It is a great pleasure to announce a new guest writer here at the Gaspe Fiddle blog, Laura Risk. Laura and I met at the 2010 edition of the Douglastown Irish Week. Just prior to her first trip out to Douglastown, she had stumbled upon our blog and become interested in the music and culture around the Gaspe coast. We kept in touch throughout the year (her and her husband helped me identify several tune titles on this blog) and during this summer's Irish Week, we got to hang out a lot at the community centre and at Norma's, Joseph's, Ernest Drody's, and Phyllis' houses.
She has begun collecting stories and music by visiting with Gaspesians and when I saw how well she interacted with the community and her generous spirit, I knew that she would have great stuff to offer this blog. So, after one of the epic house parties at Phyllis' I asked her if she would guest write from time to time which she agreed to. We had many great conversations and a lot of late nights in Douglastown where she passed on so much of wonderful insight to me. She has so many great ideas on promoting the Gaspesian music and culture and she has really helped me figured out where I would like to see this project go and so her help here will be a great addition.
Laura is a renowned Scottish-style fiddler, has several albums to her credit, and performs and teaches fiddle workshops all over the world. It is so wonderful to hear a world-class fiddler learning the old Gaspesian tunes and knowing that she will pass them along to others, gives great hope that this music will live on.
Check out her website here:
http://laurarisk.com/
Welcome Laura!
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| Laura with Norma McDonald - August 2011 |
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