Canada's Fiddling Sensation
Calvin Vollrath
Calvin’s love for music began at an early age when he used to mimic
his father Art "Lefty" Vollrath with two butter knives. His father developed his own reputation as a great fiddler and passed on the family tradition. Calvin was raised on the Don Messer’s Jubilee and at the age of 8, received his first fiddle. It was soon apparent Calvin was a natural. At 13, he entered his first fiddle contest and at the age of 17, he was already winning the Championship class. Calvin was twice crowned the Grand North American Old Tyme Fiddle Champion.
Calvin is a musical prodigy. To date, he has composed over 600 tunes, many of which have become standard contest and dance tunes across North America & Europe. His influence in the fiddle world is very evident. He has to his credit, 65 of his own albums, numerous music books of his original compositions and an instructional DVD. Calvin was commissioned to compose 5 fiddle tunes for the Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010 Opening Ceremonies to represent the various styles of fiddling our country has to offer. He also wrote the theme for the international fiddle convention "Fiddles of the World", held in Halifax NS in July 1999. When Calvin writes a tune for an individual, a place or an event, he has an uncanny sense of capturing their personality or expressing its atmosphere.
Calvin is very active in the teaching aspect of fiddle music and is touted by the Saskatchewan Cultural Exchange Society as one of the driving forces behind the revitalization of fiddle music. Calvin has taught at the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddle Camp in Ottawa since its inception in 1996. In 2007, he started his own camp in northeast Alberta, aptly named “Camp Calvin”. He also teaches at numerous workshops throughout Canada and the United States. In August 2005, Calvin received the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ from The Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Championship, in recognition and appreciation of his outstanding contribution to Old Time Fiddling. For his contribution, support and dedicated years of promoting & playing country music, Calvin was presented with another 'Lifetime Achievement Award' from the Alberta Men of Country Music (AMOCM) in 2007 and the 'Bev Munro Award' in 2009, sponsored by the Association of Canadian Country Music Legends. In 2011, Calvin was inducted into the 'North American Fiddlers Hall of Fame' in the state of New York.
Calvin is a world-class fiddler and represents Alberta and Canada internationally. Since his participation at the 2000 World Music Expo (WOMEX) in Berlin Germany, Calvin has toured several European countries. He also served as musical director for Hank Smith’s band on his European tour from 1994-1996. In July 2006, Calvin was selected as one of 10 performers to represent Alberta at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC.
Calvin has recorded with the likes of Ian Tyson, Colleen Peterson & Laura Vinson to name a few and is still in demand as a studio musician for various Canadian artists and film and television productions. Calvin has appeared on many television shows including CTV’s "Sun Country", CTV's "Number I West" and was musical director for CBC's "Native Nashville North". CBC’s "Adrienne Clarkson Presents" aired a documentary on Métis fiddle music featuring Calvin Vollrath and John Arcand.
Calvin is a pleasure to watch on stage, his love for music is contagious and he can bring an audience to their feet. As one lady said after a Calvin Vollrath performance, “If I don’t go to heaven when I die, I’ve been there tonight” and another remarked “If you can’t dance to that, you better check your pulse”.
Calvin Vollrath is a veteran recognized for his performing, teaching, judging and composing abilities. Calvin is now producing recordings for fiddlers from across the country in his home studio in St. Paul Alberta. Calvin is a premiere fiddler who is constantly in demand.
2016
Fiddle champ Calvin Vollrath has a reputation for sell-out concerts, sometimes weeks in advance.
He has a way of getting both young and old all fired up with a fairly eclectic repertoire of waltzes, jigs, swings, reels, ballads and melodies that blend European inspired and Métis forms.
Just try not tapping your toes or snappin’ your fingers at a fiery Vollrath concert. It’s next to impossible.
Fortunately for string fans, the St. Paul resident returns to his old stomping grounds at the Morinville Community Cultural Centre from May 24 to 26 to launch his 20th anniversary CD release party.
