HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2005-08-24, Page 3Local fiddlers provide Huron
flavour for Blyth production
By Susan Hundertmark
Expositor Editor
When he went looking for
examples of Canadian
culture and the music that's
representative of Huron
County for the play Spirit
of the Narrows, Blyth
Festival director Gil Garratt
didn't have to go much
further than an afternoon of
Tuesday Tunes in Seaforth.
In fact, since he was
teaching himself to play the
banjo, Garratt went out and
played with the close to 60
local fiddlers, banjo
players, pianists and guitar
players who play Old Tyme
fiddle music all winter long
at the Seaforth arena.
"Because we were
developing this play, I
wanted to find some local
fiddle music and I found a
wide swath of local talent,"
he said during a recent
phone interview..
"A part of the push of
doing this show is
preserving our own culture
and drawing attention to it,"
he said, adding that the old
barn dance tunes that used
to be played on CKNX
were the favourites of
generations until recently.
Twelve fiddlers and a few
guitar players from Tuesday
Tunes will be featured on
Sept. 7 in the second act of
Spirit of the Narrows, a
play about Canadian fiddler
Anne Lederman's journey
to discover Metis fiddle
music along the backroads
of Manitoba.
Tom Melady, who's
organizing the Tuesday
Tunes group performing in
Blyth, said the group is
practising a half hour to 40
minutes of music in
preparation and wants to
include old classics like
Down Yonder, Maple Sugar
and St. Anne's Reel.
"We're going to keep it
fairly spirited," he said.
Melady said the Tuesday
Tunes group, which
recently recorded a CD of
their music, is excited by
the chance to perform in
Blyth.
"First they made the CD
and now here they're on
stage. It's a different venue
for sure. It'll be a little bit
of fun anyway," Melady
laughed.
Capucine Onn, Garratt's
. wife and a performer in
Spirit of the Narrows, said
Garratt was thrilled to'find
the Tuesday Tunes
musicians, especially since
they play many of the same
tunes that Lederman
discovered among the
Metis.
"Huron County has a
distinct style and the Metis
have a lot of the same
tunes. They have roots in
the same music we have
here and the play explores
that," said Onn, adding that
Scottish trappers and native
peoples created the same
blend of music in both
locations.
Young fiddlers whom
Onn knows from teaching
violin at the Huron String
School in Goderich will
also be performing in the
second act throughout the
run of the play.
Troy Leeming. 6, of the
Seaforth area, who just
began learning the fiddle in
the spring, will be one of
the young performers and
will play Sept. 10 at 2 p.m.
Troy asked to (earn the
fiddle after receiving his
grandfather's violin as a
gift.
"Troy's papa, who's over
80 and living in Palmerston,
gave us his old violin and
he'll be coming to see Troy
play. It's a very simple song
he's doing but what a nice
thing for his papa to see,"
said Troy's mom Carol.
THE HURON EXPOSITOR, August 24, 2005 - 3
808':
8ARDWNOP
Seaforth
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Susan Hundertmark photo
Troy Leeming, 6, of RR 4 Seaforth, plays his violin as his grandfather's violin sits beside
him. Troy is one of several local fiddlers who will perform in the second act of Spirit of
the Narrows when it runs at the Blyth Festival this September.
As Troy learns to play
through the Suzuki method,
Carol said his grandfather
learned by ear in much the
same way.
"I'm sure he couldn't
read a note. People just got
together in those days to
play and others came and
danced,;' said Carol.
Devon Martene, 14, of
the Dashwood area, who
has played with the
Tuesday Tunes group, will
also be performing with the
play on Sept. 8 at 2 p.m.
Spirit of the Narrows runs
from Sept. 6 to 10.
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