THAT was GREAT!

Thanks Maz,

I enjoyed that very much. Nova Scotia
is one place I think would be great to live
in. I have been there several times and always
enjoyed the people and the music. Went to the
"Lunenburg Fiddle Club". I counted over 60 fiddle playing in a session. wonderful people and wonderful music.

..... Ed

You're right Ed, Nova Scotia has to be the Mecca of fiddling. It's all over.
Last week I went to a fiddle jam where a bunch of people gather every Tuesday night to play in a community hall in Halifax suburb. There were over 50 participants! A couple of keyboards & guitars (on mandonlin) and the rest were all fiddlers from around town and outside the city, of all ages. The oldest player was 99 (turning 100 this March!). He got up and played like a lad.
It's pretty cool and informal. They have you pick a number at random, and everyone gets to go on front and play two tunes. Anyone who knows it plays with you. The whole thing lasted almost 2.5 hours... Several people commented positively on my Cajun style playing. They said they hadn't heard something different like that in a long time. I'm planning on going back every week. There are similar fiddle gatherings all over the province. I think it's very deep into the heritage around here. There are two distincts styles around here: Cape Breton/Scottish style, and DownEast (Old Timer).
It's all good.

That was a hoot! My wife and I are planning to go to Celtic Colours on Cape Breton Island this fall. I will be our third time...Nova Scotia and Louisiana are so full of music it sometimes seems like there's a lot of wasted continent in between!

Of course, I don't want to leave out Quebec and Tennessee...

Steve, let me know if you and your wife are planning on stopping in Halifax. We should get together.
Celtic Colours is an awesome festival, although I've never been to it myself (shame!).
Do you play an instrument?
I have two friends fiddlers who live in Cape Breton, who went to Balfa Camp last year. They really enjoyed.

Maz - If we go by Halifax or you go to the festival, a rendezvous is certainly in order: don't get to jam with many TV stars! I met a couple from Cape Breton at 2007 Balfa Camp - the names escape me, but nice folks.

I play Cajun accordion, 'tit fer, and some guitar, although I should try to get a reel or strathspey beaten into my C#/D before traveling.

Steve Blais

We're talking about the same couple from CB: Denise & Greg, both accomplished fiddlers. There's only so many Canucks attending Balfa. :-)
Cheers...:-)

It was indeed cool to see the premier on the fiddle- had to be a Cape Bretonner.

Quebec boasts it's share of talented old-time fiddlers, the "Mémoires et Racines" festival in Joliette is well worth a visit as well as "La Grande Rencontre" in Montreal.
They usually include some Acadian musical content too.