Kyle MacDonald from Foot Cape, Cape Breton grew up surrounded by a community of fantastic fiddle players. As a youth he spent many hours with the late Dougie MacDonald and performed widely on the Island with his two brothers, (Keith and Colin) calling themselves “All Fired Up”. His development as a fiddler benefited from his early age affiliation with the Cape Breton Fiddler’s Association, and he was lucky to have experiences learning from players such as Ed Rogers, John Campbell, Stan Chapman, Jerry Holland, Carl MacKenzie, David Greenburg, Winnie Chafe, and Buddy MacMaster. Marianne Jewel instructed Kyle throughout his teen years deciphering the Gaelic style of fiddle playing local to the Mabou area. It was during this time that he gained confident literacy in note reading, and developed his playing in a variety of key signatures.