Adding an extra layer of that down-home feel is backup band Country Swing reuniting Mark Sullivan (fiddle), Alfie Myhre (fiddle), Darryl Campbell (steel guitar), Richard Cherniski (lead guitar), Les Vincent (bass guitar), Ron Danyluk (drums) and Trent Bruner (piano).
At this three-day landmark party, Vollrath wanted to offer fans an extra spice and invited East Coast fiddling sensation Natalie MacMaster as his special guest.
Originally MacMaster had booked a tour in the United States. But after Vollrath’s invitation, she re-jigged her schedule detouring to Morinville.
“She made room for me on her calendar. She really wants to be here and I’m thrilled to have her,” Vollrath said.
The two fiddlers first connected through Peter Gzowski’s CBC radio show Morningside. She was in Halifax. He was in Edmonton and together they played with instantaneous rapport across the airwaves.
“We finally met in 1989 and I’ve been a fan ever since,” Vollrath smiled.
Living on opposite ends of the country, this is a rare opportunity for a get-together. Although MacMaster styles her fiddling with a lilting Scottish groove while Vollrath carries a torch for the Don Messer tradition, there’s a genuine heartfelt respect and affection on both sides.
“She’s a real person. She’s about as big as you can get in the fiddling world, in the music world. She plays all the big theatres, but she remains true to her Cape Breton roots. And when she’s on stage, she talks to everybody like we’re in her kitchen.”
The three-day celebration combines Friday’s Old Tyme Fiddle Dinner and Dance, Saturday’s CD Release Party and Dance, and Sunday’s Fiddle Gala.
MacMaster will perform on both Friday and Saturday with long-time friend and technically superb piano man Mac Morin.
On Saturday, Vollrath releases two new albums Unmistakable and Super’CaliFiddle’istic. A prolific composer, Vollrath has released over 500 original tunes. These two albums are numbers 57 and 58.
“Both albums are filled with new tunes. There’s 80 minutes of new music. That’s about 30 tunes – 15 on each.”
Since string players from across the country are checking out the Sunday Fiddle Gala, Vollrath is highlighting two musicians – teen fiddler Amber Gordon from Buffalo Lake and fiddle champion Dennis Harrington from Renfrew, Ontario.
“If you were to close your eyes and listen to Dennis, you’d swear you were listening to Don Messer.”
For Vollrath, this May weekend is one of the highlights of his year.
“I look forward to a wonderful weekend. There’s quite a buzz going on in Morinville. It’s a big event for them and I look forward to sharing good music with them.”
Friday night Dinner and Dance is $30. Cocktails are at 5:30 p.m., dinner at 6:30 p.m. and dance at 8 p.m.
The Saturday night concert is sold out and the Sunday Fiddle Gala is at 2 p.m. Tickets for all events are at 780-420-1757 or go online to: www.tixonthesquare.ca
Friendships were formed and much fun was had at the sixth annual Camp Calvin Fiddle Camp, but above all else, was the love and enjoyment of music.
“You learn so much about the feel of fiddle music,” said Monika Schaefer, a first-time camp participant who hailed from Jasper, of the experience. For Schaefer, there was nothing like listening to the fiddling of the “world class” instructors and getting to jam with people of all skills. It was like experiencing a second childhood, she said, adding that her reaction was, “You get to play? Play all day? It’s just fun. I feel like a kid.”
Last year, the camp was full, and people had to be put on a waiting list, fiddle instructor and camp namesake Calvin Vollrath said. The fiddling master from St. Paul said that for this year’s incarnation of the camp, he and his wife, Rhea Labrie, decided they should offer two weeks of camp so that more people could participate. This year, 110 people, hailing from as far as Boston, Massachusetts and as close as neighbouring St. Paul, made their way to the St. Edouard Renewal Centre for fiddle, guitar and piano instruction from master musicians like Vollrath, Gordon Stobbe, Daniel Gervais, Kimberley Holmes and more.
