Music is a nation builder and one humble instrument has played a large part in sewing Canadiana melody into the fabric of our stories and culture.
From harbour pubs of the Eastern Coast to sugar shacks in Quebec to homesteads across the prairies and logging camps in the forests of B.C. – someone had a fiddle.
Two-time Canadian fiddle champion Scott Woods knows this well, and quickly mentions the name of one Canadian musician who was the embodiment of fiddling during the 20th century to drive the point home -– Don Messer.
Don Messer’s Jubilee variety show ran on the CBC coast-to-coast from 1957-69, showcasing fiddling, singing and dancing with guest performers such as Stompin’ Tom Connors and Catherine McKinnon. As Woods puts it, “he set the standard of what fiddling was all about.”
Woods now pays tribute to Messer through his Old Time Jubilee, where he brings a true variety show experience to Canadian audiences.
“We’ve had a lot of great response from this show, it’s a much anticipated show,” Woods said. “I was part of a show called Memories of Don Messer’s Jubilee back in the late ’90s and early 2000s for about eight years and toured across Canada. I played most of the soft seaters across the country at that time.
“It was quite a big production with a 16-piece cast, and since then people are always saying, ‘Scott you have to do another Don Messer tribute,’ and what we’ve done is scaled back, but are still doing a really great and loving tribute to invoke the memories of Don Messer, Charlie Chamberlain, Marg Osburne and the rest of the gang.”
Woods grew up in a musical family, where learning and practicing instruments was a way of life. “All of us play fiddle, there’s four kids and I’m the youngest. We took classical lessons when we were four years old and we started with piano, theory, history and harmony, counterpoint and all of that as well,” Woods said.
“As a reward for practicing technique and scales all that kind of stuff you learn, when first starting out, my dad would teach us all these fiddle tunes, jigs and reels in the style of Don Messer and that was the fun stuff to play.
“As a fiddler, I certainly knew the names and had all the music books and my father had all the records and we learned the tunes. The name Don Messer was the gold standard in fiddling, the one who set the bar pretty high, so we were all aspiring to be and play like him.”
Woods’ tribute follows the same format in a two-hour live stage production. “We have a 10-foot screen showing pictures of Don Messer and Charlie Chamberlain and Marg Osburne as we walk the audience through not only the television show, but also his radio work as well, and we take them through the history of Messer’s success,” Woods said.
“He had a true variety show. When he started in television, the 30-minute program would go by in the blink of an eye because he had fiddling, singing by Marg Osburne or Charlie Chamberlain and they would quite often do a duet together.
“He would often have young step dancers and we have two-time Canadian Open Step Dancing Champion Kyle Waymouth with us – it’s a true variety show with a little bit of something for everyone.”
Scott Woods Old Time Jubilee takes place June 20, at Canmore’s Creekside Hall.
