"It's wonderful," she says of her current tour, which will take her and her band - keyboardist Ralph Dillon, bassist Al Bennet, guitar Clarence Deveau, drummer Dave Burton and backup singer Lisa McDouggal - across the country. Since the release of Flying On Your Own, however, her stock has skyrocketed. Only three years ago, her talent was a well-kept secret to most of the country, although she had a strong following in the Maritimes and in the women's music community. And she's done it with persistence and courage. MacNeil has done it with a crystal clear voice that is sweetened by a light Celtic lilt, and with songs that speak eloquently of places and people, of dreams and the simple pleasures of friendship. And tonight she will perform before a sold-out house at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto. Anne Murray has covered her hit, Flying On Your Own. A new Christmas album earned her a gold record - for sales of more than 50,000 - within weeks of being released. She won the Juno award for most promising female vocalist in 1987, an ironic honor for someone who has been singing for more than 17 years. Her last two albums, 1987's Flying On Your Own and this year's release, Reason to Believe, have both been certified platinum in Canada in recognition of sales of more than 100,000 copies. The teacher ended up doing all the singing."Īnd yet, at 44, Rita MacNeil is a star.
Asked whether she has any vocal training, she admits that she was once sent for lessons.
As she sits in a chair in the corner of her hotel room, MacNeil looks down as she answers an interviewer's questions in a voice that seems about to slip into a whisper. Second, she's from Cape Breton, a part of the country that, in spite of the talent it has produced - Matt Minglewood, John Allan Cameron and, of course, MacNeil herself - is something of a mystery to the folks at the record companies in Toronto.Īnd finally, she is almost painfully shy.
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