If you’ve read about my forthcoming novel, Restoring Harmony, then you know that my main character Molly is a fiddler. My husband is a professional musician (guitar/mandolin/uke/banjo) and so he usually acts as my “expert”, but he’s only recently started playing fiddle, so I’ve had to look for some outside help for this project.
The fabulous fiddle playing teen who looks exactly like Molly, Sarah Tradewell, is one person who is helping me. And last night I got to go to a Wilf Carter Tribute Concert. If you don’t know who Wilf Carter is, it’s probably because his heyday was in the 1930’s. He was Canada’s famous Yodeling Cowboy. Anyway, my friend and fantastic musician, Nathan Tinkham is doing a trib to Wilf, and he brought out from Nova Scotia the fiddler, Gordon Stobbe.
Gordon is a big time fiddler and teacher and last night I got to chat with him after the show. I told him about Molly and how just yesterday morning I’d been watching/listening to this youtube video of a man playing Whiskey Before Breakfast (a tune Gordon had played for the encore) because Molly plays it in the book. I wrote as I listened and it really made the passage come to life (at least I hope so!). Anyway, Gordon has agreed to let me drop in and sit in a dark corner tomorrow for a couple of hours while he teaches an intermediate and an advanced fiddle workshop.
When I was a kid, I played violin. The fiddler Michael DeFosche once told me, “you can get over that”. He was only half joking! Anyway, I do kind of wish I could play the fiddle, so after the show, I asked a local fiddler if he teaches beginners and he suggested that I actually go back to the violin for a while (for those of you who have always wondered, the instrument is the same thing, it’s the style of music played that one is referring to when they say they play the fiddle or play the violin). I think I’m going to take his advice and take a few lessons to see if I’m truly interested. After all, we have the fiddle already, so why not? My husband is all for it. In fact, the only one who thinks it’s a bad idea is:
I think it’s a brilliant idea! I play both the fiddle and the violin and love it. It’s a great stress reliever and what’s more, I have two styles to choose from based on my mood! Have fun!