File: chaissonjj06-oh-familyguidance_M.mp3
Speakers:
JC – JJ Chaisson
KP: Curator Ken Perlman
JC: All of our aunts and uncles and cousins always encouraged each other. But at the end of the day it's what we wanted to do. We had lots of suggestions B I took lots of positive criticism from cousins and uncles and aunts.
KP: Like what are some of the things people told you?
JC: Change this, or try this. I remember Peter, every time I'd play solo he'd be going like this [taking the index finger of his right hand and rubbing it against the little finger of the left]. What he meant by that is that I was playing too many open notes – Like instead of open E, get that fourth finger on A down. He wanted me to double the note. It used to drive me crazy, listenin' to him, "Get that little finger!" Everybody's got different styles, and different ways of playing and we all developed their own little B Every one of us have a few different things that we like to do, whether it's chokin' up on the bow a little more, or using more cuts, or using that fourth finger, we all do something a little different. But our uncles were always willing to help B Not even the uncles. My mother [Donna Chaisson] and her sisters had a lot of knowledge of the fiddle even though they didn't play. They had a lot of knowledge cause they grew up with it, or course. They knew too, just because they didn't play. They knew what things should sound like, and were aware whenever we made a mistake, and they were quick to correct us. But it was all positive, they would never say it in any kind of ignorant [cruel] manner. They were – I used to just say positive criticism.
