Village Squire, 1978-05, Page 34Blue grass, of course is not a traditional
Canadian form of music. It grew up for the
most part in the southern United States.
Still, Baumbach says, there are Canadian
traditional music roots that can feed into
bluegrass. He points to the Cape Breton
fiddlers and the Quebec jigs and reels as
examples. Bluegrass players here, how-
ever, are hampered by a lack of the specific
bluegrass tradition that is passed from one
generation to another in the southern U.S.
That traditional bluegrass consists of
highly energetic, funtime music like.
"Moura don't allow" which allows all the
members of the band to show their dexerity
with their instruments. Other examples are
songs like Orange Blossom Special and Let
Me Be Your Salty Dog.
The banjo is probably the most tell tale
sign of bluegrass to the uninitiated. The
music has roots deep in country, but unlike
the more modern country music which
seems to be a musical version of the soap
opera, there are no sad songs here. It's just
high times, high fun and highjinks.
For The Dixie Flyers the last year has
seen things really on the upbeat. They
appeared at the London's Home Country
Folk Festival last, summer and were a
popular attraction. They were at the big
bluegrass festival at Carlisle in June of last
year and have also appeared at festivals in
Burkes Falls, Waterdown, and Mariposa.
Baumbach's initiation to bluegrass
began back in 1967. "I started listening to
just a smidgeon of bluegrass music" he
recalls. "Around that time the only records
available were old Decca recordings of
Jimmy Martin. They were all you could
get. You still can't just walk into a record
shop and get bluegrass."
To get closer to the music he went to
festivals in Michigan and Virginia where
he learned from oldtimers.
"I was with these guys who just sang all
those old songs and they just captivated me
so much that when I came back all my folk
ideas that I was trying to incorporate into
bluegrass were set aside and I went
straight ahead with the old masters."
He's had chances to rub shoulders with
some of the old masters since The Flyers
were formed. In November, for instance,
some 500 persons moved into Alumni Hall
for a Bluegrass concert that featured The
Flyers as the opening act with Lester Flatt
and the Nashville Grass. Flatt when
teamed with Earl Scruggs had been one of
the most famous Bluegrass groups around
and reached the height of their visability
with their theme song for the comedy
series Beverley Hillbillies, on which they
made several appearances.
To at least one reviewer. however.
writing in the University of Western
Ontario Gazette, The Flyers seemed to
make a better impression than Flatt. He
was so relaxed he was almost boring, the
reviewer said while The Flyers were full of
energy in their performance. Comparing
the two styles the reviewer concluded; "as
it was, the audience was left debating
whether or not they liked The Dixie Flyers
better, and the superior drive on The
Flyers' part was the principal reason."
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