ve got a few things worked out arrangement-wise to really display what I came from, and I feel really good about it. I even dance and fiddle at the same time, which I haven’t done in years, and it feels so good to do it
“We have our kids, they’re taking off with their abilities. They should have a moment to show off their uniqueness.
"I have a long history with Cranbrook, and I’m happy about that," MacMaster said. "I can’t wait to get back on the stage.”
Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy, with Mary Frances Leahy and Michael Leahy, take the stage at the Charles Bailey Theatre on Monday, April 7.
