Ashley MacIsaac
Ashley MacIsaac | |
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Burlington Sound of Music festival in 2010. Neil MacIntosh also pictured on drums. | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Ashley Dwayne MacIsaac |
Born | Creignish, Inverness County, Nova Scotia, Canada | February 24, 1975
Genres | Celtic fusion, folk, rock |
Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter |
Instrument(s) | Fiddle, Piano, vocals |
Years active | 1992–present |
Labels | A&M, RCA, Decca, Linus, Loggerhead |
Website | ashleymacisaac |
Ashley Dwayne MacIsaac (born February 24, 1975) is a Canadian
Life and family
MacIsaac was born in Creignish,
His cousins Alexis MacIsaac,
In 2007, MacIsaac married Andrew Stokes.[4][5] According to MacIsaac, spoken during his February 25, 2017, concert at Koerner Hall in Toronto, they are now divorced. He lives in Windsor, Ontario.[6]
Career
MacIsaac's album
In 1996, MacIsaac toured the United States as an opening act for
In 1998 MacIsaac fought successfully to be independent of his record label.[21] He subsequently signed with the independent label Loggerhead Records for his 1999 album Helter's Celtic. During the promotional tour for that album, he indicated to the press that he had battled an addiction to crack cocaine from 1997 to 1999.[15] In 1999, a journalist for The New Yorker noted MacIsaac's rock-star bravado and eccentricities.[22]
In December 1999, MacIsaac screamed obscenities at a New Year's Eve
In 2003, MacIsaac was alleged to have made a racist statement on stage, at a show where he reportedly accused an Asian woman in the audience of spreading
In 2016, MacIsaac co-hosted, with
Political involvement
MacIsaac has declared an interest in politics and has stated, in a letter to the National Post, that he is studying constitutional law so as to pursue an entry into Canadian federal politics.
In the March 20, 2006, edition of the
Equipment and playing style
MacIsaac plays a right-handed fiddle left-handed, most notably allowing it to remain strung right-handed,[29] a highly unusual style of playing. MacIsaac however explained in a 2014 interview for the Celtic Colours Festival that during his first fiddle lesson with Stan Chapman when his father asked if he should change the strings around the other way, Stan said "Well, if you change the strings on your fiddle, you'll never be able to play anyone else's fiddle. So if he's gonna learn that way, learn that way". In the same interview, MacIsaac also elaborated that his unorthodox playing style allows the lower notes to remain on the lower side of the fiddle, and this allows him to go up to the higher notes; he said it "just makes sonic sense" to him to have the strings upside down.[30]
Discography
Albums
Year | Album | Chart Positions | CRIA | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
CAN | CAN Country | US Heat
| |||
1992 | Close to the Floor | 71 | 10 | ||
1993 | A Cape Breton Christmas (Ashley MacIsaac and Friends) | ||||
1995 | Hi™ How Are You Today? | 9 | 20 | 2× Platinum[9] | |
1996 | Fine®, Thank You Very Much | 24 | |||
1999 | Helter's Celtic | ||||
2001 | capebretonfiddlemusicNOTCALM (with Howie MacDonald) | ||||
2003 | Ashley MacIsaac | ||||
2004 | Live at the Savoy | ||||
2005 | Fiddle Music 101 (with Dave MacIsaac) | ||||
2006 | Pride | ||||
2008 | The Best of Ashley MacIsaac | ||||
2011 | Crossover | ||||
2014 | Beautiful Lake Ainslie (with Barbara MacDonald Magone) | ||||
2016 | FDLER (featuring Ashley MacIsaac and Jay "Sticks" Andrews) |
Singles
Year | Single | Chart Positions | Album | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CAN AC | CAN Dance | CAN | US Adult
|
US Dance
|
US | |||
1995 | "The Square Dance Song" (with BKS) | 18 | Astroplane (BKS album) | |||||
"Sleepy Maggie" | 42 | 15 | 13 | 29 | 102 | Hi™ How Are You Today? | ||
"The Devil in the Kitchen" | 47 | 53 | ||||||
1997 | "Brenda Stubbert" | |||||||
1998 | "Great Divide" (with Bruce Hornsby) | 43 | 33 | Spirit Trail (Bruce Hornsby album) |
Filmography
- The Hanging Garden – Basil, wedding musician (1997)
- Power Play – himself (one episode, 1999)
- New Waterford Girl – Town fiddler (1999)
- Nabbie no koi – Ashley O'Connor (1999)
- Marion Bridge – Mickey (2002)
- Life and Times – himself (one episode, 2005)
- Through the Times Self released DVD – himself at the Doryman Tavern
- Under Great White Northern Lights – Ashley performance Savoy Theatre (2009)
- Storage Wars Canada – as himself, appraises found violin (2015)
- Celebrity Portraits – as himself 2 episodes (2009)
- Son of Man – Mark (short film, 2023)
See also
- Music of Canada
- Canadian rock
- List of Canadian musicians
References
- Xtra!. June 4, 2008. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
- London Free Press, August 26, 2004.
