Through her eyes….Natalie's Cape Breton

As a World-renowned fiddler, a Grammy© nominated recording artist,a farmer and a mother of a growing family, Natalie MacMaster is quite the multi-tasker these days. Add to that list author and publisher and you can see how busy and accomplished she really is.

On a warm Saturday evening during a recent trip home, Natalie invited friends, family and fans to the Celtic Music Interpretive Centre in Judique to help her celebrate the launch of her book CAPE BRETON AIRE The Story of a Musical Life and Place.

Several years in the making, this book features stunning photographs by award winning photographer Eric Roth. Natalie says she had some very clear ideas about the sort of scenes and pictures she wanted to see in her book, but she because she had such respect for his work, she gave Roth free reign to photograph anything.

For several weeks Roth traveled the island shooting the stunning landscapes and seascapes, the communities and the people. However, he didn’t limit himself to rural Cape Breton. Natalie says the result was an eye opener for her. “Some of these photographs are of places and people I have known all my life, but others, for instance, the photographs of coal mining community of Scotchtown in Industrial Cape Breton are places I may have driven by once or twice, but I’ve never really looked at them closely.” She pauses to look at the photograph more carefully “In fact, I don’t know if I have ever been there, but coal mining the and the communities that supported that industry are a big part of the Cape Breton story, so it is in my book. “

A new publication isn’t all that’s on the horizon for Natalie. She and her husband Donnell are building a new house on their cattle farm in Ontario, and by the time you read this Natalie will a mother of four!