In the evening, everyone would jam, and Schaefer noted the “evening concerts alone were worth the price of admission” for the camp.
Those evening group performances were an amazing, positive experience, said Vollrath, adding, “There’s no egos. Nobody’s better than anybody else. You can feel that from everyone.”
Participants ranged in age from six to 80 plus, and from beginner to advanced skill levels. On the last day of the camp, students gave their own light-hearted performances, with offerings such as I’m My Own Grandpa and The Last Saskatchewan Pirate. Three young men, Matthew Gervais, Kai Gronberg and Ray Knorr, gave a serious performance that they interrupted for Knorr to tie his shoelace, before performing the last soulful strains of the song. Sarah Hubbard from Boston teamed up with Jane Cory to do a fast and masterful ditty to much cheers and applause, before emcee and course instructor Randy Foster took to the stage to say to much laughter, “Can you believe it? When these girls rolled into St. Paul – car trouble – they’d never played before. Week one, folks!”
At the end of the Fiddler’s Idol, Labrie bid everyone an emotional farewell, thanking people for coming and noting it was tough to see them all go. The last day of camp is typically a hard one for people, noted Vollrath afterwards, saying people cried over breakfast at having to say goodbye.
But Labrie was quick to bring back the fun, sending everyone on a “scavenger hunt” for 55 items scattered in and around the centre. “I’ll give you a hint,” she said of the scavenger items. “They’re grey, they fold and they’re the size of your butt.” People broke out into laughter before they filed out to find the chairs, pack up and get going, as the strains of a lone fiddler noodling around with his instrument filled the air.
“Hope to see you back again next year,” said Labrie.
By Matt Sircely posted January 2012
Calvin Vollrath is on a roll. His recent induction into the North American Fiddlers Hall of Fame augments a long line of credits and awards. With more than 50 recordings and 400 compositions to his name, Vollrath composed “Fiddle Nation” to showcase Canada’s regional styles in a single medley at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics Opening Ceremony.
Nevertheless, Vollrath still considers himself a country boy from northern Alberta.
Evidently, for Vollrath, being a simple country boy means mastering old-time dance styles from the Alberta plains, a repertoire ranging from waltzes and polkas to two-steps and swinging Texas-derived fox-trots. Vollrath is also one of the foremost exponents of the indigenous Métis style, among the most complex traditional fiddle music on the continent, derived from similar roots as other North American fiddle styles, but laden with odd measures and offbeat accents after centuries of development in isolation.
Vollrath himself is in a perpetual state of musical evolution, known for incorporating double-stops and innovative harmonies into Canadian old-time fiddle tunes. Winner of the 1985 Grand North American Old Tyme Fiddle Championship, Vollrath competed in his first contest at age 13 when there were only two youngsters on the stage. Now, as an instructor at music camps across Canada, including at his own camp, Vollrath is helping to rekindle a new generation of players.
In his younger days, Calvin Vollrath played dances every weekend for halls packed with 500 dancers in the Edmonton area. “Fiddle music was really about dancing many years ago,” he says.
His fiddling father, Art “Lefty” Vollrath, told him to always watch the best dancers. “You’ll see them in the waltzes — they kind of look like barley waving in the wind. And on the fox-trots, they like a good time,” he says. “They’ll set your tempo, and it helps your bowing.”
Today, local dances attract only a few dozen attendees each month. “Young [fiddlers], especially in our area, don’t have the chance to play for dances anymore,” Vollrath says. “They’re not really getting their own identity.”
Passing on a Tradition
But Vollrath sets a glowing example, practicing and composing in between fiddle camp classes, his instantly distinguishable voluminous tone resonating beyond the classroom walls, often with creative double-stops and contrapuntal explorations. One of his students, 24-year-old Daniel Gervais from Vollrath’s hometown of St. Paul, Alberta, claimed first place at the 2011 Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Competition. His winning set included Vollrath’s version of “Lover’s Waltz” by Alberta fiddle legend Frankie Rodgers.
