Ashley MacIsaac

Subject: Ashley MacIsaac
From: Alasdair
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 12:23 PM

Hi there! I've had the first Ashley MacIsaac album (Hi, How Are You Today) for ages and I love it.

My question is: has anybody heard his other album(s)? if so, how do they compare in terms of energy and quality?

for those of you that don't know, AMcI is a storming Cape Breton fiddler who mixes folkiness with some good guitar and drums.

Al

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From: Nerd
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 12:51 PM

I remember, right after Hi how are you today, he put out "fine thank you very much" which was completely traditional fiddle, piano, guitar. It was a brilliant PR move, b/c the traditional purists were on his case for rocking out so much, and he was able to just show 'em he could still do it. I do think Ashley got a little stretched after that, and I think Hi is the best of his rock efforts. (He also put out Helter's Celtic and I think maybe another one too...)

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From: Alasdair
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 12:55 PM

Cheerz Nerd. So you reckon Fine thank you very much is good in it's kind?

Al

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 01:12 PM

he's a great fiddler when he's not buggering boys....

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From: Alasdair
Date: 28 Mar 03 - 03:42 AM

ahhhh, homophobia in the fiddle-de-community. sounds like a good one for a BS thread discussion

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From:
Date: 28 Mar 03 - 06:05 AM

They're all pretty good, Alasdair.

He's a great fiddler, and a nice young fellow. Despite all the odd things that have been reported, he is a nice guy. I feel he's aa young man who has been overwhelmed by the publicity and attention. He's done well over the last three years since the much publicized bankruptcy.

Keep buying, the recordings are excellent.

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From: Alasdair
Date: 28 Mar 03 - 06:25 AM

Crikey, had no idea he had gone bankrupt. I saw him play live in Montréal the last time I was there, when the success of Hi How are You Today was just starting to escalate.

I see you're from Nova Scotia urself George?

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From: Peg
Date: 28 Mar 03 - 09:38 AM

I have seen him live a coupel of times; great performer! Also got to talk to him a bit and he's very nice.

You might look around for the soundtrack CD to the film The Hanging Garden; Ashley appears in this film and a couple of his tunes are on the CD.

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From: Alasdair
Date: 28 Mar 03 - 09:45 AM

kewl. how is the rest of that disc Peg?

Al

ps - v jealous that you've spoken to him.

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 28 Mar 03 - 09:53 AM

He's actually a pretty nice guy....he's 'edgy' (in the current use of the word) and certainly has gotten a lot of rockers listening to celtoid music.

He illustrates PERFECTLY why some celebrities should NEVER give interviews when pissed drunk.

One of my old heroes, hockey player Bobby Hull did the same, and sounded like a friggin' Nazi!

Cheers

Rick

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From: Alasdair
Date: 28 Mar 03 - 09:56 AM

"edgy" - do you mean his music is cutting edge or that he seems to be teetering on the brink of mental health issues?

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From: Jeri
Date: 28 Mar 03 - 10:10 AM

See Ashley MacIsaac - this is more about music, and
Ashley to 10 year olds: Smoke Pot - more about things Ashley says.

It seems many of the rumors about Ashley, be they about pedophilia, drug use or whatever, are started by Ashley. (I can't find the thread where it was discussed, but the pedophilia issue occured as a result of some comment by him, if I remember correctly.)

(And this thread reminds me I was going to learn Sleepy Maggie.)

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 28 Mar 03 - 10:31 AM

Well, Alisdair, truthfully, he ain't my fave fiddler, either technique-wise, or taste-wise, but I've played some and talked some with him at a few festivals, and he's seems curteous, and treats us grizzled veterans nicely.

I think the "edgy" comment (mine) has more to do with his 'neo-punk' personna, and habit of sawing through his bow a lot. The big boots, kilt (yes he DOES wear underwear....just not always) and stage-stomping, won him the audience he apparently was looking for.

Dave Swarbrick's MY fiddle hero!

Cheers

Rick

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From: Alasdair
Date: 28 Mar 03 - 10:38 AM

Hey Rick. I appreciate what you're saying. For people like me who are into both hard rock/grunge and fidl-de-dee stuff, it's nice to have some peopole out there who can combine those interests.

Jeri - will look at your links and get back to you


Al

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From: Jeri
Date: 28 Mar 03 - 10:39 AM

Somebody ELSE ask Rick how he knows about the underwear thing...

I hadn't heard of him at all, but woke up one morning to my radio alarm playing MacIsaac doing Sleepy Maggie with Mary Jane Lamond (sp?) singing. This was on a top 40 station: Armed Forces radio in South Korea.

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From: GUEST,amergin
Date: 28 Mar 03 - 10:45 AM

i dunno, jeri...i'm afraid to ask....

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From:
Date: 28 Mar 03 - 11:06 AM

Jeri - Spelling Correct.

Yes, Alasdair, I'm from NS.

Hey, if you're jealous of people speaking to him. He's been at house parties I've been at. Good parties. Very relaxed.

I agree with Rick's assessment, he is "edgy" in that he's kind of balanced in both traditional camps AND over into the grunge types referred to above.

Heck, he's only about 30, so he's had a LOT of influences besides the trad.

