File: richardfred06-oh-gettingstarted_M.mp3
Speakers:
FR – Fred Richard
KP – Curator Ken Perlman
FR: And I always wanted to play the violin.
KP: Why was that?
FR: Well I used to like the sound of it. And there was an auction sale and I went to the sale, and my Dad came with me and bought a fiddle for $6.25. That was my first violin. And then I needed some rosin and some strings. Well I didn't know anything about rosin, so I got some strings and asked where would I get the rosin. So they said you go to a store for a pound of rosin. So I said "a pound of rosin," and he brought me a bag, it was about a ten pound bag size, full of rosin. I said, "Oh my God, I only want a little piece." And I still have some of that left! So from then on I couldn't set [tune] the violin cause there was no automatic or electrical gadgets like they have today.
KP: Do you mean tune?
FR: Tune it up. So then there was an old man that used to come at our neighbors, and he could play the violin.
KP: What was his name
FR: Edmund Chaisson. And he came over, and when I'd see him comin' over there I'd run over with my violin to tune it up. And that went on for a whole year. And after a while I could get a little tune out of it. I think the first tune I learned was Chase Me Charlie in the Barley (laughs).
KP: How does that go?
FR: It's like the Cock of the North. So I rubbed on that for a long while, and I still play that tune when I think of it. And that's how it come about, and I worked seven years on the railroad and I always carried my violin with me in Ontario. And I was never alone; in a bunk car you had your violin with you and you'd play a tune, so that was a great comfort. So I enjoy music very well.
