Ashley MacIsaac

One of the most celebrated Canadian roots musicians of all time, having sold in excess of 500,000 albums, Ashley has garnered international acclaim by playing the fiddle in that hard-nosed, traditional Cape-Breton style, while adding his own spin, mixing genres and updating Celtic music to appeal to a broader spectrum of fans. Much has been said about the antics of the enfant terrible of the Fiddle, but only because he has had international success and notoriety from an early age and grew up under the spotlight as one of the most dynamic fiddlers from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

A renowned fiddle player, piano player and step dancer, Ashley MacIsaac has performed in the opening ceremonies at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics to a worldwide audience and with artists such as Phillip Glass and The Chieftains.  Ashley also played with The White Stripes for their “Under Great White Northern Lights” Canadian tour which was turned in to a documentary. 
 He has appeared on the Conan O’Brian show, the Today Show and has been a spotlight at international festivals, theatres and halls all over the world.

The CD titled “Crossover” is Ashley MacIsaac's first full band recording since 2002.  With the exciting musical experiments and collaborations of recent years still in his mind, Ashley became energized again with the release of “Crossover”, the first album in this style in ten years.  With Celtic crossovers such as the beautiful “She’s A Rare One”, sung by Mary Jane Lamond. “I begged Mary Jane to sing my favourite old Gaelic song,” MacIsaac recalls, “finally she did and it was worth all the begging! Mary Jane Lamond is indeed a rare one.” There is also the bittersweet ballad “White Velvet”, the lyrics, which MacIsaac credits as the inspiration for the entire album, are coupled with music influenced by his Catholic upbringing. Of course we can also expect electrifying, fast paced Power Rock Fiddle songs like “Poka Rokin.” “This was my dad's favourite Cape Breton step dance tune which I kicked up one powerful notch!”   
 
In 2016 Ashley and Jay Andrews created a new project called FDLER. Dance, electronic, celtic pop and more. It is ethereal as it is catchy, with help from great artists such as Neon Dreams and many more.