Indeed, it wouldn’t be Christmas without music in this household. MacMaster is aware that having kids on the road can be tough, “but as Donnell said, it’s much harder travelling without them.” The idea, she says, is to pass along the family traditions. It brings a Celtic edge, with whistles, bagpipes, fiddle and Cape Breton-style piano, to a lineup of familiar Christmas songs like “What Child is This,” “Little Drummer Boy” and “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” among other classics of the Yuletide season.Īn added bonus is performances by five of the six children, ranging in ages from four to 11, who join their parents on stage, dancing, adding some vocals and carrying on the family tradition as fiddlers, as well as bringing some levity to the high-energy show. Through a mix of song and dance, A Celtic Family Christmas tells the story of the night before Christmas in the MacMaster/Leahy household. The CD is out of stock on Amazon and tour dates have been selling out. I love the recording.”įans seem to agree. “Donnell and I made great efforts to pull it off and we did. “Whatever the reason, the stars aligned, it’s the right time,” said MacMaster, on the line from Vancouver during the early stages of the five-week tour. “Perhaps it was because it was never a priority, I was making other recordings and a Christmas CD was something I always wanted to do, but I was too busy with other stuff.”Ĭhristmas music always seemed a natural fit for MacMaster, especially with her devoutly Catholic, not to mention musical, upbringing in Cape Breton.Įverything came together this Christmas, and the duo released A Celtic Family Christmas before embarking, with six kids in tow, on a Christmas tour that is taking in points between Vancouver Island and their home base near Peterborough, Ont. “I don’t know why it took that long,” said MacMaster, who, with husband Leahy, makes up Canada’s first family of fiddling. The renowned Cape Breton fiddler, along with husband and fellow fiddler Donnell Leahy and their six offspring, have done just that for Christmas 2016 as they have released their first Christmas CD and hit the road for a cross-Canada tour to share what a Celtic Christmas is all about.Īfter 30 years in the business, it was about time MacMaster finally released a Christmas recording.
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