Myra MacLeod has doubts sometimes. She’s not alone, she says — all musicians do. But that doesn’t lessen the burden of those creeping, haunting thoughts that tell her she’s not good enough, like they did weeks ago. Though, something as simple as fall foliage often serves as a morale booster.
“I went out back and I looked at the trees and the revelation was, it’s not about me and my skills — it’s about honoring what’s beautiful in life,” she says in the Athol home she shares with her husband, Bill, and older sister, Marcia. “I took a cello out there. I looked at a tree. I didn’t look at what I was doing. I just felt and listened to how I was playing, and I was playing for the trees. … I know this is sappy, but it was a ‘thank-you.’ It means, ‘This is all I have to share.’”
But it seems MacLeod, who specializes in string instruments, may have something else to share. She leads the Worcester Folk Orchestra, which brings together instrumentalists who love to play reels, jigs, and waltzes to perform at events in the Worcester area — primarily contra dances. WOFO’s next dance is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 29, at The Sprinkler Factory, 38 Harlow St. in Worcester. The orchestra’s website states the event runs from 8 to 10:30 p.m.
“I have a history of playing contra dances that goes back 25 years,” said MacLeod, who refers to WOFO as the love of her life. “I love the tunes. It’s a great way to get exercise. You don’t realize it ‘til the end of the night and you’re dragging home. It’s social aerobics. The music is great.”
She explains WOFO plays Irish jigs, southern tunes and a variety of other styles from around the world, demonstrating with her fiddle how a listener can be taken on a journey from the Emerald Isle to the Bible Belt in a matter of seconds.
Myra’s other love is her Celtic mod band, Blackstone Cúil (pronounced Kool). She started the group four years ago with guitarist-vocalist Mike Ladd and the two were joined by drummer Johnny Guertin and bassist Steve Harnois to, as Myra puts it, take traditional tunes and morph them into something different and unexpected. Myra said Cúil is the Gaelic word for “corner.” The term Irish Mod was coined to describe the style of Celtic music Blackstone Cúil’s has developed.
Myra said the Worcester market is saturated with musicians, so she and the rest of the band have decided to take a break while they figure out what they want to do as a group.
“This is the best band I’ve ever been in — really,” said MacLeod, 67. “We’re a blast. I love it. I love those guys.”
Myra and Bill recently moved back to Athol from Worcester, where she gives music lessons six days a week to students. She says she stresses to her students what she was reminded of on her back porch just a few weeks ago — to focus not on what their hands are doing, but on letting the music speak to them.
“What I recommend for students is to get their dog, their cat, anything, something that’s alive, a plant — play for a plant,” she says, gesturing toward an asparagus fern. “It eats reporters,” she says playfully.
Myra and Bill live with Marcia, one of Myra’s older sisters. The two grew up in a housing project in Dorchester with two other sisters. Their mother was a widow. Myra says their mother was a music lover who instilled her passion in her children. Marcia, a woodcarver, and Myra always dreamed of living together, especially after Marsha’s husband died four years ago.
“She’s just as crazy as I am. She’ll dye her hair purple in a heartbeat, and we’ll both go roller skating in the basement,” Myra says. “We’re fun-loving. We’ll never grow up.”
The beginners’ lessons at The Sprinkler Factory starts at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 29. There is a suggested donation of $8 per person ($6 with student ID). Family admission is $18 and children 12 and under are free.