The recordings presented on this site were made by me or under my direction during three periods of time.
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File: macdougallherb06-oh-houseparties_M.mp3
Speakers:
HM β Herb MacDougall
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
HM: We would have what we'd call house parties
KP: At your house?
HM: At our house, yes. So my mother would probably prepare for a day or
File: macleandanny-oh-goodfiddler_M.mp3
Speakers:
DM β Danny MacLean
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
KP: what do you think makes a good fiddler? If you hear a fellow play, what about his music would stand out for you?
DM: What do you think makes him a good fiddler?
File: arsenaultlouise06-oh-acadiansyncopation_M.mp3
Speakers
LA: Louise Arsenault
KP: Ken Perlman
LA: When you do the shuffle it's like two up bows in a row.
KP: Can you take your fiddle and illustrate that
LA: I sure can,
File: gaudetdavid06-oh-gettingstarted_M.mp3
Speakers:
DG β David Gaudet
RG β Robert Gallant
KP- Curator Ken Perlman
KP: How did you yourself learn to play?
DG: I learned pretty well on my own.
RG: His brother kicked
File: arsenaultrobert06-oh-futureofmusic.mp3
Speakers:
RA-Robert Arsenault
RA:Tthis whole idea of where is it [Island fiddling] going and how far has it come. When you take it out of the kitchen and put it on the stage then you're getting into a whole new set of things. So one of the
File: macdonaldpaul-oh-hardvibrato_M.mp3
Speakers:
PM β Paul MacDonald
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
PM: But the most common one used is vibrato in Scottish music. That's the most common.
KP: Explain...
PM: That's just the classical
File: swensonamy06-oh-fiddlersgrandkids_M.mp3
Speaker: Amy Swenson
AS: I would say at least half of the students I teach have fiddlers in their family background, somewhere. And it's often their grandparents or great grandparents. And the fiddling skipped their parents' generation. But the
File: arsenaultlouise-oh-musichome_M.wav
Speakers:
LA-Louise Arsenault
KP-Curator Ken Perlman
LA: We never had a television for a while there, so there wasn't very much to do, I guess. So in the evenings we would, we only had the lamp, we never had the
File: cheveriecharles-oh-foundingfiddlerssociety_contests_M.mp3
Speakers:
CC β Fr. Charles Cheverie
In 1975, Faber MacDonald, the priest for our diocese, along with Joe Chaisson βAnd Joe and Fr. Faber wrote to all the fiddlers they knew at that time on the Island to gather at St.
File: quinnmerlin-oh-stoppingwork_M.mp3
Speakers:
MQ β Merlin Quinn
MQ: Somebody might come in with a fiddle if they ever did. My father loved the fiddle. So if anybody ever came in that could play fiddle, it just stopped everything right off. That was the end of the work, we all went
File: westprincefiddlers-oh-olddays_fights_M.mp3
Seated L-R:
JA: Jack Arbing
GO: George O'Connor
ER: Elmer Robinson
DR: Dorothy Dalton Rogers]
KP: Curator Ken Perlman
Speakers:
JA Used to be great fights at the dances.
File: doironpeter-oh-stepdancing_M.mp3
Speakers:
PD β Peter Doiron
KP β Ken Perlman
PD Our house if you can imagine it, is a very small hut, or bungalow I suppose you'd call it, -- a very small place but it would literally be filled with people from the village or
File: macinnislargus-oh-gaelic_M.mp3
Speakers:
LM β Largus MacInnis
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
LM I remember my two grandmothers; they spoke Gaelic a lot.
KP Yes.
LM There was an old lady; used to live in Munns Road. She'd walk
File: hallidayjimmy-oh-lazyfiddlers_M.mp3
Speakers:
JH: Jimmy Halliday
EM: Eddie Martin
KP: Curator Ken Perlman
JH At that time a lot of them weren't much good for anything else for some reason or another. They were handy to have around for a house
File: johnstoneroy06-oh-fiddlingin70s_M.mp3
Speakers:
RJ β Roy Johnstone
KP: Curator Ken Perlman
RJ: I moved here in '78, yeah.
