Donnell Leahy is the fiddler who fronted Leahy, the family band of eight siblings from Lakefield, Ontario. He led the band from 1996 to 2013, a run that brought three Juno Awards, a double-platinum album, and 176 shows opening for Shania Twain. Since then he has toured and recorded with his wife, Cape Breton fiddler Natalie MacMaster. Together they have sold out more than 1,000 shows in North America.
Why Leahy matters
Leahy plays Ontario fiddle music fast and loud, and he step dances while he does it. His band showed that a family fiddle act from a small Ontario town could sell more than half a million albums, top the Canadian country chart, and reach number four on the Billboard world music chart. For a fiddler, his value is drive. His bow attack, his tempo, and his stage energy are what to listen for.
Life and career
Leahy grew up in Lakefield, Ontario, in a family of 11 children who all played and step danced. The siblings toured Canada from the early 1980s as the Leahy Family and recorded a series of private LPs and cassettes they sold at shows. In 1985 the family was the subject of the short film The Leahys: Music Most of All, which won an Academy Award in the student film category. The band was a regular guest at the Big Valley Jamboree concerts in Saskatchewan and Alberta.
In 1996 the group relaunched as Leahy with Donnell as founder and frontman. The self-titled album Leahy was an instrumental record. It reached number one on the Canadian country chart, went double platinum, and hit number four on the Billboard world music chart. At the 1998 Juno Awards the band won Best New Group and Best Instrumental Artist. In 1999 it won Best Country Group or Duo. That same period the band opened 176 shows on Shania Twain’s Come On Over tour and appeared in two television specials from the tour.
Leahy released Lakefield in 2001, In All Things in 2004, Leahy Live in 2006, and Handmade in 2007. The band appeared in three PBS specials: Leahy Live in Concert, Gael Force with the Chieftains, and Leahy Live from Gatineau, Quebec. Donnell married Natalie MacMaster, and the couple settled in Lakefield. Trent University gave them both honorary doctorates in 2008. He stepped away from Leahy in 2013.
MacMaster and Leahy then built a duo career. Their album One came out on April 28, 2015, on DLL/MacMaster Music. A Celtic Family Christmas followed in 2016 and Canvas on March 17, 2023. The duo has worked with Yo-Yo Ma, Alison Krauss, and Rhiannon Giddens, who appears on Canvas.
Playing style
Leahy plays with a heavy, driving bow. He digs into the string on the downbeat and pushes the tempo, which gives his reels the feel of a dance floor at full tilt. His family’s music blends the Ottawa Valley and Ontario fiddle traditions with Irish roots and French Canadian step dancing, and Leahy often dances while he plays. His official biography describes him as an instrumentalist who mixes traditional influences with contemporary Celtic and folk sensibilities.
Influences and legacy
Leahy learned inside his family. All 11 siblings played, and the band’s sound came from playing together every day. The Chieftains, with whom the band filmed Gael Force, connected him to the Irish side of the tradition. Marriage to Natalie MacMaster brought him into the Cape Breton world of Buddy MacMaster and Ashley MacIsaac.
His legacy is the audience he built for Canadian fiddle music. Leahy’s double-platinum album and Shania Twain tour took step dancing and fiddle tunes to crowds that had never heard them. The MacMaster and Leahy duo continues that work with more than 1,000 sold-out shows.
Signature tunes and songs
Fiddler’s Despair (with Natalie MacMaster) The Chase (with Natalie MacMaster).
Essential recordings
Leahy (1996) Lakefield (2001) One, with Natalie MacMaster (DLL/MacMaster Music, 2015) Canvas, with Natalie MacMaster (DLL/MacMaster Music, 2023)
Awards and honors
Academy Award, student film category, for The Leahys: Music Most of All (1985) Juno Award, Best New Group, with Leahy (1998) Juno Award, Best Instrumental Artist, with Leahy (1998) Juno Award, Best Country Group or Duo, with Leahy (1999) Honorary doctorate, Trent University (2008)
Watch and listen
Leahy takes a solo fiddle break in a video posted by the MacMaster and Leahy duo. Watch the bow attack and how the tempo climbs.
MacMaster and Leahy play The Chase. Listen to how the two fiddles lock together on the downbeats.
What to learn from Leahy
Learn Fiddler’s Despair, which the duo has released as a music video. It is a fast reel with a strong drive, so it teaches you to keep a hard downbeat at speed. The technique to steal is his bow weight. Most fiddlers lighten up when they speed up. Leahy keeps the bow pressed into the string and lets the accent land on the beat. Practice a reel at a slow tempo with more bow pressure than feels natural, then raise the speed without losing the weight.
Sources
About us, Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy official website Leahy official website Leahy, Wikipedia Natalie MacMaster, Wikipedia
Related players
See the fiddle players hub and the bluegrass fiddle guide for more Canadian fiddlers. Leahy’s duo partner is Natalie MacMaster. Her uncle Buddy MacMaster and cousin Ashley MacIsaac are the other Cape Breton names to know. For the Ontario contest side of the tradition, see Scott Woods and Shane Cook.