Bob: are you listening to Cape Breton fiddlers at all? There's a quality of abandonment...freedom, maybe? that is hard to pin down in words. I didn't list Natalie MacMaster or Buddy either. I wrongly assumed you'd know who they are.
I've seen Natalie MacMaster play. In 1999 my wife and I went to Halifax, Nova Scotia, for the Fiddles of the World Convention. Probably the best vacation anyone will ever have. I like all fiddle music, but right now I'm trying to get my ears around "Scottish" fiddle music. I heard Alasdair Fraser say he had gone to Nova Scotia to learn certain aspects of Scottish fiddle that had been forgotten back in Scotland.
I'd like to thank everyone for their suggestions (on CDs to buy). I'm going to compile a list -- eventually I hope to get all of everyone's suggestions (and maybe offer a few new ones of my own).
Regarding John Taylor -- He taught the fiddle workshop at Grandfather Mountain Highland Games 2+ years ago. It was a very good workshop; he did an amazing demonstration of playing a 4/4 march at tempo "X" and then switching to a 6/8 march without changing the tempo, to show how you can "liven up" a set. I guess he only had one CD then, which was _After the Dance_, since that's all he had to sell. I think the *coolest* part of that CD is that he has some tracks with Ed Miller.
Ed must be one of the greatest singers ever. If you've never seen one of his shows and you can get a chance, do go. A short Ed Miller Story: I saw him at the Loch Norman (Charlotte, NC) Highland Games, and I mentioned that I had seen on his website that he had an LP that wasn't on CD or cassette, and was there a way to get a copy. He said, "sure, just give me $15 and your address and I'll send it to you." So I did, and Ed send me the LP within about a week. A couple years later I mentioned it to him, and thanked him for sending it, and he said "You and about 49 other people in the world have that". He went on to tell me that he had made his first "record" just after CDs started to catch on -- most everyone wanted CDs and cassettes, so the LP never sold out it's first printing. The sad thing is I bought it just before we moved, and my cartridge got messed up in the move (don't let your spouse wrap the cartridge in paper towel and especially not move the turntable without locking down the tonearm), so I've never got to listen to side 2. I really need a new cartridge.
Bob
South Carolina