KP: What was the state of Island fiddling [then]?
RJ: Coming from Winnipeg where there wasn't
File: wightelliott-oh-donmesser_M.mp3
Speakers:
EW β Elliott Wight
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
EW That's right. At that time we had no electricity in our house and we used to have a battery radio. And we could only turn it on to hear the news and to hear Don
File: bergeronhelene06-oh-barachoisappeal_M.mp3
Speakers:
HB β Helene Bergeron
PA β Peter Arsenault
KP β curator Ken Perlman
KP: Was there anything in particular about PEI music that you felt the audiences [for Barachois] reacted to?
File: gotellhugh-oh-gettingstarted_quitting_M.mp3
Speaker:
HG β Hugh Gotell
KP: Curator Ken Perlman
HG: Well my dad played, the violin. He played at, we used to have concerts, once a year there, St. Patrick's concerts: 17th of March. And they had a little
File: sheehancharlie-oh-parties_organs_M.mp3
Speaker:
CS β Charlie Sheehan
KP: What were the house parties like?
CS: Oh, they were good. Just a bunch would gather, a bunch of boys and girls and get into a house and dance to about twelve or one o'clock at night
File: chaissonjj06-oh-fiddlingsurvival_M.mp3
Speakers
JC β JJ Chaisson
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
JC: There's an awful lot of people playing fiddle now, than there was five or ten years ago, 15 years ago. There's an awful lot of young people that have shown interest, fiddle
File: hallidayjimmy-oh-endofera_M.mp3
Speakers
JH β Jimmy Halliday
EM β Eddie Martin
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
KP When did the house parties start to go down?
JH When they started to put carpet on, I guess Eddie was it? No, People are pretty
File: gauthierjohn06-oh-greatunclecharlie_M.mp3
Speakers:
JG β John Gauthier
JG: I was playing to the wedding, this was about 1946 or 47, of a cousin of mine in Rustico. I took a break, and went inside - They had built a stage out in the farm yard. I went in
File: macdonaldallan06-oh-hectorsfiddling.mp3
Speakers:
AM β Allan MacDonald
AM: He [Hector MacDonald] had a nice rhythm, everybody loved his fiddling.
KP: What did they like about his fiddling?
AM: Well, beautiful dance fiddling,
File: gauthierjohn06-oh-danceband_M.mp3
Speakers:
JG β John Gauthier
ID β Ivan Day
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
KP: When did you start playing for dances as a fiddler?
JG: That was probably during the war, when I was working for the phone
File: arsenaulteddy-oh-styles_M.wav
Speaker:
EA β Eddy Arsenault
It don't make any difference where you go, you can go up west, you go to Tignish, you can go to Souris, you can go Summerside, everybody got a different style to play. You notice that? Now in New Brunswick they got a
File: oconnorattwood-oh-weddings_M.mp3
Speakers:
AO β Attwood O'Connor
SB β Stanley Bruce
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
KP Can you describe how weddings went in this area?
AO It was all square dancing. After they'd get married they'd be comin home, and they'd
File: toolestephen-oh-takingsound_M.mp3
Speakers:
ST β Stephen Toole
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
ST And another thing about a fiddler is β I've heard my father sayin, I've heard a lot of people sayin that they can always tell a person that would never be a fiddler by the sound
File: hubleylibby-oh-stepdancingolddays_M.mp3
Speakers:
LH β Libby Hubley
LH: I think when the men danced, it was only those who had that love and great feel for the music, the music just moved them to do those different little patterns with their feet. And the patterns
File: quinnmerlin06-oh-schoolcommittees_M.mp3
Speakers:
MQ β Merlin Quinn
CW β Carl Webster
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
KP: Who exactly β Every community had its school dances and some had church benefits. Who actually organized those?