“Lover’s Waltz,” is largely typical of the country waltzes that have been common at dances in Western Canada for decades. But Rodgers was an early Canadian innovator, composing tunes such as the popular “Ookpik Waltz” until he passed away in 2009. “His title was King of the Country Fiddlers, playing with double-stops way back in the ’50s and ’60s,” Vollrath says. “He was way ahead of his time for a Canadian fiddle player.
“Lover’s Waltz’ had a diminished chord in it. Nobody even knew what a diminished chord was, but it was kind of fancy,” Vollrath adds, with a smile. “It kind of sounded like rock ’n’ roll.”
One year at a fiddle camp, Vollrath’s love of double-stop harmonies landed him alongside Buddy Spicher and they performed four-part lines together on such tunes as “Cherokee,” which eventually resulted in a Nashville collaboration entitled Air Mail Special. “It was a great experience for a little ole country boy from northern Alberta,” he says.
As Vollrath explains, the sound of country pedal steel guitar drove his love of double-stop harmonization. Once, he met pedal steel legend Bud Isaacs, whose 1954 intro on “Slowly,” by country legend Webb Pierce, established the modern concept of pedal steel accompaniment. Isaacs told Vollrath that he had originally tried to emulate the sound of three fiddles. Vollrath replied that he was trying to sound like a pedal steel. “So it came full circle,” he says.
Organizers for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics called upon Vollrath to compose a medley for the opening ceremony, which he performed alongside many of Canada’s most prominent fiddlers. Starting in the Quebecois style, Vollrath then added a component representing the West Coast, followed by a tune in the Métis style with “lots of bow in it for the dance. From there we went to the East Coast. When I think of the East Coast, I think of jigs in 6/8 time,” he says, singing a jig Learn a Country Dance Fiddle Tune from Western Canada / SO... http://www.allthingsstrings.com/index.php/layout/set/print/Repe...
rhythm. “So we changed the time signature to 6/8.
“After that was the prairies, and with me growing up in the prairies, I think of square dances,” he says, adding that the prairie section referenced the region’s heavy Ukrainian influence.
The medley ended with the Canadian classic “Maple Sugar,” from the Ottawa Valley.
*This article appeared in Strings January 201
Player Tips
Though he does not read or write music notation, Calvin Vollrath has strong feelings about how students can play written music with heartfelt emotion. He encourages students to evoke emotion in every piece by exploring a lilting or swinging feel, and he sings a few bars to illustrate how a lilting feel can make a tune both emotional and danceable. “You’re playing the same notes, but it’s how you’re playing them,” he says. “Maybe some last a little longer, some are a little shorter, and some are almost not there. That’s just feeling—playing from your heart as opposed to what’s written on the sheet.”
Calvin Vollrath. Not a name on everyone's lips, at least not on the eastern side of the Atlantic. On the one hand, that's not surprising: Calvin doesn't have a marketing or distribution machine at his disposal, and most of his activities are confined to Canada, although he is a regular visitor to Europe and has even toured the Shetland Islands. On the other hand, how many unknown fiddlers have over 30 albums and 250 tunes to their credit?
The Vollrath style is an amalgam of country and old-time fiddling, Texas swing and Yankee stomp, plus a big helping of Canadian musical stew Scots, Irish, French and Scandinavian flavours with a hint of native American or Metis spice. From reels to rags, polkas to waltzes, Calvin does it all with skill and spirit.
I first encountered Calvin's name when he was mentioned as a major influence by young Canadian fiddle star Samantha Robichaud. I did a bit of digging on the Internet, and decided it was time we all knew a lot more about this neglected prodigy. Finding a window in the Vollrath schedule (as they say in Canada) wasn't easy, but we managed to arrange a virtual interview. It went something like this:
AM - Tell us a bit about your background.
