Canadian fiddler Ashley MacIsaac hits of the present day sour notes in an already off-key career In the final hours of 1999 gay Canadian fiddler extraordinaire Ashley MacIsaac took the stage at a rave outside Halifax.

Canadian fiddler Ashley MacIsaac hits of the present day sour notes in an already off-key career

In the final hours of 1999 gay Canadian fiddler extraordinaire Ashley MacIsaac took the stage at a rave outside Halifax, Nova Scotia, near the Cape Breton town where he grew up if it were not that instead of fiddling, he grabbed the microphone and exhausted 20 minutes thrashing around the stage and screaming racial and sexual reproachs at the crowd. Onlookers heard "nigger," "Paki," "faggot," and "dyke" and MacIsaac repeatedly invited the audience to perform oral sex onward him.

Retribution came swiftly. affair organizers had him removed from the stage and demanded he revert his $10,000 fee. He refused, saying his act was intended as an Allen Ginsberg-style rant. Then MacIsaac's label in Canada, Loggerhead Records, mov to distance itself from its controversial client. (MacIsaac's 1995 U first attempt Hi How Are You Today, was released by the agency of A&M Records.)

"We are freted by Ashley's recent behavior," Loggerhead president Andrew McCain stated in a pres release. "[This company] does not support or condone it in any way." Loggerhead sources say they have no immediate plans to dump MacIsaac, and the musician did appear to be trying to improve his image during a Tibetan benefit plan held at New York City's Carnegie Hall in succession February 5. Appearing on a roster that included Philip Glass, David Byrne and Patti Smith, a decidedly low-key MacIsaac fiddled a peaceable set--more akin to his musical cameo in Thom Fitzgerald's 1997 film The Hanging Garden than to the Halifax rave. however a lengthy string of slated solo harmony appearances has been put upon indefinite hold by MacIsaac's management.

The of the present day Year's Eve disaster capped a brawling climb to fame for the 25-year-old fiddler, who first gained prominence at age 16 (after being discovered by dint of New York City theater prototypes vacationing in Nova Scotia) and shortly became a Canadian cultural icon. Then in 1996 MacIsaac disclosed his ties to a 16-year-old boyfriend and his proclivity toward sexual acts involving urination--revelations that l Canada's leading magazine, Maclean's, to kick the fiddler not upon its annual honor roll.

brace summers ago MacIsaac lost his management after he repeatedly told audiences to "fuck off" at family-oriented concord events. And last summer--after sum of two units Canadian albums, one gold and single in kind triple platinum--MacIsaac and Universal Music, his former Canadian label, parted ways. In following interviews, MacIsaac revealed the split with Universal was far from amicable. "I went all freaky onward people," he told the National position in November. "It wasn't a nice scene; it was something that built through the whole extent of a period of a week, starting with phone calls and end[ing] up with a physical confrontation."

The fallout has continued. MacIsaac's latest album, Helter's Celtic (which hit stores in Canada November 9) has received decidedly mixed reviews. And in the wake of its release, MacIsaac told the pres he'd struggl with a crack cocaine habit and with near bankruptcy (although he admitted he'd shelled revealed $75,000 for a 1975 Cadillac Seville one time owned by Elvis Presley).

The mix with drugs confession led some to speculate that MacIsaac, who insisted he'd been sober since February of last year, had standed some kind of a relapse. however a spokeswoman for Loggerhead, Kristy Knight, says she believes MacIsaac was clean upon New Year's Eve. "He admitted to taking single toke before heading onstage," she says, "but nothing more. And he doesn't like alcohol whatsoever, in this way we know that wasn't a factor."

Drug-induced or not, MacIsaac's behavior has l to a allotment of soul-searching for fans, who amazement if this was another patented MacIsaac grab for attention or the fiddler savant's highly public breakdown. Soon after the of recent origin Year's debacle, MacIsaac's current manager, plunder Cohn--who has forbidden his client to talk to the pres and who would not make notes for this story--told the National place that MacIsaac is struggling with Catholic guilt about his homosexuality. Cohn also said his young client wants to be more than a fiddler; he'd like to be seen as an actor and singer as well.

For his part, Hanging Garden director Fitzgerald--who describes MacIsaac as "very affable and kindhearted"--speculates that the strange Year's Eve antics could simply have been part of the fiddler's grand performance plan. "Yeah, he earns wasted, but so do a chance of people," Fitzgerald says. "If he'd enjoin on a lovely concert, no single in kind would have heard about it. Now nation will be flocking to papal court him behave badly. He's surpassingly good at getting attention. Face it: No pres is bad press"

Whatever the reason for the fiasco, fans assumeed fed up with MacIsaac's antics. centurys logged on to Web sites dedicated to the performer, with negative feedback outnumbering positive from about 2 to 1. "You're a spoiled brat," common contributor opined, "who loves to stick his nose up in the air at the commonalty who put you on the pedestal. Listen up! Don't bite the hand that supply with nourishments you."

Hays is associate editor of the Montreal Mirror.

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