Those Fiddlin' Kids!

Talent, as is well documented, starts young.  It is born in the person God gifts with it, but it also takes a lot of work to refine and develop it into something that really stands out.  Talented kids are particularly something that deserves appreciation, as a truly talented young person will make an impact on his or her audience.  The problem today is that a lot of fluff and idiocy (Justin Bieber comes to mind here - sorry to the Bierberites out there, but the truth hurts!) gets passed off as talent, and indeed a lot of marketing and image-making goes into creating many of the no-talent hacks that are out there, but it still isn't true talent.  However, thankfully, there are young people out there who really shine, and although they will never make millions like Bieber or some of those fly-by-nights do, their talent is creating a legacy.  In recent years I have encountered several of these remarkable young people, and they are the ones I want to talk about today.

The young talented (and real) artist does happen, and in the past we have been blessed with kids such as the cherubic-sounding Charlotte Church (her recording of the "Ave Maria" she cut at the early age of 12 still sends shivers up my spine!), the multi-talented Blaise Garza (he tackled - and did so masterfully - the once-obscure contrabass saxophone in his teens), and kindergarten crooner Blake Ewing, who was discovered on Ed McMahon's old Star Search  program back in the 1990's (he also did a tremendous job playing rich kid Waldo in the movie version of The Little Rascals).  All of them are now adults, and they still have careers although not as well-known as they once were, and all of them are still blessed with tremendous talent.  The ones I want to discuss now are not quite as famous as these are, but they are still talent that deserves to be appreciated.  So, let us begin!

The first two I want to talk about are the Piatrowski Sisters, Andrea and Erika, who both are accomplished fiddlers with their family's band, Pan Franek and the Polka Towners.  These girls have been performing from an early age, and the first I remembered hearing them was when they made a guest appearance on Jimmy Sturr's program on RFD back in 2007.   These girls are not only talented fiddlers, but are also gifted in showmanship, even giving Sturr's fiddler, Frank Urbanovich, a run for his money on the show.  The girls are now adults themselves, but as far as I can reckon they still tour with the family band, which is based out of Michigan.   If you get the chance to listen to them, please do - you will not be disappointed!

Andrea and Erika Piatrowski, and their equally talented sister Christina, at a polka festival performing.

 

 

The second family of talented young ladies are a little different in style, as they play vintage Western Swing and do it well. I heard the Quebe Sisters and their band on "Larry's Country Diner" a couple of months back, and almost immediately bought their CD's because they sounded phenomenal - their rendition of "Across the Alley From the Alamo" is one of the best I have heard actually!  The Quebes - Grace, Sophia, and Hulda - are native Texans all still in their teens, and they like many young talents developed at a young age, due in large part to a supportive family.  These gals actually have a website (www.quebesistersband.com) and they have two very excellent CD's available that I would urge anyone who loves big bands, Western Swing, or more traditional country music to give a fair listen to.  I am also encouraging Larry Black to have them back sometime on his show too!

 

 

The Quebes - Grace, Sophia, and Hulda

 

 

The third group is from a different genre altogether - Southern Gospel.  Back in January, we attended the winter crusade that the Lake Gibson Church of the Nazarene conducts here in Lakeland every year, and in addition to the evangelist (an anointed and powerful Methodist bishop from Alabama, Dr. Kip Laxson), the pastor, Rev. Charles Kirby, brings in a well-known gospel group.  In past years it has been the Pfeifers (probably my all-time favorite Gospel artists, hands-down!), but understandably due to scheduling, Pastor Kirby brought in a group I had never heard before from Iowa called the Browns.   The consist of two talented young brothers, Andrew and Adam, and their beautiful sister Michaela.  Their mom, a sweet lady named Shelly, rounds out the group while their dad handles their technical support.   One thing struck me about this family - Shelly lets her kids shine, and although she sings with the group, her kids are the stars of the show and I believe she wants it that way because she is a proud mama (and a good one, as she has raised three talented and well-mannered young people).  However, lest you get the impression that these kids are all about singing songs, it turns out they are also talented musicians - all three play violin, and Michaela has recorded an excellent solo album recently.  When they were at the crusade, they played a beautiful rendition of the song "Let There Be Peace on Earth," and they also played some classic hymns of the Church that many of us Catholics and Anglicans are familiar with too.  They likewise have a website with several recordings available (I understand they were also awarded Top 10 Mixed Gospel Group of the Year for two consecutive years, which in itself is quite an honor), and the URL for that is www.brownsmusic.com.  The site says they currently have 10 recordings available, and there is indeed something for everyone.

