Natalie and Brittany Haas are supremely talented sisters! Their cello and fiddle duo is virtuosic and playful. Their interplay comes from growing up together in Northern California and attending the same fiddle camps and youth orchestras. My interview finds the pair in Washington DC on tour in the midst of a busy day. They just finished an afternoon workshop and are sound-checking for an evening show. I’m honored to squeeze in a half hour with them. We open the segment with two tunes; “Noah Polska” and “FreeSpace/Reel For Dennis” both from the Haas Sisters two releases. 2023’s “Haas” and 2025’s “North Node”.
We begin our conversation about their early musical upbringing and experience at Alasdair Fraser’s “Valley of the Moon” fiddle camp where instructors like Fraser, Bruce Molsky and Darol Anger made an indelible stamp on their musical career. Natalie recorded and toured with Fraser for over 25 years and is an instructor at that very same fiddle camp! Brittany went on tour with Darol Anger in his Republic of Strings tour when she was just 13! Both women have gone on to huge success since those formative years. Natalie, in addition to duo tours with Alasdair, played cello with Mark O’Connor in his hugely successful “Appalachian Waltz” tour for three years. She has appeared on well over 100 albums as collaborator and guest. Brittany joined Crooked Still when still in school at Princeton before forming the amazing trio then quartet Hawktail. She now holds down the fiddle chair with The Punch Brothers!
Today, however, we talk about their two duo albums and their writing, arranging ,recording and now touring together! The tour comes to a sold-out Club Passim show on Wednesday 10/28 as well as a local show on 10/29 at The Iron Horse in Northampton! Darol Anger calls this pairing “a collaboration a lifetime in the making” and “a major event in our musical history”.
We discuss the tour and their personalities while traveling. Folks interested in traveling with the Haas Sisters in Ireland have their chance this Spring ! Check out Wild Atlantic Tours for details. In the meantime, Brittany has a new solo album planned (somehow new material with Hawktail, too) all while touring for months worldwide with the Punch Brothers!
Listeners are treated to the Sisters discussing the final selection for the segment. Natalie picks “Swan Carnival” for a glimpse of the playful and intense musical interplay when two masterful musicians collaborate. Give it a listen. Or, get tickets for 10/29 Thursday night at the Iron Horse! Iron Horse.org for details.
