ECMA Day 1

Well, well…  Kim and I got up at 5am today.  We packed up the car and hit the road early, arriving in Moncton around 8:30am.  I managed to check into our hotel (although we couldn’t get access to the room right away) so Kim would have somewhere to hang out.

Gypsophilia

I headed over to the Delta at 9am, registered, dropped of my CDs to the Buyers Lounge, checked out the schedule and waited for the Export Readiness Pitching Training Workshop.  The workshop was excellent!  We talked about what makes a good pitch and then had a chance to make a 3 minute pitch.  After my 3 minute pitch I was critiqued on what was good and what I need to work on.  That was great!  After lunch three people from the class were chosen to pitch to presenters so we could observe an actual pitching conversation.

Old Man Luedecke

I also made some interesting connections during the workshop with some of my fellow classmates.  I am always looking for entertainment that might be appropriate for the NB Highland Games in Fredericton, so it was great to meet the representatives for both “10 Strings and a Goat String” and “Arseneault.”  On top of that I met Crystal Mann, a teacher, children’s performer, and violin/fiddle enthusiast from Nova Scotia.

A very cool thing that happened at the end of the workshop was that one of the presenters came to me looking for a CD.  She is a music producer for some TV shows and sometimes needs fiddle music.  There is certainly no guarantee that my music will be used, but this is the start of a relationship, so I am really pleased!

While I was at my workshop, Kim was able to check into the room.  ECMA this year is offering a shuttle service to the hotels where people are staying, which is great!  I was able to meet up with Kim really easily and then we have been able to just leave our car at our hotel.  That is always nice!

Matt Andersen

In the evening we went to the Roots Room concert.  Performers in the concert included Catherine MacLellan, Matt Andersen, Coco Love Alcorn, Old Man Luedecke, Kim Stockwood, Gypsophilia, ENNIS and Gordie MacKeeman and His Rhythm Boys.  It was a great concert!  During the concert the awards for Folk Recording, Roots/Traditional Solo Album and Roots/Traditional Group Album were all awarded.  I, sadly, did not win the Roots/Traditional Solo (Kim Stockwood was the winner), however, I am still delighted to have the nomination!

All in all, this was a very successful day!

Beloved or Overplayed?

St. Anne’s Reel, Big John McNeil, Orange Blossom Special… These are all fiddle tunes that have been played a million times, and because of that, fiddlers have a mixed relationship with them. As a matter of fact, in all styles of music, there are pieces or songs like this, such as Pachelbel’s Canon in classical music.

So, what is wrong with this music? Nothing! All of these pieces are great in their own rights. It is simply that they have been played so much that often musicians dread having to play them. Ask a Celtic band about playing the “Unicorn Song” or “Barrett’s Privateer’s” when talking to them in private, and you will likely get a groan!

The thing is that for the people in the audience, these are pieces that they love and know, and want to hear again. There is something about the familiar that we all enjoy. For the musician on stage, this is yet another time to be playing these tunes. I have gone through the dread of having to play St. Anne’s Reel one more time. Having said that, I always played it when requested.

Several years ago I put together a medley of tunes including the Orange Blossom Speical, Big John McNeil, St. Anne’s Reel and Devil’s Dream. It was kind of a joke in a way so that I could play all of them at once and get it out the way. However, since then I have had a change of heart. Now I play the music for the audience, and I enjoy their love of these pieces. This set of tunes has since become one of my favourites. Why? The audience always responds so well, and I started taking joy in their delight. Also, these are actually great tunes! It has been nice to start enjoying them again!

Often I hear other musicians complain about certain songs or tunes, and some even refuse to learn or perform some of these common tunes. I think that it is too bad. In the end, we musicians are nothing without an audience. We could sit at home and play music for ourselves, but that is not where the joy in music is… The joy is in sharing it with other people. I believe that musicians should try to make their audiences happy. For me it is always a balance of playing music that my audience has heard and will enjoy as well as introducing them to new pieces that I have discovered. I think that is the role of a musician!

So, should you come to one of my shows, please feel free to request any fiddle tune you like. I will no doubt do my best to play it if possible!

The Mystery of Social Media

Tweet, update, blog, pin… As with many people now, these are all activities that occupy a part of my time, generally every day. I am involved in social media, and have been for several years now, but still find it to be a bit of a mystery!

For me, all of this activity is part pleasure, and part business. I love being a voyeur and seeing what some of my high school friends are up to now on Facebook. These are people that I never would have kept in touch with had we needed to write letters, e-mail, or make phone calls. But, still, even though I love it, I don’t totally understand. I also find it interesting connect with new people that I have never met!

