The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

34 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday December 13, 2006 www.oakvillebeaver.com Free Shipping * Love of fiddle music passed on from generation to generation By Krissie Rutherford OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF on fashion, jewellery and selected toy purchases from any Sears catalogue or sears.ca to any home in Canada Order by December 19* to receive your order in time for Christmas PLUS *Some exceptions apply. Visit sears.ca or call us at 1-800-267-3277 on hundreds and hundreds of items on sears.ca outlet While quantities last Save 5-50 % Items added daily PLUS... Many more deals at sears.ca sears.ca outlet savings everyday plus good values Quick feet and fast fiddling are coming to the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts for A Natalie MacMaster Christmas. Not only will the concert feature songs from MacMaster's albums, but the famed Cape Breton fiddler will also be playing a line-up of holiday classics. MacMaster, who started playing the fiddle at age nine, has been credited with driving a resurgence in traditional Cape Breton music across the country. While her response to that claim is a modest, "I don't know about that," MacMaster admits she can see why people are drawn to Celtic music. "People often ask me why the appeal for fiddle music, and I think if you consider the fact it's 250 years old, it has been in Cape Breton that long, but it's even older than that. It's something that's ingrained in the people. It's part of the culture, it's passed on from generation to generation." Celtic music, MacMaster says, is no fad. "There's a deep rootedness that people are attracted to." MacMaster's Dec. 17 and 18 concerts in Oakville will feature a range of her work, including Christmas music, unrecorded songs and tunes from some of her albums, including her 10th and most recent Yours Truly. The record, which she co-produced with husband and fellow fiddler Donnell Leahy, is a departure from MacMaster's previous nine. "Eighty per cent of the music on that I wrote, and that's a first for me," she said of the album, which was released in October. "I also used my live touring band on this CD and that's a first as well. In 10 records, I've never done that." The title of the record, she says, explains it all. "The material is so close to who I am because it came right from my brain first of all," she said, "and then step by step through working with Donnell to produce it. It's very close to me." This album is similar to her others in that it expands the boundaries of the Celtic music genre, lifting the traditional Natalie MacMaster East Coast music to a contemporary status. The album includes special guests like Rushad Eggleston and Natalie Haas on the cello, and Jens Krüger on the banjo. Lead vocals in a version of Danny Boy are done by pop singer Michael McDonald, all backed by rhythms and tones unique to Cape Breton. "(The) Yours Truly record has pop tunes on it ­ I've done that before," said MacMaster. "I basically do whatever is right for the music, I've done some more Latin sounds, pop, classical sounding, jazz sounding." Her album In My Hands fused jazz, Latin and the guest vocals of Alison Krauss, and was one of four of her last five records to sell more than 50,000 copies and be certified gold in Canada. MacMaster also earned a Grammy nomination for her album, My Roots are Showing, and has two Juno awards for best instrumental album under her belt as well as Artist of the Year awards from the East Coast Music Association. A resident of Ontario for the past four years, McMaster and her band do much of their touring ­ about 80 per cent ­ in the United States. "It's going to be nice to be in that beautiful little theatre," she said of the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts, where she's appeared several times. "I'm looking forward once again to be back in Oakville." For tickets, call the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts Box office at 905815-2021. Ranges Dishwashers Refrigerators Freezers 5855 Terry Fox Way Mississauga Snow Throwers Lawnmowers Chainsaws Trimmers NE123G906 Copyright 2006. Sears Canada Inc. W WINTER WARM UP SALE INSIDE WAREHOUSE SUNDAY Dec 17 th, 2006 9:00am ­ 2:00pm ISH BIG Discontinued Product As Is Product All Sales Are Final Only Debit, Visa & Master Card Accepted Includes One Year Functional Repair Only