Fiddling family, Salad Days and Farmington Hill

by Chris Aaland
 

Two careers. Children. A busy schedule of long bus rides and redeye flights. Lots of us juggle similar duties, but not like Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy. The Cape Breton fiddlers make records, hit the festival circuit and home-school their six kids – aged from infancy to pre-teen – by loading the whole fan-damily in a tour bus and crisscrossing North America.

“I couldn’t leave the little ones at home,” Leahy told me by phone last Saturday while he was making a purchase at a violin shop on the road. “They love the excitement of the pool at the hotel and the restaurants and museums. We try to make it an educational experience for them. We have a geography lesson every day.”

Leahy and MacMaster both come from musical families. He was raised on an Ontario farm, one of 11 children. She, part of the royal lineage of Cape Breton fiddlers.

“We grew up on a farm, and my parents were musical,” said Leahy. “Music was our out. The only way you could get out of work was if you wanted to play. There weren’t enough instruments in our house. We had two fiddles and a piano. You had to wait your turn. What I’d do is get up ahead of everybody and play the fiddle.”

Husband-and-wife Scottish virtuosos Donnell Leahy and Natalie MacMaster bring the whole clan to the Concert Hall tonight, May 14.

Many consider Leahy to be one of the world’s preeminent virtuosos on the fiddle. MacMaster’s reputation is as the torchbearer for the Cape Breton sound – what Leahy considers the purest form of traditional Scottish music. She, too, benefitted from an upbringing rich in music.
“Natalie’s mom said they’d never put the fiddle in the case,” Leahy said. “She always put the fiddle on the kitchen table.”
Rather than force lessons upon their own children, MacMaster and Leahy arrange fun, musical adventures. “When I see them getting bored, we take the fiddles outside and take a walk, keeping the instrument in their hand,” he said. The young Leahy kids would then play quietly so as not to alarm the invisible lion sitting behind a tree, or play loudly to scare off an imaginary tiger.

MacMaster and Leahy bring their new show, “Visions from Cape Breton and Beyond” to the Community Concert Hall at 7:30 p.m. tonight (Thurs., May 14) – and expect their kids to find a way onstage. Since marrying in 2002, MacMaster and Leahy have been captivating audiences with their exceptional musical skills and obvious joy at playing together. Their musical growth together is documented on their most recent offering, “One,” released just last month.

Liggy gets his due tonight with the screening of “Salad Days: A Decade of Punk in Washington, D.C. (1980-90)” at the Animas City Theatre. KDUR’s esteemed station manager grew up in D.C. and was shaped by such bands as Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Fugazi and Scream, all of which appear in the documentary. Proceeds from the $5 admission benefit KDUR. Doors open at 7, with reels to roll at 8.

Crash Music at the historic Aztec Theatre hosts an evening with noteworthy blues guitarist Joe McMurrian at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. McMurrian is a delta blues/roots songwriter/guitarist based in Portland, Ore. He infuses tradition with contemporary invention through his intense, finger-style, slide guitar work and original storytelling. McMurrian has appeared alongside such luminaries as John Mayall, Keb’ Mo’, Charlie Musselwhite and Canned Heat, among others.

The Porchlights bring their original, organic, homegrown acoustic tunes to the Mancos Valley Distillery at 8 p.m. Friday. This Flagstaff duo started out as a casual music party band that soon hit the road and have released five CDs along the way (with a sixth currently in production).
Farmington Hill returns! Durango’s favorite countrified cowpunk crooners play a fundraiser for Animas River Days at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Ska Brewing World Headquarters. Get twice the Nord if you catch Lawn Chair Kings at the Balcony at 5 p.m. Friday.

Moe’s Funked Up Friday features the Mountain Top Pocket Pickers at 7 p.m. Also on tap: DJ Kaztro spins music on the patio from 8 ‘til close Saturday and Hello Dollface and Bootyconda play live on the patio during Taste of Durango from noon ‘til 6 on Sunday.
Elsewhere: Pete Giuliani is back at Mesa Verde’s Farview Lodge from 6:30-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; the Black Velvet Duo plays 6512 Restaurant & Lounge at 6 p.m. Friday and the Diamond Belle Saloon at 5:30 p.m. Saturday; and the Kirk James Blues Band plays the Kennebec Café in Hesperus from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Punk, schmunk. I’m no D.C. punk expert but was weaned on SoCal cowpunk back in the day. Thusly, here are my top 10 ’80s cowpunk albums to cut your teeth on:
1. The Blasters, self-titled, 1981. Rockabilly with an attitude from the Alvins, John Bazz, Bill Bateman and Gene Taylor.
2. Rank and File, “Sundown,” 1982. A slice of toxic, harmonious pie from siblings Chip & Tony Kinman and a young Alejandro Escovedo.
3. X, “More Fun in the New World,” 1983. The quartet’s fourth album would make the cut on the strength of “Devil Doll” alone, but there’s so much more on this blistering chestnut.
4. Los Lobos, “How Will the Wolf Survive?,” 1984. A Chicano rock gem.
5. Minutemen, “Double Nickels on the Dime,” 1984. I came on late to D. Boon and Mike Watt thanks to Liggy and the Nord. I can’t get enough of this, though, with its multi-genre bombast of lyrics and sounds.
6. Beat Farmers, “Tales of the New West,” 1985. The record I want played over and over again at my wake. My favorite record of all-time, end of discussion.
7. The Long Ryders, “State of Our Union,” 1985. The legendary Ed Stasium produced this essential collection of mostly Sid Griffin originals.
8. The Johnnys, “Highlights of a Dangerous Life,” 1986. Aussie cowpunk with such time-tested tracks as “Slip Slap Fishin’” and “Deadmen from Boot Hill.”
9. Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper, “Bo-Day-Shus!!!,” 1987. Even casual fans know “Elvis Is Everywhere.” Dig deeper and you’ll find such Zen wisdom as “Wash No Dishes No More” and “I Ain’t Gonna Piss in No Jar.”
10. Social Distortion, self-titled, 1990. Sure, Mike Ness and crew had already been around. But “Ball and Chain” and “Sick Boys” hit me like a right hook from Mike Tyson upon first listen.

Down with the bedclothes, up with the nightshirt? Email me at chrisa@gobrainstorm.net.