CW: For the
File: hornbyjim-oh-contests_M.mp3
Speakers:
JH β Jim Hornby
JH I can see that it's a fairly arbitrary result. Also, it's a small community and anybody's going to be a judge, they're not going to bring someone from Halifax to judge them. They're going to get some farmer
File: raffertyervin06-oh-familyorigins_M.mp3
Speakers:
ER β Ervan Rafferty
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
ER: James, James Rafferty.
KP: Do you know what part of Ireland he came from?
ER: The area he was born in was County Down.
File: cheveriecharles-oh-radio.mp3
Speakers:
CC β Fr. Charlie Cheverie
CC: Way back on PEI when radio came about, in the late 20s and early 30s, then you'd be speaking of hearing tunes from Sydney, Nova Scotia, and Antigonish. And the fiddlers in those days were were
File: raffertyervin06-oh-houseparties_M.mp3
Speakers:
ER β Ervan Rafferty
ER: Oh yeah, the house parties. Quite often you'd have the house parties too, especially in the wintertime, break up the winter. Christmas time was a great getting' together. People would go to
File: pitredennis06-oh-changes_M.mp3
Speakers:
DP β Dennis Pitre
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
DP: There's no change much since 15 years ago. Everything is the same. We play in the Hall Saturday Night, for the Saturday Night Dance. And we play pretty well once a week for the senior
File: macdonaldfrancis-oh-ancestry_M.mp3
Speakers:
FM β Francis MacDonald
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
FM Yeah, we try to maintain a family tree back five generations, anyway.
KP How far back have you β Oh, you have traced it back five generations?
FM Yes, as
File: sigsworthcosmas-oh-houseparties_dances_M.mp3
Speakers
CS β Cosmas Sigsworth
KP β 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 β Leonard McDonald
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
LM Well like I mean every area had its own β 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 β Emmett Hughes
KP β 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 β Richard Wood
RW: When I was 11 β 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 β Ivan Day
JG β John Gauthier
KP β 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 β Jim MacDougall
KP β 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 β Jimmy O'Connor
KP β 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 β 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 β Jim MacDougall
KP β 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 β Dennis Pitre
KP β 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 β Fr. Charlie Cheverie
KP β 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 β "Young Peter" Chaisson
KP β 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 β Paul MacDonald
KP β 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 β 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
File: cheverieomar06-oh-capebretonradio_fitzgerald_M.mp3
Speakers:
OC β Omar Cheverie
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
OC: I can remember the first radio that we had in our neighborhood. Our next door neighbor had a radio.
KP: Was that one of those big battery radios
File: cheveriecharles-oh-tunetitles.mp3
Speakers:
CC - Fr. Charles Cheverie
CC: Well a lot of the times if you go to the eastern part of the island here and ask the fiddler for the name of a tune, forget it! (laughs).. But yet, they'll have a sequence of tunes. Give one tune, and
File: maccannellneil-oh-stepdancing_M.mp3
Speakers:
NM β Neil MacCannell
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
NM They'd be requested to step dance; usually there was two or three step dancers among the group.
KP I was told they each had their favorite tunes, is that
File: robinsonelmer92-oh-musicalbackground_M.mp3
Speakers:
ER βElmer Robinson
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
KP: Did you grow up in Woodstock?
ER: No, about 15 miles down the road here: Mount. Pleasant. Been up here fabout 20 years.
KP: Do you come from
File: cranerobert06-oh-homemadebeer_M.mp3
Speakers:
RC β Robert Crane
RC: A cousin of ours was home from the States, a whole bunch at the house, and a couple of jugs, and one feller had an old car he put it in the woods at home, [inaudible]. And he said, "Are you goin' to the dance in
File: macdonaldpaul-oh-cutting_M.mp3
Speakers:
PM β Paul MacDonald
KP β Ken Perlman
KP Now what did they show you about cutting?