CV - I was born and raised in Edmonton Alberta, Canada. I am the youngest of 7 children. My father, Art 'Lefty' Vollrath was a fiddler. From as early as I can remember I wanted to be a fiddler. I started at the age of 8 on a half size fiddle. My dad was not a trained musician but played very well. He wanted me to be trained so they sent me for lessons, which I didn't like and quit soon after. I wanted to play like my dad. So I just play by ear. I don't read music.
AM - What were your main influences when you were learning the fiddle? Were there many fiddlers around?
CV - My dad was my main influence, for sure, but we had records of Don Messer, Andy Dejarlis, Graham Townsend, Al Cherny and others. I would learn all the tunes on their records. I also learned how to play guitar and would chord for my dad. My dad played for dances so his music had a ton of feel to it. That's what I grew up with. I didn't realize then the feeling he put into it. I just thought everybody did that. But then you start hearing some others that didn't quite make your feet tap. There was something missing. All the notes might have been there but not as exciting as I was used to. So that was my root. Then I started playing in Country Music bands. Playing back-up fiddle. Lots of Western Swing and country shuffles. In this music I learned to improvise. This is when I started composing my own tunes. The Old Time style, like I grew up with, but adding some different chord patterns. Lots of the tunes we grew up with were 2 or 3 chord tunes. Now I put some diminished and augmented notes into the tunes. But I still try to keep the tradition of the dance feel.
AM - What was the fiddle scene like in Alberta when you were learning?
CV - I started fiddling in 1968 at 8 years old. I never saw any other fiddlers until 1974 when I went to my first fiddle contest. There had to be around 50 fiddlers there. I didn't know a soul. There was one fiddler that was very kind to the new kid on the block. His name was Mel Bedard. I think he finished 2nd. The other fiddlers didn't pay much attention to me. I thought they were all great fiddlers, but not very warm in the hospitality department. Oh well, I was just 13 years of age then. Then we started to go to many contests and started to get to know the other fiddlers. They were all older than I was. I was pretty much the only junior. Then a few years after that a few more kids started getting into the fiddle. Fiddlers all played what was called the Don Messer style. He had a TV Show in Canada for many years on CBC and became a household name and that was the Old Time dancing style of fiddling. That's what we were exposed to and that's what they wanted to hear at fiddle contests. A Waltz, Jig and a Reel. After getting to know the fiddlers much better, I found some were Ukrainian, Scottish, Irish, French, Metis and other descents as well, and they played other kinds of tunes as well. Also some fiddlers grew up listening to American fiddlers. Dale Potter, for example. Probably the first fiddler to play so many double stops. He was a hero to many. Tommy Jackson also influenced some fiddlers in our area. I'm not really sure how fiddlers found out about these American fiddlers because we didn't see them on TV or hear them on radio. I guess they found records of them in some stores and heard the different style that was being played and liked it. I don't think any of the fiddlers in Alberta made their living playing the fiddle, but most of them played in a band and played dances on the week-ends.
AM - How healthy is Alberta fiddling nowadays? Who else is on the scene?
CV - Fiddling is in a resurgence now, I believe. In 1988 I started teaching at the Emma Lake Fiddle Camp. It was the first fiddle camp in Canada. Other fiddle camps have been spawned all over the country now from there. Alberta has two fiddle camps now, I believe, and other acoustic music camps as well. So there's lots of opportunity for young fiddlers. On the professional side, I can probably think of six fiddlers that make their living playing the fiddle. My nephew is one of them. Tyler Vollrath plays in a country band with an up and coming new country artist. So he's not playing much fiddle music, but as a part of a band. Bruce Blair plays with a French Canadian Band backing up a singer. John Calverly plays for a dance group that does international folk dances. Other fiddlers just teach and play dances on weekends and make a living at that. There are lots of bluegrass festivals, country festivals and folk festivals over here, so I would say things are quite healthy. Just to go back to the Emma Lake camp, we had a teacher this year from Inverness, Scotland. His name is Paddy Duncan. What a great player he is. The fiddlers really liked him.
AM - What are your musical influences now?
