When the words “Celtic violin” are mentioned, one usually has a pretty good idea of what to expect from a performance. Throw in the words “drum solo,” “bagpipe” and “line dancing” and the picture gets a little more complex.

Natalie MacMaster wove such a picture at Stephens Auditorium Thursday night. Bounding back and forth across the stage with the energy of a five-year-old, she defied genres and labels with the help of her six-piece band.

The prime example of how she did it came in a piece titled “Volcano Jake.” What started off as a solemn tune that brought to mind a trek across Scottish highlands, seamlessly transformed to an almost soft-rock ballad full of vibrant energy. And then, after a minute or two, it transformed back into William Wallace’s dirge in the blink of an eye.

Throughout the performance, MacMasters camouflaged this transformation, seamlessly moving into new styles. While her violin retained a Gaelic tone for the majority of the night, her supporting musicians took up melodies that changed the overall tone to whatever they wanted.

In fact, much applause should go to the bandmates for being so multi-talented. Matt MacIsaac was in the wings with not only a banjo, whistles and flutes, but bagpipes as well.

The second half of the performance started with a bagpipe solo that became so filled with finger flurries it approached the fury of an ’80s guitar solo. And Mac Morin, the piano backbone, relinquished his seat to Natalie long enough to be a “Lord of the Dance.”

But if that label were to go to anyone tonight, though, it would be in MacMaster. The finale of the first half of the night was a percussive duel between MacMaster’s feet and the drum solo of J.D. Blair.

The victor was unclear, as both had limbs flying out of sight before the end, although the light man had a tendency to blind the audience, which didn’t exactly help.

MacMaster has a history as a violin virtuoso, starting at the age of nine in Cape Breton, Canada. She has played with such performers as Santana, Pavarotti, Faith Hill and Paul Simon in her career.

Despite the fact that most of her violin tunes would perfectly fit in an olde-time Irish pub with a pint of stout, she blew away most people’s preconceptions of how the show would go and entertained the crowd the whole night.

“We play Scottish tunes, Irish tunes, American tunes, Swedish tunes,” MacMaster said during a small break in the action. “Tunes that we don’t know are tunes we just play.”