PM Okay. The first thing - This is a funny story; I don't know if I should say this on tape. I went to Cape Breton when I was
File: bernardalvin-oh-decline.mp3
Speakers:
ES β Edwin Simmons
AB β Alvin Bernard
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
KP: Why did it start goin down? What would happen if a young fellow ... Let's say it was the 1950s, what would happen if a young fellow wanted to take up
File Name: albertjoe06-oh-gettingstarted_stepdancing_M.mp3
Speakers:
JA: Joe Albert
IA: Ivan Albert
KP: Ken Perlman
KP: Joe, how old were you when you started to play the fiddle?
JA: How
File: dauschmidtkathryn-oh-peerpressure_M.mp3
Speakers:
KD β Kathryn Dau Schmidt
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
KD - My one problem is about Grade 6 with the boys and Grade 8 wityh the girls you lose them -- often yuou lose them unless they're really secure.
KP
File: oconnorattwood-oh-violence_M.mp3
Speakers:
AO β Attwood O'Connor
SB β Stanley Bruce
KP β Ken Perlman
KP: I've heard of lots of fighting at some of these parties. Noone ever says what anyone was fighting about.
AO: Actually, I don't think that a lot of them
File: dauschmidtkathryn06-oh-peerpressureupdate_M.mp3
Speakers:
KD β Kathryn Dau Schmidt
KD: I get the feeling there's not as much peer pressure because there's been enough young people playing that it's not looked at quite as weird as it was, in most places.
File: doucettejoe-oh-bowing,findingnotes.mp3
Speakers:
JD β Joe Doucette
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
KP: When you were six years old and just taking up the fiddle, did your father show you anything on the fiddle?
JD: NO, anymore than he told me that to start [with]
File: toolestephen-oh-dancesolddays_M.mp3
Speakers:
ST β Stephen Toole
ST: There was a lot of dances, see. The way the dances are today, they're all Saturday night dances, or maybe Thursday night, or maybe Friday night. They have their special night at some halls. Well, years ago
File: arsenaultpeter06-oh-gettingstarted_M.mp3
Speakers-
PA: Peter Arsenault
KP: Curator Ken Perlman
KP: Tell me how you came to take up the instrument.
PA: One night we were on a thing called Sea Sail, we were in in New York City. Well Dad [Eddy
File: toolestephen-oh-lawnparties_M.mp3
Speakers:
ST β Stephen Toole
KP β Curator Ken perlman
ST: And then there was another type of thing on the island here, was Lawn Parties in the summertime. Now, my father and my brother done a lot of playing at lawn parties. There'd be a
File: bernardalvin-oh-everycommunity.mp3
Speakears:
AB - Alvin Bernard
ES β Edwin Simmons
KP β curator Ken Perlman
ES: Well, every community seemed to have one or two people - if something went on in the community, they were the ones who were
File: chaissonkevin06-oh-valedictory_M.mp3
Speakers:
KC β Kevin Chaisson
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
KP: There are certain people like an Earl Scruggs or a Pete Seeger, somebody who starts something and you see what happened and hundreds or thousands of people get involved in
File: bergeronhelene-oh-kitchenparties.mp3
Speakers:
HB β Helene Arsenault Bergeron
HB: Yes, I'm very partial to my father's fiddling. It's the reason that I started dancing in the first place. Because it's the most danceable fiddling that I know of. The kitchen parties
File: smithreuben-oh-gettingstarted_M.mp3
Speakers:
RS β Reuben Smith
RS: My father used to take the fiddle out in the evening after supper and there usually wasn't too much back then to do, only the music and that. And he'd play and I used to watch him, and I decided that I wanted
File: macintyrestewart-oh-radio_M.mp3
Speakers:
LM β Stewart MacIntyre
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
LM: Learned the tunes β My father knew every tune, Scotch or Irish tune, that ever existed, because he used to listen to this Stephen Campbell, and he played them out of a book, you
File: cheverieomar06-oh-valedictory_M.mp3
Speakers:
OC β Omar Cheverie
RC β Randy Cheverie
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
OC: And the most enjoyment I got out of playin' the fiddle was for some of my dear friends that liked the way I played and appreciated that, and I could
File: mcpheehugh06-oh-forerunners_M.mp3
Speakers:
HM β Hughie McPhee
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
KP: Were people talking about forerunners in your time?