I am currently taking a course with Cari Cole on how to fast forward my career, and one of the many things we have talked about is social media, being active on it, and reaching lots of people. I just never know what posts/pins/blogs are going to generate interest. I try to put up things about music, about life, about people who inspire me, things that I think are funny, and I can never tell what will hit a nerve. Many of the posts that I think are really interesting seem to be completely ignored, although the fact that nobody has retweeted, liked, commented or repined does not mean that it has not been read…

Yesterday is a perfect example. I had baked cookies for my string students at LHHS, but school was cancelled, so I did not see them. I posted on Facebook that I was going to get to stay home and eat all of my cookies. For a lark, I took a picture with my iPhone and posted it to Facebook… Well, that post got a lot of interest! Part of the reason is that they were ginger molasses cookies made with Quinoa flour, and also, I guess just the fact that we all like cookies…

So, I guess, for me, I will just keep putting things out there into the world and watch with interest what garners attention.

You can connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and you have already visited my blog!

Ginger-Molasses Cookies
[adapted from Quinoa 365: The Everyday Superfood]

1/2 cup applesauce
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tlb ground flax meal blended with 3 Tlb water
1/4 cup molasses

Cream applesauce and brown sugar in a large bowl. Beat in blended flax meal and molasses, set aside.

2 cups quinoa flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 white sugar

Mix flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Add butter mixture and mix until a smooth dough forms.

Roll the dough into small balls. Place white sugar in a shallow dish and coat the balls of dough with sugar. Place balls 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet and cook for 8-10 minutes at 350F. The bottoms of the cookies should be lightly browned.

Love the one you’re with…

“Which style of music do you like playing the most?” This is a very common question, and one that I dread! I am never able to answer the question the way that people would like… with a simple answer. Nothing in life is ever simple!

I was thinking about this the other day and remembered the song lyrics “If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you are with…” Well, it is a little like that with music, except that I love them all, I just love the one I am with at that time the most… at least for the moment…

My various styles of music include classical, baroque and Celtic… All three have their own appeal to me! Celtic music, or fiddle music in general, has a lot of freedom to it. I learn a lot of music from sheet music (due to my classical training), but that sheet music is only a guideline. It is the skeleton of the music, but it is up to you to flesh it out with your own arrangement and your own ornaments. I love playing in a Celtic band where I get to make up all of my back-up fiddle parts. All improve, all the time. It was terrifying at first, but I enjoy the freedom and creativity of it now.

The main thing I love about classical music is playing with other people, either in a small ensemble like a string quartet, or in a larger ensemble like a symphony orchestra. I remember the first day that I played in an orchestra… Well, I think the word play is not really appropriate as I just sat that and took it all in for most of the rehearsal. It is truly amazing to sit in the middle of that much sound and to know that you are adding to it! It is amazing the way that all of the pieces fit together to make one glorious sound! I especially love playing harmony parts in both chamber groups and orchestras. I love being a part of what makes it more that a simple (or sometimes not so simple) melody.

Baroque music is an interesting mix of the two. Last summer I was talking to a friend who told me that he had studied classical guitar at Peabody and found the music too regimented so he decided that he was either going to go into jazz or Baroque music. On the surface, this sounds crazy, but theses two styles are related in that (like fiddle music) the sheet music is a guideline and you can really make it your own with your own ornaments and improvisations. I love the chamber music aspect to Baroque music as well.

So, I know that it is a cop-out, but I really don’t prefer one style. Every now and then I think that I do, until the next time that I play a different style, at which point I think “Oh yeah, that is why I love this style of music!” It is all fun for a different reason, so I will continue to “Love the one I am with…”

[Kissing Frogs image usage graciously provided by Been-Seen.com]

Life and loss…

One of my goals this year has been to continue working on my health and weight. At the beginning of 2012 I had lost 40 pounds. Now, a month and a half later, I have lost another 7 pounds.

Back in January of 2010 I decided that I needed to change my life. Why? Well, it had to do with men… Ok, not the way you are thinking… I was jamming with some friends and one of them decided to weigh himself. It turns out that he weighed less than me, and he is not a small man. Then, at a rehearsal with some other guys, one decided to sit on the hearth at his house. I watched him sit down and thought, “I’d like to be able to sit on something that low that easily!” Here I was feeling envious of two guys…

So, January of 2010 I decided that I was too young to feel as old as I did. The floor was getting further away, as were my feet! I do not claim to be any sort of expert, but here is what has worked for me.

