There’s one thing I’m fairly certain of from an interview I did earlier today with Cape Breton fiddle whiz Natalie MacMaster, who plays the Admiral Theatre on May 8 with her fiddle-superstar husband, Donnell Leahy:
Neither one of us had anything on the other, as far as who went through the most to make the interview happen.
MacMaster was speaking from a playground in Carmel, Calif., where the MacMaster-Leahy “Visions from Cape Breton and Beyond” tour had pulled over for a May 1 show on its way up the coast to Bremerton. Hardly rough duty, until you consider that she was trying to talk to me at the same time she having a little family enrichment time with her six kids, ages 10 years to 12 1/2 months.
Me? I was in so
me sort of rock quarry
arrangement off Totten Road near Poulsbo, across the street from
where my auto mechanic was awaiting the part that would make my
ride, Rocket, whole again. I had picked out a pair of Tom-and-Jerry
boulders — the tall one was the desk, the short one was the chair —
and found a discarded pizza box to serve as a writing surface. With
all my state-of-the-art reporting paraphernalia back at the
Sungeon, I took notes with — get ready to kick it old school — a
pen and some paper.
MacMaster had her half-dozen offspring. I had some curious little lizards. And, unbelievably, the same sun shone on us both, more than 900 miles separated.
I had to balance the pizza box. MacMaster had to balance the attention lavished on her kids, not to mention dealing with a fall by her youngest, Sadie Agnes, that forced us to take an Interview Break.
Because we’re both dedicated professionals, the interview happened, and the Sun’s preview story will feature MacMaster’s thoughts on the upcoming show, the first official MacMaster-Leahy CD (“One,” which you’ll hear a meaty chunk of during the concert) and the whole idea of taking your kids on the road.
“Our gauge is our kids,” said MacMaster, who home-schools all the school-aged progeny. “If they weren’t liking it, we’d have to do something. But right now, they’re loving it. And it’s great for me having them with us.”
— MM
