You Can Teach An Old Fiddle New Tricks

By Beth Winegarner

Let's face it. One can watch only so many reruns of Riverdance before getting the sense that maybe, just maybe, all these Celtic melodies could be dressed up somehow. Sure, the music has been around for centuries; as an art form goes, it's pretty timeless. But what if somebody updated it, fused it with modern rhythms and instruments and created something entirely different?

Somebody did. His name is Ashley MacIsaac, a fiddler from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, in the northeastern part of Canada that thinks it's still a part of Scotland. MacIsaac grew up hearing, playing and loving the old fiddle tunes passed down from his ancestors, and as a teenager met up with the rock and dance sounds that were flourishing from Saskatchewan to San Antonio. On his debut release, Hi, How Are You Today?, MacIsaac proves that you can teach an old fiddle new tricks.

The first single, "Sleepy Maggie," is a perfect example of MacIsaac's ingenuity. He welds a bewitching jig with an earthy house rhythm as vocalist Mary Jane Lamond raps hypnotically in Gaelic. It is one of the freshest dance tunes of 1996, and bound to leave DJs the world over diving for old Chieftains records before we see the new year. Though the liner notes describe MacIsaac's melody on "Sleepy Maggie" as a "new traditional song," he proves that older tunes -- like Pipe Major William Ross' late-1800s tune "The Devil in the Kitchen" -- fare just as well. On the latter number, he speeds up the "ultimate stepdance" song to a tempo that would make Kirk Hammett's fingers bleed. On "Devil," MacIsaac is backed by a very-nimble Gordie Johnson on guitar, who deserves more than a little credit simply for keeping up.

On other tracks, MacIsaac turns to near-industrial noises, like the canny drums and fuzzy samples on "Beaton's Delight," a deceptively traditional-sounding shiver of fiddle and drum tracking. For "Rusty D-con-STRUCK-tion," he pairs several classic pieces, including "Tatter Jack Walsh," "O'Reilly's" and "Sailor's Wife" with a hail of drums lent by Al Cross. The first portion is a whirligig of joyous, major-key strokes, while latter segments are reminiscent of a ship on stormy seas. All the while, we are reminded again and again that MacIsaac is no less than a rock musician of enviable skill and sensibility.

While MacIsaac plays with new-edge noises during the first part of Hi, How Are You Today?, the latter part seems devoted to more traditional themes. "MacDougall's Pride" is a sweetly melancholy serenade, penned by MacIsaac himself, backed by Gordie Sampson on acoustic guitar, Scott Long on bagpipes and a quartet featuring violin, viola, cello and oboe. "Spoonboy" follows on its heels, another down-home medley of six classic marches and reels buoyed by Gerry Deveau clackety-clacking on spoons. Soundgarden, eat your heart out.

Later, "Sad Wedding Day" takes a turn at Barbara Allen's composition, which sounds at times like the Irish traditional "She Moved Through The Fair." Lamond returns to contribute a haunting vocal performance, again in Gaelic. Despite the beauty of the piece, the drums on this ballad seem to drag it down rather than giving it life. However, "Sophia's Pipes" moves at a wicked pace, formed by the driving strains of "Walkin the Floor" and "Murdo Mackenzie of Torridon" as well as Long's ability to match his pipes to MacIsaac's frenetic fingers.

"Wing-stock" is another knockout, highlighting MacIsaac's talent on piano as well as violin. He begins the pastiche with "Cape Breton Lullaby" -- clearly written as a fiddle tune -- on piano, the instrument's rich voice giving new textures to the melody; for a moment it's like hearing Michael Nyman's theme from The Piano, only without the melodrama. He then moves quickly back to strings for the chiming, fiery "Ski Doo," then closing the trio with an unknown traditional piece played the old-fashioned way, led by a single drum and hand-claps.

The only disappointment on Hi, How Are You Today? is "What An Idiot He Is," a whacked-out countrified number featuring MacIsaac on abysmal vocals. He is backed by jale, an all-girl group who does little to make up for lines like "He walks with a swagger and he talks with a sneer/And everything about him tell you don't come near." Fortunately, MacIsaac has promised not to play this song in concert; just to make up for it, he closes the album with "Kill Your Foes," a slumbering ballad which allows the fiddler to return to piano and vocals without making an idiot of himself.

Though it seems everything's coming up Celtic these days, it's refreshing that at least one man is bringing his beloved favorites into the present day. Rather than destroying the soul, passion and drive that inspired fiddlers to compose these traditional tunes, MacIsaac gives them all the glory they deserve. His own creations stand alongside the classics on Hi, How Are You Today?, allowing old and new to sparkle together with dignity and more than a wee bit of puckish joy.

This article was originally published in Addicted to Noise.