He DOES love to play Trad form, but it's NOT his only style.

I'm quite sure the thoughts on Ashley starting the rumours about Ashley are correct.

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 28 Mar 03 - 01:59 PM

Yer darn right he got a kick out of messin' with the mainstream.....but I'm not sure if it hasn't hurt him financially. I'll bet it has.

How do I know that most of the time he DOES wear underwear? He plays outdoor shows in Canada, and if yer tryin' to show off ya need warm weather!! (oh....and I read it)

Rick

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Mar 03 - 02:02 PM

and it was something that stuck in your head and was worth mentioning because? *BG*

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 28 Mar 03 - 02:18 PM

I've had the pleasure of working with fiddle players who were much better than he is...

And they didn't have to remark about their pedophiliac tendencies to get noticed...

If it was just a stupid publicity stunt, well, that just shows him to be an idiot... Like we've all never been there eh?

I hear he can sing pretty o.k....

Meeting him?? Ya I met him... a couple of years ago at the Windsor Celtic Fest... He came off as a total waste of skin, both on stage and off...

I won't be buying any of his CDs any time soon, and I'm sure he feels the same way about me...

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From: Peg
Date: 28 Mar 03 - 03:19 PM

Alasdair:

The CD is mostly Nova Scotia artists including Mary jane Lamond and the traditional band Leahy, and it has some traditional music, some contemporary, all somewhat eclectic like many soundtrack CDs are. if you find it, let me know--it has been unavailable here for some time!!!

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 28 Mar 03 - 04:03 PM

GUEST, you wouldn't BELIEVE the amount of useless crap that sticks in my mind, and the amount of valuable information that never even had a chance of getting in. For example:

I can name you the make and model of EVERY guitar played by every musician (famous or unknown) I've ever seen.......but I have forgotten the names constantly of long time friends and have to say "Hey, buddy, how's it goin'? On my radio show I have to write down the names of my 35 year friends Paul Mills, Bill Garrett and Tony Quarrington...or I'll do a mind-blank!

At one point I could name you a complete baseball lineup made up of only ONE nationality. Eg: Polish, Irish, Scots, Italian etc. I HOPE I couldn't do that anymore!

I can name world leaders from countries that Dubya's never heard of, discuss Opera stars from 1900, and annoy Heather by pointing out the smallest editing flub in a movie......and then have to ask her to explain the PLOT to me!

So.....Ashley's underwear is a piece of cake.....but fix a toilet, furnace or do my own taxes? Ha, ha, ha!

Rick, idiot savant

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From: Nerd
Date: 28 Mar 03 - 05:26 PM

I've met Ashley and interviewed him, and he was very nice, soft-spoken and respectful. But I understand he's not always...

Yes, Alasdair, Fine is quite a nice trad album. I think Dave MacIsaac (no relation) backs Ashley up, if I recall.

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 28 Mar 03 - 05:58 PM

Ashley is one of the very best in ability to play. I make no defence for the stupid things that he has done and said, but there are probably not very many who have heard him playing at his best. Most judge him by the crap that he plays for commercial purpose and that is a judgement made on partial evidence.
Most of the time when he plays in Cape Breton it is a different Ashley. If you could go to a square dance at Glencoe Mills or West Mabou and listen to Ashley and Howie MacDonald and Dave MacIsaac play together on some fast traditional jigs and reels it may leave you in awe.
Only available in in Cape Breton. A pity! :-}
                      Sandy

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From: Melani
Date: 28 Mar 03 - 10:59 PM

Hey, Rick, nobody ALWAYS wears underwear!

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From: gnu
Date: 29 Mar 03 - 09:39 AM

That publicity stunt, in a drunken NYC radio interview, was VERY stupid and it REALLY hurt him financially. Fans here in the Maritimes booed and threw glasses at him at two charity concerts. He certainly didn't help matters when he swore and spat at the audience in return. He even had to leave a couple of paid venues when some in the audience, who had paid to get in, went bad on him at the beginning of his performance. Some radio stations pulled his tunes. He lost many bookings, had to sell off property, almost lost his fiddle. I saw him on the tube playing in Dublin with The Chieftans for St. Pat's and he was a crowd pleaser. Never said a word... good idea.

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 29 Mar 03 - 01:57 PM

"He even had to leave a couple of paid venues when some in the audience, who had paid to get in, went bad on him at the beginning of his performance. Some radio stations pulled his tunes. He lost many bookings, had to sell off property, almost lost his fiddle"

Good...

But here's my question... when is enough enough?

Are there acts from which there is no coming back?

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From: Jeri
Date: 29 Mar 03 - 02:01 PM

Suicide?

Seriously, there probably are, but often the person just has to mend their ways and act contrite enough - and it has to last long enough to re-gain some amount of trust.

Subject: RE: Ashley MacIsaac
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 29 Mar 03 - 02:32 PM

As good as Ashley is (when he wants to be ) the woods of Cape Breton are full of kids with the talent to take his place. Not just Cape Breton either, as P.E.I. is barking at our heels. Last night I watched P.E.I.'s Cynthia Mac Leod play at set at our bi-weekly jam in Blues Mills. I was very impressed!
          Slainte,
                Sandy