For Gaelic Storm’s Natalya Kay, an unexpected journey leaps forward at KC Irish Fest
Photo by Tim Reilly
“I was so dreadfully sick. I kept thinking I should cancel.”
Natalya Kay – fiddler for genre-bending Irish rock band Gaelic Storm, who will headline Kansas City Irish Fest Friday and Saturday night, September 4th and 5th – was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Or, between the edge of the Cliffs of Moher and plummeting into the Atlantic Ocean.
That push-and-pull of decisions is the biggest conflict in life. Sometimes, though, the conflict is swayed indefinitely.
Massachusetts native fiddler Talya_Kay (as she is known around social media) is arguably the lightning in Gaelic Storm’s energetic live shows. Her fiddle supports most tunes from the sweet to the grungy. Yet, when she steps front and center, her animated play sparks a new groove for those seated and a heightened frenzy for those dancing along.
In those moments, it does not matter that Talya once gravitated towards corporate life as she shifted from Boston to Nashville: Finance. Executive assistant. Office manager. Marketing.
“I always wanted to have that salary and benefits,” Talya said via phone interview. “And I loved the idea of working in the city, working in a big building, and having my office.”
Photo by Twisted Thistle
Love for playing the fiddle, however, was ever present: “I would bring a fiddle to work on special days like St. Patrick’s Day and play a few tunes for a fun diversion from the workday.”
“I wanted to make my money, and then every time I pick up that fiddle, it’s for fun. It’s to relax. It’s to unwind. It’s to go to Ireland and play. It’s to go sit in the pubs.”
The love was orchestrated at home. Sitting on her maternal grandfather’s lap, six-year-old Talya would soak in his bow moving subtly over the strings, his fingers dancing on the fingerboard. At Papa’s example and the encouragement of her mother invoking her Scottish and Irish roots, Talya would scratch out Celtic tunes – a constant soundtrack to her and her four siblings.
“There wasn’t ever a conversation of any other style of music,” she said.
Learning traditional Irish music via formal lessons arrived with Laurel Martin in Westford. More advanced lessons via FaceTime with Patrick Ourceau evolved. Inspiration was instilled by virtuoso Eileen Ivers and her singular style: her grip on the bow, the dynamics, the bending of notes that pour out emotion, the ornamentation.
“No one else sounds like her, and her playing was the biggest inspiration. It gets me every time. Every time I hear Eileen playing… ‘Oh, she’s so good.’”
Talya absorbed her influences, and at age 16, her life took a turn. One of many sways of gravity to come.
“The Massachusetts Cultural Arts Council recognized me as a young, flourishing musician deserving of being awarded a grant to carry on the tradition of Irish music.”
Funds for lessons, books, and albums were now administered via her instructor, allowing Talya access she may not have had within the family budget of seven and her parents’ running of their own small businesses. Then, the Fleadh Cheoil, the premier traditional Irish music event in the world with finals held in Ireland, beckoned.
Practice, practice, and more practice meant qualification in the Mid-Atlantic regional. A triumphant Talya was headed to Ireland.
“Those were pivotal moments when I became a better musician.”
Regular trips to Ireland ensued for this mostly loner. At age 16, a whole new world was lived in pubs playing songs she had been studying for nine years and seeing the vibrant culture, seeing people dancing to the music, becoming part of the vibrant culture (and maybe throwing back a few Guinness).
Photo by Scott Trezise
“I play fiddle by myself in Lowell, Massachusetts, but I can go to Ireland… [I can make] the connection of what I’m a part of, and what this music that I’m learning is, and how it’s being played.”
When Talya was 21, she left home to live in Ireland for four months. After, it was on to Boston to begin her corporate life in earnest. Fiddle was her hobby, her weekends in the pubs, and still her biggest joy.
“Sometimes I would play for nine hours in a pub because there would be three sessions on a Saturday or whatever, and you could go from one to the next to the next,” she recalled. “Playing with these phenomenal Boston musicians helped me grow. So, I worked, and then I had that as my social life, and that was fine for me.”
A move to Nashville was next: corporate days, and, surprisingly, playing only “a bit here and there.” Then, as the COVID pandemic wound down in the spring of 2022, Talya listened to the color of a new kind of dream. A cold call came: ‘Hi, I’m the manager for Gaelic Storm.’
“I couldn’t have told you a Gaelic Storm song,” Talya stated. “I knew it was a popular Celtic band. But, since they weren’t strictly traditional, I had never checked them out.”
“Oh, I don’t think so. No, I am not the right fit,” was her response.
Five years later, Talya is so glad she relented, “I’m really grateful. I’m in my fifth year now, and we’re still having a lot of fun, and we are booking out next year already, so you can see the future for the coming year.”
The future is broad, it never fully tells, and it can rush forward on a moment. Like last March.
Post Malone’s music director reached out – and it wasn’t a scam, like Zac Brown’s DM was not a scam some time earlier asking her to play on Brown’s Jimmy Buffett tribute song “Pirates and Parrots”. It’s good to be wary, and modest, thinking big opportunities in her music career may not be real. But it’s not good to toss aside the possibility. Talya was being asked to play with mega-star Post Malone at the massive music festival Stagecoach.
However, illness struck Talya after she committed to the gig. Days of intense rehearsal lay ahead. And she felt “dreadful”.
Photo by Pat Walsh
“I kept thinking: ‘I don’t think you’re even supposed to show up when you’re sick because you’d be contagious.’” Talya was in a conundrum.
“But this is the band. You don’t just, like, drop out; then they’re stuck, and they need a fiddle player.”
Talya’s conflict melted away. Cancellation was not an option. She showed up, kept her distance with “a cough drop in her mouth the whole time,” and on show night had the “the greatest night of her life”.
“I can’t believe I’m playing Stagecoach. What a great learning experience, because working on all the country music was a big learning curve for me, and I poured a lot of time into it,” she said. “I had the absolute best time with his band and his team. He’s a very kind man, very humble, and he was very friendly.”
“I think about [my journey] often. I, like, wow, out of nowhere, became a full-time touring musician, and it’s the thing that I enjoy the most,” Talya intimated. “And it’s the thing that feels the most me to do, and now I get to do it. I’m motivated by the fact that it’s the truest form of me.”
There is still a Guinness every now and again, but Lychee martinis – “If it doesn’t have three lychees, it’s not a good martini.” – are now Talya’s style.
Talya’s unique on-stage style – she refuses to be traditional there – will feature on the main stage at KC Irish Fest Friday and Saturday at the convergence of Crown Center Square and Washington Park. No chin pressed down on the saddle of her fiddle, no neck down staring at her fingers. Nope, she will jump, skip, twist, and twirl on stage. Fiddling is fun, and Talya makes it look easy. That personality is part of her broad appeal.
Whether it’s the saga of Johnny Tarr or bringing the whiskey so the moon can bring the light, or any one of Gaelic Storm’s crowd pleasers, Talya and the band bring the sentimental and the rowdy while blending the new with the old and introducing something unexpected.
For this musician, sometimes model, influencer, and moment maker, Talya will remain true to herself.
On the horizon? Hopefully that EP of traditional Celtic melodies she has long loved might be the one to draw others to the sound and sway them towards a lifelong love of Celtic standards. Definitely more collaborations, expanding to different styles of music, and honing her craft on the road of evolution.
