A Fiddlin Good Time
In a year where Canada celebrates a century and a half of history and culture it was fitting that The Newfoundland and Labrador Fiddlers’ Association host an evening devoted to the music of the fiddle, an instrument that has played a significant role in the survival and promotion of that culture. Playing to a sold out audience at Church of the Ascension auditorium in Mount Pearl the fiddlers began the evening with Emile Benoit’s “Arriving at St. John’s” and ended with a modern day waltz, “Fiddle Bill”, composed by Ontarian Kelli Trottier in 2015. Filling in the bulk of the evening was a score or more of well known fiddle favourites that included ‘Maple Sugar’, ‘La Joyeux Quebec’, ‘St. Anne’s Reel’ and ‘Soldiers Joy’.
The program also featured a lively vocal rendition of ‘Worried Man Blues’ by Frank Davis, while Ed and Judy Lear teamed up on ‘Four Strong Winds’, ‘Quand le Soleil Dit Bonjour aux Montagnes’ and ‘This Land is Your Land’. The enthusiastic and appreciative audience joined in the singing of all the vocals and clapped their hands and tapped their feet to the fiddle tunes.
It should be noted that the members of the NLFA who took part in this concert were only a small cohort of the total association which boasts dozens of members. This group represented the association well however with a well planned, well rehearsed and well played program that sent the audience home entertained and satisfied.
Bonne Fete Canada! Kudos Fiddlers!
Don Crew
Musician and Composer