HM: Oh yeah there were lots of forerunners.
KP: Can you tell me about what forerunners
File: wedgeclifford-oh-jigging_M.mp3
Speakers:
CW β Clifford Wedge
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
CW: When we were younger, we used to do a lot of jigging; just as kids, fooling around. not at the dances.
KP: When? Was it a game?
CW: Maybe going along the road (
File: macdougalljim06-oh-lovesfiddlemusic_M.mp3
Speakers:
JM β Jim MacDougall
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
JM But I always loved it: fiddle music. If you don't like it you'll never be able to play it.
KP: What do you like about fiddle music?
File: macdonaldfaber-oh-thegift_M.mp3
Speakers:
FM β Rev Faber MacDonald
FM: I used to talk about the social nature of the gift. See, the gifts, God's gifts, are given to us not for ourselves. No! They're entrusted to us for everybody. And the human person, when he engages himself
File: macpheegeorge-oh-weddings_M.mp3
Speakers:
GM β George MacPhee
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
GM They had a certain tune they used to play for the old wedding dance. They used to tune the fiddle up in high bass, and Dad used to play it all the time. But it's kind of a tricky
File: maccormackfrancis06-oh-gettingstarted_M.mp3
Speakers:
FC - Francis MacCormack
FM: I was the youngest of eleven, there was eight boys and three girls, and we all played the fiddle. And if I hadn't learned to play the fiddle my father would have shot me (laughs). When I was too
File: smithtony06-oh-pauljones_M.mp3
Speakers:
TS β Tony Smith
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
KP: So the played that for the Paul Jones dances?
TS: Yeah
Mrs. Smith: You're swinging, eh.
TS: And you change your partner, and
banksreg06-oh-changesqdances_M.mp3
Speakers:
RB β Reg Banks
KP β Ken Perlman
RB: Oh there's a lot of changes in the dances. I can hardly explain the dances today. They get up on the floor today, and they're dancin' around and they'd just be scufflin' around. Now, years ago
File: macdonaldallan06-oh-gettingstarted_M.mp3
Speakers:
AM β Allan MacDonald
KP You said you started at 15? How did you get started on the fiddle?
AM Oh I don't know. I was playing guitar and playing guitar, and just one day I said, "I think I could play the
File: cousinsjohn-oh-thegift_M.mp3
Speakers:
JC β John Cousins
JC: To become a fiddler, to become a good fiddler the term everyone used ad nauseum was "It was a gift." It was a gift; you were given this gift. And people said it sincerely. Only a few people were given this gift, but
File: macdougalljim06-oh-weddings_M.mp3
Speakers:
JM β Jim MacDougall
JM: There was always what they'd called a wedding shower. I can remember my oldest sister when she got married, we had borrowed this dancing booth they had for the parish for their picnics and we had it set up in our
File: albertjoe06-oh-musichome_lent_frolics_M.wav
Speakers
KP: curator Ken Perlman
JA: Joe Albert
IA: Ivan Albert
IA: Me and Joe's brothers but we got 12 brothers between us, between the two of us 10 others and we got 12 sisters. And we got 18 livin', and pretty much all
File: bernardalvin-oh-jimmybearisto.mp3
Speakers:
AB β Alvin Bernard
ES β Edwin Simmons
KP β curator Ken Perlman
AB:He used to cut hair there in Kensington and he played the fiddle. And every time you'd go in there, ther'd be a fiddler in there playin eh;
File: macinnisbillysenior06-oh-donmesser_M.mp3
Speakers:
BM β Billy MacInnis, Sr
KP β Curator Ken PerlmanDid you ever meet Don Messer?
KP: Did you ever meet Don Messer?
BM: Yes I met Don Messer when he lived on Belmont St. in Charlottetown. I'd be about 7 or
File: macinnislargus-oh-quadrillecalls_M.mp3
Speakers:
LM β Largus MacInnis
KP β Ken Perlman
LM Quadrilles, you started in by salutin' your partner and then you go eight hands 'round. And then the two head couples would go right and left. And the ladies would change [chain]
File: hughesemmett-oh-doublestops_M.mp3
Speakers
EH β Emmett Hughes
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
KP I think I heard you use a lot of double strings in your playing, is that true? You try to hit two strings?
