When I was a child, my grandmother on my mother's side told me
stories that her grandmother had told her about crossing the great
plains westward to Utah in a wagon train. I remember sitting in
her kitchen where I was taught to build little model covered wagons
with paper and glue. When she learned of my interest in fiddling
she told me about the family fiddle and dulcimer (appalachian)
that had also traveled on the long and perilous cross country
journey.These instruments were used to play for old time square
dances and quadrilles on the long journey.
At some point before I was born she gave the instruments to a
museum where they now are displayed as examples of pioneer life.
I'm happy that they are safe, but I wish that I had them to play
myself, and pass on to other members of my family. When I had
only been playing the fiddle a short while, I visited her and
played. After listening to a tune she asked me to play again,
and to my amazement, she began dancing. I didn't previously know
that she danced.
She was probably either "clogging" or "step dancing,"
to use the modern terms, but to her it was probably just what
you did when you heard the sound of the fiddle. She told me that
she had learned how to dance to fiddle tunes as a child. I have
a clear picture in my mind of her dancing, and later, when I had
a chance to learn clogging steps myself, I would remember my grandmother's
flying feet.
Even though my parents had provided me with formal piano lessons
I was no stranger to playing music by ear. My mother played pieces
on the piano that she had learned by ear as a child, by listening
to her family's old player piano. My father played harmonica and
sang country songs. As I was developing an interest in old time
music I was lucky enough to discover a fine old
mandolin in the cellar of my grandparents house (my Dad's
parents)
When I began fiddling, my grandmother on my Dad's side presented
me with an old photograph of a man with a fiddle whom she claimed
was one of my distant relatives. When I later asked my parents
about it, they knew nothing about the photo. I still have it.
It doesn't have the person's name on it but a label indicates
that it was taken in Missouri.
After hearing Jean Ritchie play dulcimer at a local concert I
decided to build one for myself. I didn't know where to start
until I saw an ad for a kit. I sent away for it and enjoyed building
and playing it. Meanwhile, a girl friend introduced me to contra
and square dancing. At one point my mother bought a banjo
at a yard sale. No one in our family played banjo but I had watched
someone play a banjo in a "folk club, " and had square
danced to a live band with a banjo in it. I asked my mom to loan
it to me and I sought out the banjo player in the local dance
band and took 2 lessons in which he taught me the basics of "clawhammer"
style.
One day, after several months of playing banjo, I was thumbing
a ride home from a park where I practiced, and a van pulled up
beside me. The door opened and a woman who had observed my instrument
case asked me two questions: did I need a ride; and did I play
the guitar? I could play the guitar only a little bit at that
time, but the woman and the man driving explained to me that their
band had lost a guitar player and needed a new one. On the ride
home I agreed to meet them the next day to start my lessons in
old timey back-up guitar. After many hours of concentrated practice
and listening to old 78 RPM stringband records, they proclaimed
that I was ready to perform with them.
I was excited to be in my first old tme string band with David
on fiddle, and Pam on banjo. We played music seemingly non stop,
5 or 6 days a week, doing street singing, playing dances, pizza
parlors, church services, even once at topless go-go bar. My favorite
gig was playing at Old Town State Park. We started out playing
there with an open hat for tips, became popular, and then the
local merchants took up a collection so as to guarantee our regular
appearances.
Pam and Dave proved to be an incredible source of information
on old time music. Pam had been recorded in the 1960's by the
Library of Congress, and had retired from banjo contests after
winning 1st place in the professional division at the Topanga
Banjo and Fiddle Contest. Dave was an avid collector of old time
fiddle tunes and lore. Pam named our band the "Chicken
Cheek Tweakers." While still in the band, and picking
up invaluable banjo playing tips from Pam, I won some of my first
banjo contests. My fiddle playing was coming along also from listening
to the many old time records in Pam's collection, and playing
guitar for many hours to Dave's fine fiddling.
After Dave and Pam moved out of state, I joined another local
band with banjo player Ed Cormier and other friends. I added Irish
and Contra Dance music to my old timey repertoire. I now played
mostly fiddle and pennywhistle. For a while we were "Irish Contraband," and then
Ed came up with the clever name - "The John B. Stetson Memorial
Sweat Band." I started a local contra
dance series at my college. Meanwhile I was listening to and
learning by ear from the many good musicians who lived in, or
traveled through through our area including Tommy Jarrel, Benny
Thomasson, Gary Lee Moore, Judy Lipnick, John Touhy, Bruce Culbertson,
Kenny Hall, Ian Law, EZ Mark, the Balfa Brothers, Sam and Kirk
McGee, Roscoe Holcomb, etc. I have to give great credit to the
efforts of Lou Curtiss in providing venues for these players to
present their music.
After graduating from college I formed another band and spent
the summer crossing the USA. We funded our trip by street singing
at national monuments. At the end
of the summer in 1976 I had developed a serious interest in playing
more contra dance music, and so decided to move to New Hampshire
which was then the center of the contra dance universe.
Soon after arriving in New Hampshire I formed an old time band
with Paul, Jim, and Charlie, and named it the "Last
Chance String Band." Our band hosted a twice a month
contra dance in the Newmarket town hall for several years but
in performances we played strictly old timey style southern dance
music. We played for several years in the seacoast area of New
Hampshire, on my weekly radio show, for dances, and for many other
events.
I made many trips to the southern appalachians to learn from old
time fiddlers. A high point was trading tunes with Tommy Jarrel
in his kitchen in Mount Airy, North Carolina. I stayed at Tommy
Thompson's house in Chapel Hill, and was invited to play a dance
with the Red Clay Ramblers. After Jim and Charlie left the area
in search of regular day jobs, and I started playing music full
time, Paul and I joined forces with Alan Brock on guitar and formed
the "Captain Fiddle Band."
I continued with this band until I was offered a stint as fiddler
with the Nashville based "Baked Apple Band," which was
a full time, 6 day a week, touring country rock band. I continue
to play old time music to this day. Here's a picture of Paul
Mangion and I playing old time fiddle and banjo tunes 20 years
after we first started playing together.