With different musical and cultural backgrounds, Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy managed to find one another, and the two fiddlers have built a musical career and a family together.
Donnell is one of eleven children. His father’s family immigrated to Ontario from County Cork, Ireland, in 1825. “My mom is from Nova Scotia,” he adds. “I grew up with music. My parents were beef farmers. My dad played fiddle, and my mom played piano, sang, and step dance. All of my siblings grew up learning to play. I began playing fiddle at age three.” Donnell joined his brothers in a family band that opened for 176 shows on Shania Twain’s world tour.
Natalie, Donnell’s wife and musical collaborator, had a different upbringing. “I grew up on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia,” she says. “There was a strong Scottish ancestry there, and I grew up in that culture.” As a child, she played locally before traveling and making albums. “I have two brothers who played music but were more into sports.”
Donnell says music was never a luxury in the MacMaster household. “It was a necessity. First thing every morning, Natalie’s mom would put on fiddle music, and it was the soundtrack of their day.” He explains that before the internet and other technology, visiting neighbors for a hot cup of tea and a fiddle tune or two was common. “It was how people connected with one another during the long Canadian winters.”
When she was 19, Natalie was attending a teacher’s college. She received a phone call one day from Donnell. “He said, ‘You don’t know me, but I’m playing in town tonight, and I’d like for you to come to the show.’” Natalie knew who Donnell was – she had one of his cassettes at home. “We dated for two years.” The couple broke up for the next decade before finding their way into one another’s hearts again. “I was 30, and Donnell was 34 when we married,” says Natalie. “We didn’t play together for the first five years of our marriage. We just weren’t an easy fit musically; our styles were so different.”
But they found their musical groove and began playing shows together. The young family grew and because Natalie was nursing, their children accompanied them on the road. “Our oldest, Mary Frances, was four years old and playing backstage when she surprised us and said she wanted to join us onstage. That was followed by her brother saying if she could be on stage, he wanted to be on stage too.” Gradually, six of the couple’s seven children joined them in their act. “It’s not something we forced on them,” Donnell says. “Each of them gravitated towards music, probably because they saw their siblings doing it.”
Natalie says having the children with them is one of her favorite aspects of what they do. “I love having the kids involved with us. We feel we have been able to control our lifestyle and to have the kind of balance we desire as a family.” The kids have a hybrid educational model, where they attend local school at home and are homeschooled when the family is on tour. They recently came off a three-week tour. “They have learned to be flexible, and we have learned how to work in hockey, gymnastics, and other activities the kids are interested in pursuing.”
Known as one of the best fiddlers in the world, Donnell melds traditional influences with more contemporary Celtic and folk sensibilities. Natalie is a superstar in her own right, giving electrifying performances that keep audiences coming back for more. “I am so comfortable on stage,” she says. “And I am confident this is one of the best shows we’ve done. I’ve been playing for forty years, and I’ve never been so proud. People who have been back to see us for up to twenty shows or more have told us this is our best so far.” Donnell says that they’ve learned what works and what entertains people over the years. “We know which tunes will pull emotion and energy from the crowds.”
The fact that both Natalie and Donnell are open to trying new things keeps their music exciting and fresh. “Our children push us, sometimes forcing us out of our comfort zone,” says Donnell. “They challenge us all the time, and that’s a good thing. And our band members have different cultural and musical backgrounds to bring to the table.”
In their latest album, Canvas, Donnell says they let the music decide the direction the album would take. “We purchased recording gear during the pandemic when we realized we would be spending a lot of time at home,” he says. As they got into recording, they realized one of the songs, “So You Love,” would sound better with a cello. “That’s when Natalie asked, ‘If you need cello on a song, who do you call?’ Immediately, Yo-Yo Ma came to mind. We contacted him, and he said he’d love to record it for us.” A recording session was set up with Yo-Yo Ma in his studio in New York and Natalie and Donnell in Canada. “Thanks to technology, it was a smooth process.”
Other guest artists on the album include Brian Finnegan and Rhiannon Giddens. “Brian is in a band called Flook, and we are big fans,” says Natalie. “We reached out through mutual musician friends, and he agreed to record with us. He is an incredible Irish flute and tin whistle player who is very musical and a tasteful composer.” Brian is featured on the song “Colour Theory.” Natalie heard Rhiannon Giddens sing in Gaelic on an album she released in 2018, so she reached out to Rhiannon to be a featured artist on “Woman of the House.”
While still in the cattle business with two of his brothers, Donnell says they are flexible when it comes to his music. “They are very supportive,” he says. Natalie says she never tires of music. “I love how music still invigorates me. I love that emotion and excitement and how it challenges my mind and growth.” Sharing that with their children is the cherry on top for the talented couple. “Mary Frances (now 18) has finished her first album, First Light, which will be released May 31. It has strong Latin and jazz influences. We are very proud of her.”
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