EH Yes, and a lot of times you
File: corbetttrudy06-oh-dancinginschools_M.mp3
Speakers:
TC β Trudy Corbett
FC β Fulton Corbett (husband of Trudy Corbett)
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
MS β Mary Pineau Smith
FC: But she started in school; I went to school with her. She started at school with a comb
File: mcpheehugh06-oh-contests_M.mp3
Speakers:
HM β Hughie McPhee
HM: The last one I was at β The three judges talkin', and one says to the other "The first fellow that plays a tune on the flats gets first prize." But nobody played anything on the flats (laughs). I knew this, I played
File: stewartarchie-oh-playingforset_M.mp3
Speakers:
AS β Archie Stewart
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
AS There was a certain beat of music for each section [figure] of that set. Like when you started first, you wanted a fairly slow beat, because it was a slow back and forth.
File: chaissontimothy06-oh-familyinfluences_M.mp3
Speakers:
TC β Timothy Chaisson
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
TC: I learned a lot from Peter, he actually mentored me quite a bit: using the fourth fingers for example. He doesn't usually play open strings for fiddle I guess; his
File: jonesandrew-oh-fatherpermission_M.mp3
Speakers:
AJ β Andrew Jones
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
KP Did you learn tunes from your father at all?
AJ No, I don't think so. I don't think I learned anything from him at all. He wouldn't leave me take the fiddle. I'd sneak
File: macdonaldjoe-oh-gettingstarted_learningtunes_M.mp3
Speakers:
JM β Joe MacDonald
KP β Curator Ken Perlman
JM: Around here, there was good old fiddlers around here. There was Gregory MacEachern, a neighbor of ours. He's dead now long of it. He was a great old fiddler and
File: hornbyjim-oh-fiddlersociety_M.mp3
Speakers:
JH β Jim Hornby
JH Yeah. I was around just when they started. At that time they sort of gathered a lot of people who were players and had been for years, and hadn't in some cases been very active, and sort of got them
File: biggarjackie06-oh-contests_M.mp3
Speakers:
JB β Jackie Biggar
KP β curator Ken perlman
JB: Cape Breton's got Buddy MacMaster, we had Elmer Robinson. They tell me Elmer Robinson and Bill Harvey - Bill Harvey played the fiddle too up in this area. They went to
Most Island fiddlers already had a substantial stock of tunes committed to memory before they even took up the instru
On the appointed evening of a typical Island house dance, relations, neighbors, and friends would converge at the hos
Since the mid-18th century, an extensive written tradition for fiddle tunes has co-existed with the aural one.
Don Messer dominated fiddle-music broadcasting on PEI from 1939 to 1958, when he moved to Halifax to establish the te
As Prince Edward Island modernized, Town Days took on many of the functions in community life that were once the real
When no fiddler was available, many Islanders were able to amuse themselves by singing fiddle-tunes, an activity know
The Island fiddle repertoire is made up of tunes from a variety of national and regional traditions.
Feet And Other Rhythm instruments
Instrumental accompaniment for fiddle music was fair
As recently as the 1990s, Islanders were still talking about the Great Contest of 1926.
Island fiddlers are as a rule very much aware of the issue of playing style, and most can clearly describe their own
Population and Immigration
Prince Edward Island is populated for the most part by the descendants of three
One important style frequently encountered on PEI is based on the up-tempo, ensemble oriented, "no-frills" playi
Prince Edward Island has been home to a strong fiddling tradition for over two hundred years.
By 2006, it was clear that by and large the Fiddling Revival had been an overwhe
From the mid 1920s through the mid-1970s, fiddling contests on the district, town, and provincial levels were commonp
Islanders often cite the founding of the Prince Edward Island Fiddlers' Society