09/07/2024
HOW DOES A MAN BECOME A FIDDLE PLAYER?
(TEACHERS, INSPIRATION, MENTORS )
Fiddling is a passion. It can be all consuming at times with periods of laying off, at least that was the way it was for me. I took up fiddle playing my sophomore year at UNC-School of Pharmacy, not a good time as these 2 pursuits were not compatible. Each demanded full attention and as a result my studies suffered. These fidders, Joe Greene, Buddy Pendleton and especially Art McGee were my first (in person) mentors, inspirations and teachers. Buddy Pendleton was working at the Pic n' Pay Shoe Store in High Point where Joe Greene had a used car lot. My friend Billy Topkins (rip) and I would pick up Buddy and go over to Joe's for picking sessions. I would back them up on guitar, watching every move and marveling at their level of skill. It was inspirational. Buddy was raised in the Holiness Chuch and was a straight shooter, quite a contrast to Joe and the rest of us. So when a break came, out of respect for Buddy, everyone would go in the back room and leave him out front while we all took a drink of liquor. Over the years I had several opportunities to twin fiddle with Joe at Bluegrass Festivals, he was always complimentary and encouraging of my fiddling. Buddy later moved to Raleigh to attend truck driving school and would come over to Ashe Ave. where all the Bluegrassers would meet on weekends for some wild parties and picking. Buddy had a light touch and a smooth style of fiddling, he was a natural. Joe was fast as lightening and could play the fiddle and sing the harmony part at the same time. He and his brother Tiny had a Gospel group. Both were rather large, Joe called them the "Ton of Fun". Joe remarked one time that he loved Gospel music because that's where you met the nicest women!
Art McGee was a wonderful friend and teacher. He had grown up playing with Bobby Hicks and knew lots of Bobby's licks and the way he played tunes. My friend, Billy Topkins and I would spend hours over there where he would slow down tunes as I recorded them on my borrowed reel to reel tape recorder. I can't say enough about how he inspired and took me to the next level of Bluegrass fiddlin'. Another character we visited, Capp Wofford, from Greeensboro, was not a great fiddler, but he did play lots of instruments with a fair level of proficiency. The thing I remenber most about him was what he told us one time. He said: " I know why you boys play the fiddle! It's to get the women!" I told everbody that I kept playing and playing getting better and better as a result of trying to get the women but not ever getting any(women). Once Billy Topkins asked Buddy Pendleton if he had been getting any lately? Buddy replied without hesitation: "Yes I've been getting plenty of "good home cooking".
Several years later when I had gained a fair proficiency on fiddle, having finished Pharmacy School, graduating "Lawdy How Cum" and playing with the Bluegrass Experience I had the opportunity to play with Bobby Hicks and JB Prince. Both of them would substitute for me when I couldn't make a band job due to work. Sometimes we would use twin fiddles in the Band and take either Bobby or JB along. At some memorable Tuesday nights at our weekly, Sammy's Delicatessen" gigs, Bobby, JB and I would play triple fiddles.
So many young fiddlers have come along since those days and there are so many more learning resources out there today. No longer do you have to take an 33rpm recording and slow it down to 16and 2/3. and learn the notes, an octave lower. Countless hours have been spent learning and performing fiddle. I don't know what I would have done with that time otherwise and think about all the great people, places and gigs I have experienced as a result. My life is so much richer for it. Fiddlers don't always do the right thing, the fiddle after all is the "Devil's Riding Horse". But some of us learn from our mistakes and if you don't ever make any then you miss many opportunities for self improvement.
So if you take up the fiddle, don't have an agenda, just pick it up and play it, the rest will fall into place.
Fiddlin' Al McCanless,
Sept 7th 2024
