Hi Folks

I figure after a year and a half it's time for a new letter. In my defense, it was a pretty intense year, marked by the deaths of both my father and old buddy Oliver Schroer within two weeks of each other. It seems we have lost so many old friends and musical icons recently - now Jackie Washington and Jerry Holland, two people I was privileged to spend time with over the years and wish I had seen more of. But life goes on, if altered in interesting ways. I think I am not alone in feeling a special responsibility to carry on the legacy of people who have inspired you in your life, whether it is by actually playing and teaching their music or just keeping them in mind, being aware of how they might have done things if they were here.

In the midst of all this, I was privileged to work with an amazing group of young fiddlers through the Elder Youth Project of the Metis Artists Collective in Toronto (see the Media page for more details). The highlight was definitely the North Atlantic Fiddle Convention in Newfoundland from which the kids have gone on to some wonderful gigs - Alicia Blore came with me to school shows and a dance in Tyendinaga in the fall and the Metis Fiddler Quartet brought the house down at the Aboriginal Music Awards.

Further news on the Fiddling front: we successfully raised about $4000 just by word of mouth for the new program in Baffin Island, and sent 16 fiddles up there. I was invited to the Frontier Fiddlers Jamboree in Camperville Manitoba in May where I had the unbelievable privilege of seeing 450 kids with fiddles in their hands and teaching some of them. I've just returned from Hockley Valley, another fantastic and little-known camp where I got to share teaching duties with the likes of Shane Cook, Phil Howes, Trent Freeman, Sam Romijn and Patti Curran to another group of young people and adults, some of whom are destined for greatness. What a treat!

But my biggest news is this:the first two Volumes of Tamarack'er Down: A Guide to Celtic-Canadian Fiddling Through Rhythm, are almost ready to hit the shelves! Thanks to some unbelievable work from Sue Meggs, designer and editor extra-ordinaire, the books look gorgeous. I still have a whole lot of work to do to get the CDS finished and ready but expect it have copies in my hands by mid-September. This was going to be a little 6-month project about 10 years ago - publishing a three-volume set of teaching Books/CDS on Canadian Fiddling. It has only grown better with each addition over the years, I hope, as I gradually figured out a progressive system that would actually get prople playing from day 1 in a fun, musical and (above all) rhythmic way. It's been a long trip . .

Meanwhile, I've been having some great times performing adn recording with various ensembles: Njacko Backo and HAWP have both released new CDS, I am part of a new trio with James Stephens and Emilyn Stam called "EH?!", and I have even been out and about as myself, with the ever-stellar accompaniment of Tom Leighton. I'm looking forward to the Owen Sound Festival next week, followed by Algoma Trad and a new year of teaching and performing. Watch this space for updates, and as always, just keep moving your bows, whatever that means for you. . .

a la prochaine . .

Anne

August 9/2009