Song:Sleepy Maggie
Album:Hi How Are You Today?
With his mix of traditional Cape Breton and contemporary music, fiddler Ashley MacIsaac had success in his native Canada in the 90s. Sleepy Maggie was his biggest hit in 1995. He's unknown outside Canada. He was born Feb. 24, 1975 in Creignish, NS. He grew up playing the traditional music of the Cape Breton region in Nova Scotia which is similar to Celtic music. His sister Lisa MacIsaac is also a fiddler who leads the band Madison Violet. And his cousins Alexis MacIsaac, Wendy MacIsaac and Natalie MacMaster are all fiddlers. MacIsaac's 1992 album Close To The Floor was traditional Cape Breton music. But then he signed with A&M Records and with the 1995 album Hi How Are You Today?, it was decided that MacIsaac would fuse his usual music with contemporary music. This was led by producer Michael Phillip Wojewoda who had produced Barenaked Ladies and Spirit Of The West. Other key musicians included Big Sugar guitarist Gordie Johnson, drummer Graeme Kirkland, Ian Blurton of Cowboy Junkies, Chin Injeti of Bass Is Bass, Cape Breton native and session musician Gordie Sampson and Bourbon Tabernacle Choir keyboard player Chris Brown. So clearly A&M wasn't messing around. They thought MacIsaac could be a big star. The single Sleepy Maggie was very successful in Canada mostly in dance clubs. The album was certified 2XPlatinum in Canada. A&M released the album in the US but it was not successful. The singer Mary Jane Lamond sings traditional Cape Breton music. MacIsaac won a couple of Juno awards. He toured with The Chieftains. And he appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. MacIsaac's undoing was he butted heads with A&M over music direction and he left after two albums. Hi How Are You Today? is available as a budget CD. MacIsaac currently records for the Canadian label Linus Entertainment. His latest CD was released in 2016. And he still tours Canada. I guess MacIsaac's music is an acquired taste. But he was going places when creative differences got in the way. Here's the video for Sleepy Maggie by Ashley MacIsaac featuring Mary Jane Lamond.
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