I decided not to join a gym or any sort of program that would tell me what to eat. I pretty much knew what I was doing that was bad for me… I’ve got to say, I enjoyed it too! I enjoyed the late night eating, the snacking, the sweet, the salt! It was all really tasty!

My goals are to eat much better. I always eat better when I am busy, which I know seems counter-intuitive. When I am teaching I make sure to cook food ahead that I pack away in meal sized servings. There is no option of going back for seconds. Also, when I am teaching, I am not wandering around the house eating whatever I can find. Once I eat the food I bring along, I am done. Other things I am trying to do is only eat fruit and vegetables between meals. That is, of course, never what I desire! My other big rule is not eating after 8:30pm. I know that some people say that time should be earlier, but with my life, 8:30pm seems to be working. Last thing is that I have been trying to drink more water.

The other thing that I have been doing to try to improve my health is exercise. I have been walking 30 minutes a day and have also been doing some weight exercises off and on over the last couple of years. There seems to be disagreement about exercise and weight loss, but no matter what, it is good for my health to be active.

One thing I find interesting about this is that by now it is not all that hard. This is one of those times in my life when I am thinking “Why didn’t I do this sooner?” I have not given up any foods… I still eat pizza, ice cream, chips… I just don’t eat them as much or as often as before. I am not winning any sort of race for the speed at which I am losing weight, but my aim was to do it on my own terms, at my own speed, in a way that I thought I could maintain! I am not depriving myself, but am also trying not to binge too often!

I do feel much better now that I have lost a total of 47 pounds. I am certainly not at a point where I am going to stop trying to improve me health, but am delighted with the results so far! This is one of those things that I think is a life-long project.

Meet my idol

All of us have idols in our lives. People that we look up to in some way or another. My idol, as far as fiddling goes, is Alasdair Fraser.

Alasdair is a Scottish fiddler who now resides in California. He tours quite a lot, most recently with Natalie Haas, a cellist. I don’t remember when I first heard Alasdair, but have been able to see him perform many times, and have enjoyed it each time! One of my earliest memories of watching him perform was at the New Hampshire Highland Games at Loon Mountain.

So, why is this man my idol? It has all got to do with his tone. Various people like different things in fiddle music. For me, one of the big things that I listen for, and also aspire to, is a beautiful, singing tone. Alasdair has that tone!

There is no extraneous sound and no scratching! His sound is very clean. His playing also seems to be completely effortless.

One of the things that I have always loved about the Scottish and Irish styles of fiddling is the lilt to the music. The fast tunes are energetic and driving, but there is a swing to the music. A lilt that always brings a smile to my face!
Perhaps one of the reasons I have been drawn to Alasdair Fraser is that he is classically trained, as am I. This means that he has been trained to listen to his tone and has also trained to work on bow control. Sometimes you will hear people comment on a fiddler being classically trained as if it is a negative thing, but to me it seems to work well for Alasdair.

If you want to hear my idol in action, check out Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas in Boston on YouTube.

You can also visit his site at: www.AlasdairFraser.com

This is what I aspire to be and to sound like!

Never trust the quiet ones!

Just this past week I had a breakthrough with one of my private violin students.  Not only did she speak to me, but called me by name.  This is a child who had not spoken to me since she started lessons in September.

This is not the first time I have had a student who would not speak to me.  I had another who did not speak for about two years.  The thing I find interesting with quiet students is that often their parents try really hard to get them to talk to me.  I actually have no problem with non-speaking students.   I relate to these children!

When I was a child I was extremely shy.  I did not speak to my teachers unless it was absolutely necessary, certainly did not talk to my neighbours, and often managed to get my teachers to let me stay inside during recess.  This was my public face.  At home I was a talkative, bubbly child.  It was always a surprise to my friends to come over to my house and see me in my home environment.  My mom was telling me the other day that she thinks I was in junior high before I actually spoke to any of our neighbours.

With my students, I always try to give them the time and space to become comfortable with me and to start speaking on their own terms.  There has so far always come a time when the child has started speaking, in both cases calling me by name.  Even as a person who is shy by nature, it still surprised me, however I did my best not to react too much.  Nothing will make a shy child clam up more than someone making a big deal over him/her speaking!

I know that for some people who are more outgoing it is odd to run into someone who is not interested in speaking a whole lot.  With most children, it really is just a matter of time and comfort.  I went from being a very shy child to now being a musician and teacher.  I have been self-employed for at least 6 years now and have to be in communication with others all the time.  I love being on stage and in the spotlight.  You never know that a child will end up doing later in life!