‘Fiddlers.’ That was the magic word uttered by Larry Park and it unlocked the Canadian Customs border crossing doors as we crossed the Maine New Brunswick border at Perth-Andover. And the Canadian Customs officer said, “Okay.” And Away we went.
Park and Eb Lovely have been journeying across the border every Wednesday evening for nearly 10 years to join a group of musicians – fiddlers and guitar players.
Wednesday Evening Fiddlers has become quite popular with old-time music lovers on both sides of the border. It all started when Garold Hanscom, of California Settlement, near Perth-Andover, put down his guitar, picked up a fiddle and started fiddlin’. His music quickly grabbed everybody and he has been teaching fiddle playing for over 10 years. His business card states ‘Fiddler on the Loose.’
Many of you (well, maybe some of you) know the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. His music was so enveloping and he was so irresistible, people followed him everywhere. Hanscom teaches anyone who wants to learn: little guys about six years old, youngsters and oldsters, high school students, doctors, lawyers, teachers, grandmothers and even his own wife.
Some folks, like me and Jack and Janet Duncan, just sit there, tap our feet and listen.
When asked how many students he teaches, Hanscom said he didn’t know. Actually, each Wednesday evening he fills the St. James Church of Canada fellowship hall with more than 40 students.
Park and Lovely accompany the fiddlers on guitar and banjo and Lovely will sing. Guy Gallagher (one of the Gallagher Brothers singing family), Norman Bourgoin, Sonny Packard and Dr. Bruce Alexander play. These fiddlin’ music lovers are all from Presque Isle.
Hanscom is well-known throughout New Brunswick as he has been named to the New Brunswick Country Music Hall of Fame. He has also received the Curtis Hicks award, named in honor of a famous New Brunswick fiddler. Hanscom is often caught accompanying the Gallagher Brothers during their many public singing performances. The Wednesday Evening Fiddlers will fiddle during musical get-togethers at the Northern Maine Fair. Hanscom has a long list of appearances scheduled for this summer in Aroostook County, including: Music in the Park at Limestone, at the boat landing in Van Buren and at the Caribou Baptist Church.
Hanscom mingles with his students and fellow fiddlers, as they saw their way through such numbers as “Big John McNeal,” “When You and I Were Young Maggie” and “Silver and Gold Two Step.” During the evening, several high school students with taps on their shoes, step dance to the faster numbers. Some of the mothers and grandmothers find the music quite titillating and whirl around the room to a polka.
Teenage fiddlers are quite casual with their music and will fiddle while chatting with a friend. One girl (with her feet bare and her legs folded) relaxes as she sits in a kitchen chair while playing.