 

 

The Browns - Adam, Andrew, Michaela and mom Shelly

 

I final young talent I want to mention is a young French Canadian guitarist I came across back in 2009 who is a Gypsy jazz virtuoso.  At the time, he was 13 (he is now almost 18 if I calculated right) and when I heard him, it was as if the spirit of Django Reinhardt had resurrected itself - this kid has one of the most phenomenal Gypsy guitar techniques I have ever had the blessing of hearing, and although he hasn't gotten it on disc yet, I actually have corresponded with him and encouraged him to do so.  Quinn Bachand is definitely someone that classic jazz afficianados should pay attention to, as we may be hearing more of him in the future. At present, he is doing some tours with his older sister Christine, and has also forayed into Celtic folk music as well.  Although I would prefer personally he stick with Gypsy jazz, Quinn is going to do great at whatever genre he settles on. 

 

Young guitar prodigy and Gypsy jazz master Quinn Bachand

 

There are many more of these young shining stars I could mention, but these are some I have encountered personally that really impacted me with their wonderful talents.  Many of their recordings are in my own library, and I count it an honor to have them.  So, for us old-timers, be assured that the extent of today's talent doesn't stop (or even start!) with punks like Justin Bieber - the kids I just talked about are the real stars, and I will support their careers any day.  Any rate, so long until next visit, and happy listening.  For you parents, encourage your kids to explore music and maybe learning an instrument for themselves if they develop an interest; who knows - someone like me may be writing about them someday too!  







Ponderings

There has been much to ponder the past several weeks, but to start the conversation, we have a home computer again!!  It was long in coming, very much needed, and I can get much more accomplished regarding class projects and writing these articles.  It is so good to be back!

Let's see - this is an informal conversation, so let's talk some about what is on my mind.  We had our second trip to Pinecraft, the Amish community in Sarasota, this past Saturday and we also got to eat at what was once called Troyer's,  a very good Amish-style buffet on Bahia Vista, just up the road a couple of blocks from the more famous Yoder's.  Be watching my food blog for a review on that later.  One thing I picked up while down there is a very large but easy-to-read Amish newspaper called The Budget, which I believe is published out of Ohio if memory serves me correctly.  The bulk of the paper is made up of brief submissions by writers in various communities across the US who tell of events happening in their neighborhoods, and it is fairly innocuous stuff that you would not see on CNN but probably should be, as we need more news like that.  News items are varied - Mose Hostetler got a glass eye, and you can hardly notice it's glass because it matches his other one, and other such news items.   I love reading stuff like that, as it makes me a little homesick, and thanks be to God for the small towns that still dot the "highways and byways" of our great nation.  If you live in Florida (or are just visiting), make a point to visit Pinecraft, eat some good food at Yoder's or Troyer's (or whatever they call it - good food regardless!), and be sure to pick up one of those papers, which are readily available for less than a couple of bucks. 

The Der Dutchman Amish Restaurant and Buffet in Sarasota, formerly Troyer's

It is also getting to be springtime, although my dear friends and family haven't gotten the bulletin yet being another winter storm - this one they are calling Virgil - slammed most everything north of Florida pretty hard.  The last one, Ukko (Al Roker on the Weather Channel couldn't get that quite right and was calling it "Urkel"; that's OK Al - we forgive you buddy, as you are still fun to watch!) hasn't even melted yet!  However, the temperature is slowly rising in Florida, which has led me to start contemplating gardening this year.  In my big planter in front of the house, where I grew tomatoes last year, I plan on planting live herbs - at least two parsley plants, rosemary, basil (of course!), oregano, thyme, sage, and maybe some catnip for the furkids.   Nothing enhances the flavor of food like live herbs (not to steal thunder from my food blog!) and I love growing them.  Let's just pray my green thumb doesn't turn black this year!  I also want to plant a few Roma tomatoes, as I plan on doing a whole batch of my homemade sauce at some point this summer between scanning 403b files at work and conjugating Greek verbs in grad school, and Romas make the best sauce, as any Italian worth his pesto will tell you.   Anyway, pictures of all that to follow on my food blog too, as I plan on doing a growing technique thing with the herbs on there.

