Ashley MacIsaac
Ashley Dwayne MacIsaac (born February 24, 1975) is a professional fiddler born in Creignish, Nova Scotia.
While MacIsaac's fiddle-playing is entirely traditional, he sets it in contemporary rock songs with hip hop and dance elements. He is often cited as one of the best fiddlers in the world.
His greatest mainstream success in Canada was his 1995 album Hi™ How Are You Today?, featuring the hit single "Sleepy Maggie," with vocals in Gaelic by Mary Jane Lamond.
Controversy
MacIsaac has been a highly controversial figure, who has often used shock tactics to gain attention. In 1999, he told a journalist for The New Yorker that his goal was to become "weirder than Michael Jackson".
In 1995, MacIsaac appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, in a controversial performance during which one of his kick steps lifted his kilt high enough that his genitals were clearly visible to both the studio audience and the television cameras. MacIsaac stated that this was unintentional.
He elicited a considerable amount of controversy in 1996, after being interviewed by Maclean's for their best of the year section, when he told the Maclean's interviewer that he had previously discussed his sexual life, including his underage boyfriend and his taste for urolagnia, in an interview with the LGBT newsmagazine The Advocate. For its part, The Advocate did not print any of the controversial assertions, but Maclean's dropped him from the list and instead wrote a disparaging article on him.
Also the same year, MacIsaac toured the United States as an opening act for The Chieftains. Another opener, folk singer Nanci Griffith, dropped out of the tour citing MacIsaac's musical incompatibility with her fans.
In 1997, he reportedly gave a lewd performance, containing swear words at an all-ages venue in Fort Erie. Shortly thereafter, Ashley fought successfully to be independent of his record label and was dropped from Universal Music. He subsequently signed with the independent label Loggerhead Records for his 1999 album Helter's Celtic. During the promotional tour for that album, he revealed to the press that he had previously battled an addiction to crack cocaine.
Also in 1999, MacIsaac again gave a controversial performance at a show in Halifax, in which his entire performance consisted of a 20-minute rant containing numerous expletives and, allegedly, several racist statements. In 2003, MacIsaac was again alleged to have made racist statements on stage, at a show where he reportedly accused an Asian woman in the audience of spreading SARS. He subsequently stated that the comment was intended as a "parody" of racism, and sued the Ottawa Citizen for misrepresenting the statement as racist.
On more than one occasion, MacIsaac has also told journalists that he was on the verge of declaring bankruptcy, and then retracted the statement within a few days.
New directions
In 2005, MacIsaac pursued a new direction, forming a rock band with himself on lead vocals and guitar. He 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 Halifax Daily News, MacIsaac declared himself a candidate for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada. [1] Some Canadian journalists, including Mike Duffy, have suggested that MacIsaac's campaign is primarily a publicity stunt to promote his new CD Pride which was released just a day after declaring himself a candidate. However, MacIsaac has told Canadian Press that he fully intends to mount a serious campaign.
In a comment to national press, another fiddler turned politician, Rodney MacDonald, Premier of Nova Scotia, praised MacIsaac by stating it would be a nice thing to see him in federal politics. Both MacIsaac and MacDonald played in a group together in the late eighties called The Next Generation and have been friends for many years, starting out as the only two well known young male step dancers from Cape Breton. Rodney is, however, from the opposite end of the political spectrum, a Conservative, whereas Ashley is a life-long Liberal.
Discography
- Close to the Floor (1992)
- A Cape Breton Christmas (1993)
- Hi™ How Are You Today? (1995)
- Fine®, Thank You Very Much (1996)
- Helter's Celtic (1999)
- Cape Breton Fiddle Music Not Calm (2001)
- Ashley MacIsaac (2003)
- Live at the Savoy (2004)
- Fiddle Music 101 (2005)
- Pride (2006)
MacIsaac has also published an autobiography, Fiddling with Disaster in 2003.
Trivia
- Ashley's sister Lisa is also a touring fiddler.
- Ashley's brother is named Henry "Hank" Snow. Henry is a diamond mine employee in the Northern Territories of Canada.
- In the manga series Bleach, the author Tite Kubo gives main characters theme songs based on their personality, and MacIsaac's "Wingstock" is the theme of character Rukia Kuchiki.