PREVIEW
ASHLEY MacISAAC
MacEwan Hall
Monday, April 21
Preparing for an interview with Cape Breton’s Celtic fiddle deity Ashley MacIsaac is an exercise in mental fortification. Internet pages reveal phone conversations with journalists that consist of MacIsaac quacking like a duck before he hangs up. He has also held court regarding his fondness for urination during sexual acts, his so-called addiction to crack cocaine (as if doing crack a restrained three or four times a month counts as an addiction), and his former fling with a 16-year-old boy. He has consistently stood by his belief that no publicity is bad publicity.
And the e-mail message itself, which presents me with MacIsaac’s cellphone number, came with contact information for a record label employee, just in case. It’s not every interview that comes with a prophylactic.
There were many burning questions that revolved around the kilt-flaunting coquette’s new self-titled album, which is finally seeing the light of day on Decca Records after a messy, gossip column-style divorce from Toronto’s Loggerhead Records. Why did MacIsaac choose to sing on several tracks? Now that he’s singing, will he head for the real money in music and begin to write more songs (he’s credited with writing part of two of the 13 songs on the album)? How did he choose the tracks appearing on this album, especially the old Wings hit "Mull of Kintyre"? How did one of Canada’s baddest boys – in a country nearly bereft of bad boys – release an album that my 74-year-old mother could love? And, most intriguingly, does he still believe that there’s no such thing as bad press?
When the scheduled interview time arrived, I phoned the cell number with trembling fingers, and was surprised by the extremely upbeat voice at the other end. An angry young man this was not.
"Hello? Who is this? Oh, do I have an interview now? I didn’t know that. I was only answering it because I thought you were my sweetie. But we can talk now."
With that, he launched into the densest, most fast-paced interview I’ve never participated in.
MacIsaac: I just got off the Web site for Alberta. I love Alberta! I’d move to Calgary or Edmonton in a flash. Of course, I’d rather live in Banff.
Fast Forward: Well, who wouldn’t? The problem is, it’s difficult to live in the park –
MacIsaac (gathering steam): Well, the thing to do would be to live at the Banff Springs. I’ve been there and you can get a right nice room. Yes, I’d move into the Banff Springs all right. I was on the B.C. tourism Web site too. I’d live in B.C. in a flash.
Fast Forward (trying to get him on topic): The new album is a different sound and approach for you, yet the thread of your sound from your first album – and all the way through – connects it to your work. How did you choose the songs, especially the ones you sang?
MacIsaac: Yes, now I’d live in Vancouver, too. They have some nice hotels there, too.
Fast Forward (if you can’t beat ’em…): Yes, Vancouver’s great. Where do you like to stay?
MacIsaac: Now the Hotel MacDonald in Edmonton, that’s a lovely hotel. They have some really lovely carpet at the MacDonald Hotel. I love their carpets.
Fast Forward: And carpets are usually something I really worry about when I’m booking a hotel.
MacIsaac: Well, if you’re on the road a lot, you don’t want to catch something nasty. I love a nice carpet where I can take my shoes off and walk around barefoot and really sink my feet into (it). But I’ve been in some places where you catch a nasty fungus that way. I hate to come back from a trip with a nasty foot fungus because of the carpets…. (At this point, MacIsaac’s cellphone connection begins to break up.)
Fast Forward: Yes, I can see why that would be a concern for you. Well, I’m a closet Wings fan, so I was thrilled to hear "Mull of Kintyre" on your album.
MacIsaac: Well, who isn’t a Wings fan? I was on the B.C. Web site and you can get the site in any language. You can get it in German and French and English. You can only get the Alberta site in English. And on the B.C. Web site, they have a little flag meaning it’s gay friendly. So you can get B.C. translated into English and German and gay. You can’t get gay in Alberta, so I’d guess there must be a lot of people in the closet – closet Wings fans."
With that, his cellphone connection mercifully breaks up for good, and when I phone back, he is out of range. This has been the longest two minutes and 37 seconds of my life. But at least now I know the answer to one of my questions: MacIsaac definitely still believes that no publicity is bad publicity. |
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