Let's now talk some music.  I haven't been getting a whole lot of new stuff the previous year, although that has changed recently.  I am really gaining quite an affinity, for instance, for "Dutch Hop" polkas, and love the sound - something about that hammered dulcimer makes those type of polkas sound so pretty.  "Dutch Hop" originated with Volga Germans who settled primarily in Colorado after immigrating here from Russia early last century, and they have a unique culture that is distinctive from other German communities you find around the US.  Volga Germans are practically as much Russian in many ways as they are German, and their cuisine and music reflect that quite clearly.  The hammered dulcimer is not unique to "Dutch Hop" though, as it also is featured on many klezmer recordings too as well as in Ukrainian folk bands - it is called a tsimbl in those cultures, but is still the same trapezoidal-shape instrument you'd find in bands like the Polka Nuts or John Fritzler's.  I managed to get a good CD of vintage Dutch Hop music by two of its early pioneers, Adolf Lesser and Paul Weingardt, and the older stuff is a little more livelier than that played by contemporary groups such as the Polka Nuts, but it is still good music.  Although Lesser has been making recordings since the 1920's, many of the ones on the disc are from the 1950's.  Another much-anticipated addition to the music collection I finally found is the vintage commercial recordings of Johnny Green's orchestra, including his 1935 arrangement of one of my favorite tunes of his "Mile a Minute."  The first I had heard this was on a Vitaphone short from 1935 I have on DVD, and I fell in love with it. Of course, Green's was a phenomenal orchestra, and the maestro himself a tremendous talent (he directed the MGM orchestra for years, and his is the work you will hear on the original West Side Story soundtrack), as well as a prolific composer ("Body and Soul," now a classic jazz standard, was his composition). 
the phenomenonal Johnny Green!

A sheet music cover of Adolph Lesser, Dutch Hop pioneer.

 

 

I am also expecting from my friends at Polkamart.com a collection of early polka pioneer Lawrence Duchow, who led a polka dance band in Wisconsin from the 1920's.  However, Polkamart, although they have good music selections, takes forever to ship your orders!  I am already 3 weeks into waiting on it, and am getting anxious.  Anyway, polka as you know is an integral part of my vintage dance band collection, and to be honest you cannot really appreciate big bands without appreciating polka and its development, as it has contributed so much.   My CD collection, which will now be at 1120 once the missing Duchows find their way here, is a historical documentary.   It chronicles the development and growth of a phenomenal genre of music - big bands - that is an integral part of Americana as well.  People who hear "big band" often associate it with cheesy swing tunes with over-exaggerated brass (to me, those "big band sound" attempts really stink!), and they really don't know what this musical genre is all about.  It is my hope one day to find some way to appropriate my collection to life experience and use it to educate others, as a glorious heritage is contained within those wax-stacks many people today don't even know about.  And, that is a good lead-up to my next subject of conversation.

One thing being deprived of a computer has compelled me to do the past few months is to write more journal entries, and as I began to get back into doing that regularly, I began to ponder my own past - why I like the music I like, why I cherish the CNC's (central narrative convictions, as Dr. Archer, one of my professors, devotes a lot of writing about) I have, and most intriguing, I have pondered the question as to if there was a purpose to why God allowed me to grow up as I did and if so, what it has done to define my personal faith, etc.  I of course have written a ton of this in my memoirs, and it also comes out in my family tree research too, but this is the one aspect I feel I need to explore more.  As I began to do so, I realized that in my person I am practically the ultimate paradox - I have the blood of Charlemagne and Constantine in my veins, yet I grew up in such abject poverty that it is almost incomprehensible to many my age (we Gen-Xer's in general are not big on first-hand knowledge of wood stoves and  outhouses, yet I grew up with both - go figure!) .  Also, here I am, a person of the '80's generation, yet while my classmates in high school were listening to Madonna and Michael Jackson, I was listening to Guy Lombardo and Freddy Martin!  Also, I grew up in small-town Appalachia - both the town of Parsons, WV, where I grew up as well as the towns of Kirby, WV (where I spent a lot of my formative years) and Terra Alta, WV (where I went to high school) are all tiny hamlets, insignificant on the world stage, yet here I am!  I grew up in those remote mountain hamlets, yet today I am working on a graduate degree, speak three languages, and have a professional resume that many would envy.  Ironically, one of my professors asked me before class tonight why I didn't have a doctorate yet - a flattering but good question!  Again, all of this is the paradox (or series of paradoxes) that constitutes my life.  My answer to why all this came together is simple - only God!  I mean, here I am - I grew up in a community where practically everyone was on some sort of government assistance, yet today I am friends with archbishops, leaders of polka bands, Southern Gospel artists, scholars and academics, and other such people - yet another paradox!  On, and on, and on I could go with all this.  All I can say ultimately is thanks be to God for his goodness and mercy, simple as that.  

I suppose I have rambled enough for one night, so I will wrap it up for now.  I want you all to stay tuned though, because speaking of music, I have a good article I want to share in a couple of weeks entitled "Those Fiddlin' Kids!" about some phenomenal young talent I have gotten the privelege of hearing.  As I promote these talented young people, I would encourage you to check out their recordings and other work and support their art, because they are truly phenomenal, but you will read about that at another time.  God bless until next time, and glad you could visit with me again.