- ^ "Ashley MacIsaac to open for White Stripes". CBC News. June 15, 2007. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
- ^ "Fiddler MacIsaac marries on stage". CBC News. February 18, 2007. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
- ^ "MacIsaac marries sweetheart onstage at music awards". Ottawa Citizen. February 19, 2007. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
- ^ a b "Musician Ashley MacIsaac hints at political run in Windsor". CBC News. September 23, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
- ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 1898". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. July 17, 2013. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
- ^ "Ashley MacIsaac Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
- ^ a b c "Ashley MacIsaac and Heather Rankin announced as hosts for 2016 East Coast Music Awards gala". East Coast Music Awards. November 2, 2015. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
- ^ "Juno Awards Database". junoawards.ca. Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
- ^ Victoria Times-Colonist, September 19, 1995.
- Kingston Whig-Standard, September 7, 1996.
- ^ a b c d ""Ashley MacIsaac". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
- ^ Fitzgerald, Nicole (March 9, 2007). "MacIsaac No Longer Fiddling Around". Pique News Magazine. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
- ^ canoe.ca, October 29, 1999.
- ^ a b "MacIsaac outlasts Griffith in tour feud". Edmonton Journal, July 16, 1996.
- Rolling Stone.
- ^ "Fiddler MacIsaac bares all on TV". Toronto Star, February 19, 1997.
- ^ Sweet, Matthew (March 28, 1997). "Blue Sky on Mars" (PDF). Entertainment. p. 21. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
- ^ "See Saw Man". YouTube. April 21, 2020. Archived from the original on December 12, 2021. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
- canoe.ca, July 13, 1998.
- ^ "Sex, Drugs, and Fiddling: Is the Celtic virtuoso Ashley MacIssac Too Wild for Rock and Roll?". December 20, 1999. Archived from the original on May 28, 2006. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
- ^ canoe.ca, July 19, 2000.
- ^ "MacIsaac sues newspaper over alleged racist label". CBC News. May 13, 2003. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
- ^ Canadian Press, February 19, 2010.
- ^ "You oughta Juno: What happened to those artists voted most likely to succeed? Part 2 — 1986 – 1999". National Post, David Berry and Rebecca Tucker | March 14, 2015. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
- ^ "Fiddler Ashley MacIsaac pledges to run for Liberal leadership". CBC Arts. March 22, 2006. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
- ^ "MacIsaac denies leadership bid is a stunt". CTV News. Archived from the original on February 24, 2007. Retrieved April 23, 2009.
- ISBN 9780931877421. "Ashley MaIsaac...plays left handed on a regular right handed violin."
- ^ "Ashley MacIsaac". Celtic Colours International Festival. Archived from the original on September 29, 2020. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
External links
- Ashley MacIsaac Official website
- Ashley MacIsaac at IMDb