Just Us Folk

For someone who got the idea of playing the fiddle after seeing Natalie MacMaster perform, getting praise for her own playing from Natalie, was a big confidence boost for Irish Millie.

As a child her parents would take Millie to square dances near their home in Peterborough, Ontario where Natalie would play for the dancers. Totally smitten by the sound of the fiddle, Millie wanted a fiddle of her own right away. Wisely, her parents waited until Millie was 6 years old.

“They thought I would break the fiddle, and they were probably right,” she said.

What followed was many years of lessons and fiddle camps. All these years later, she now teaches at these same camps.

Millie’s first album, Thirteen, recorded when she was 13 years old, garnered a 2022 Canadian Folk Music Award nomination for Young Performer of the Year.

Next came Grace, which resulted in two more CFMA nominations along with a Folk Music Ontario nomination for Performing Artist of the Year. The album of all-original tunes prompted Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy to praise its “fresh, lively…cool tunes and great playing.”

Millie’s latest album is the four-song EP, Between Then And Now. It’s a collection of original songs which gave her two more CFMA nominations.

“The nominations were totally out of the blue,” she said. “It’s such an honour to be in the same category as some amazing performers.”

An added benefit to the nominations has been going to the award shows, where she’s connected with the other nominees. That’s led to a number of friendships and collaborations.

What might be surprising to some is the lack of fiddle music in Millie’s background. Her dad’s side of the family is musical from a singing aspect while there’s none on her mother’s side. But what she did have was exposure to folk music growing up.

What’s keeping Millie busy these days is life at the University of Toronto in Scarborough. She’s part of the first class of the “Music Industry and Technology” course. The four-year program allows students to specialize in either Audio Engineering, which is Millie’s focus, or Music Business, which is aimed at management, marketing, publishing and licensing.

Her studies in engineering have exposed Millie to a variety of music styles including Electronic Dance Music (EDM).

“I want to explore more of that with my music so it would be a bit more folk/pop,” she said. “But my performance on stage is still rooted in folk.”

The plan for Millie is to produce her own music and perhaps, other artists.

Since her studies started, Millie has created a series of videos called Dorm Tunes. Playing either the fiddle or guitar, she’s created over 60 videos so far. In fact, the song “Wasted” which appears on Between Then and Now, first appeared as a Dorm Tune.

Another part of going to university in Toronto has been the ability to get more gigs in the city. So far it’s worked out that Millie performs at least a couple of times each week.

Her concert calendar for the summer is quickly filling up, including a trip to Sweden in June. The Lilla By Festivalen has named Millie as their Breakthrough Artist of the Year.

Coming up in April, Millie will be at the Canadian Folk Music Awards in Calgary, where she’s nominated for Single of the Year for ‘You Were There’ and for Young Performer of the Year.

For more on Irish Millie and Between Then And Now, go to https://irishmillie.ca.