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File: sigsworthcosmas-oh-houseparties_dances_M.mp3
Speakers
CS – Cosmas Sigsworth
KP – Curator Ken Perlman
KP: Could you give us an idea of what a typical house party would be like from start to finish?
CS: Well, not any different that any other I suppose. People were
File: mcdonaldleonard-oh-chordsonfiddle_M.mp3
Speakers:
LM – Leonard McDonald
KP – Curator Ken Perlman
LM Well like I mean every area had its own – I have my own distinct style of playing. I learned to play the fiddle pretty much by myself, and I'll tell you I play a lot of
File: hughesemmett06-oh-housepartydress_M.mp3
Speakers:
EH – Emmett Hughes
KP – Curator Ken Perlman
EH: Back then nobody would dance with their overalls on. It was kind of a B The whole damn trouble was, back when I was a young man was B [to] get money enough to
File: woodrichard06-oh-olderfiddlerspart2_M.mp3
Speakers:
RW – Richard Wood
RW: When I was 11 – 9 I should say, a lot of my best friends were 60 really, and 55. Every second night I'd be goin' to a place where there would be a benefit or a ceilidh and meetin' up with these older
File: dayivan06-oh-jimmybearisto_M.mp3
Speaker:
ID – Ivan Day
JG – John Gauthier
KP – Speaker Ken Perlman
ID: I was in the insurance business at the last of it, and I used to get around, and I'd drop into Jimmy's for a few minutes.
KP: Into his shop
File: macdougalljim06-oh-playsfirstdance_M.mp3
Speakers:
JM – Jim MacDougall
KP – Curator Ken Perlman
JM: I was 16 years old when I played for my first dance in Grand River Hall.
KP: How did it happen that they asked you to play?
JM: That
File: o'connorjimmy-oh-davebeck_M.mp3
Speakers:
JO – Jimmy O'Connor
KP – Curator Ken Perlman
JO Dave Beck, he was about the best when I was younger: around our place, anyway.
KP Did you try to play like him?
JO Yeah, in a way. He was good.
KP Did you ever
File: macdonaldward06-oh-youngergeneration_M.mp3
Speakers:
WM – Ward MacDonald
WM: I definitely see people giving too much recognition to some of the younger kids. It's not that the fans of the music mean to do it. But I know they are trying to encourage the kid; they want to see the
File: macdougalljim06-oh-gettingstarted_M.mp3
Speakers:
JM – Jim MacDougall
KP – Curator Ken Pelman
KP: Now how did you get started playing?
JM: Well again, that's another story (laughs). My father was very strict with the B He had a violin and it wasn't a
File: pitredennis06-oh-stepdancing_M.mp3
Speakers:
DP – Dennis Pitre
KP – Curator Ken Perlman
KP: You were saying that the tempos, the speed that the people wanted the music for step dancing was a little bit slower then?
DP: Not too fast, they'd always tell you
File: cheveriecharles06-oh-womansrole-M.mp3
Speakers:
CC – Fr. Charlie Cheverie
KP – Curator Ken Perlman
KP: Why do suppose there are more girls than boys excelling at the fiddle, or getting serious about the fiddle.
CC: I don't know what the demographics of
File: chaissonyoungpeter-oh-weddingreeldemo_M.mp3
Speakers:
PC – "Young Peter" Chaisson
KP – Curator Ken Perlman
PC: That's the first tune that used to be played at a wedding, fifty, sixty years ago around here. And they always hired the fiddler before they got the date of the
File: macdonaldpaul-oh-gettingstarted_M.mp3
Speakers:
PM – Paul MacDonald
KP – Curator Ken Perlman
PM I played classical music for probably three years I guess it was, I quit when I was 12. I told my parents, "OK, no more classical violin. But I think I want to play fiddle
File: doucettevictor06-oh-fathersrole_M.mp3
Speakers:
VD – Victor Doucette
Victor: I was in Ontario for a few years and then started to play it [the fiddle] up there again and started to fool around with it. But then when I got home and got married in the late 70s, then
File: arsenaultrobert-oh-joebibiennefamily_M.mp3
Speakers
RA: Robert Arsenault
KP: Curator Ken Perlman
RA I never saw my grandfather play too much. But he's sort of still like known like his name was Joe Bibienne -- his name was Joe Bibienne -- because there was a whole bunch