CV - I still like to listen to fiddle music. Now it's just broader, cause there are so many styles. I love to put on the old records of the fiddlers I grew up listening to. I got to be a big fan of Western Swing music, so I listen to Johnny Gimble from Texas, Wade Ray and Tommy Jackson who played with Ray Price. Also Stephan Grappelli, & Joe Venutti. I just love the steel guitar. Probably my favorite musician is a steel player by the name of Buddy Emmons from Nashville. I try to do things that he does. With a steel guitar, they are bending notes all the time and play wonderful double stops. Double stops are where you play two strings at once. I do alot of double stops and try to create steel guitar type sounds. I picked up a CD of a fiddler while we played in the Shetland Islands last year, by the name of Gordon Gunn. Amazing!! Also the music played at the Shetland dances was just wonderful. I have some CDs of that as well that I listen to.
AM - Yes, I know you were in Shetland last year, but you aren't yet well known on the east side of the pond. Why do you think that is?
CV - Well I never hooked up with a distributor to get my CDs out to the world. I've pretty much done it myself. Selling off stage and just meeting people throughout the country and then a store would call from a certain community, can I get your recording? So I'd sell them some. I never had a manager or an agent or anyone promoting me so it takes a bit longer to get the word out. Maybe it makes my career last longer. I've seen some that get thrown in the spotlight and a couple of years later you don't hear of them any more. Now I sell my products on the Internet and that's how they discovered me in the Shetlands. Ivor Scollay purchased a CD of a Canadian fiddler and read the liner notes and they mentioned that I was their hero. Well he'd never heard of me, so he searched the Internet until he found me. Bought a shwack of CDs and became a big fan and said you have to come and play here. He's an accordion player. No booking agent. But he put it all together and we tied it into a tour we were doing in the Scandinavian countries. We just loved the Shetlands and they seem to have taken to our music as well. We did the Robbie Shepherd show on BBC Radio Scotland when we were there as well. So that's how the word gets out. I've had the website www.calvinvollrath.com up and running for about 3 years now. It's amazing how many people check it out. I'm getting e-mails from folks every day saying they checked out my website and liked it. I'm not sure it has made a difference in bookings, but selling on the Internet has been quite good. Now we actually have it so you can purchase online. It's all advertising, I guess.
AM - The Shetlanders have a taste for North American music, particularly the jazzier side of old-time fiddling, so I'm not surprised they took to your music. How did the tour go?
CV - We played in Lerwick on the first night, at the Fiddle & Accordion Club. We heard a few different fiddle groups there. I can't remember the names of the groups but they were led by Margaret Scollay. They were terrific. Also a fiddler by the name of Bryan Gear. Absolutely brilliant. We heard the Cullivoe Band every night as well. They played for a dance after our show. Bryan played fiddle in this band. Ivor Scollay & Gordon Jamieson on the accordions, and a drummer and a piano player. Our second night we played in Weisdale. Our third night was in Cullivoe on the island of Yell, and our last concert was in Lerwick again at the theatre there. Shetland was just an amazing trip for us. I was worried about them accepting my kind of music, but they welcomed us with open arms. Their love of fiddle music is unbelievable. They were so open to new tunes and to improvising and swing music. I had no idea that would happen. I expected traditional fans telling me I was playing it all wrong. Was I ever wrong. They were so open minded to new stuff. I think I got 4 encores in Cullivoe. There were many tears when we left Shetland. We were sitting on the plane leaving to fly back to Aberdeen and I had tears in my eyes. I looked at my wife, who stepdances in the French Canadian tradition: she was crying. I looked over at my guitar player: he was wiping away tears. It really touched us to play for those folks. What could be better than playing for people that like your music?
AM - You're a prolific composer of tunes. Where does your inspiration come from?
CV - When we travel to different places, and they have a different style of music, I find I write tunes in that style. For instance, I played in Quebec a few years ago. They have a French Canadian style of fiddling. Very rhythmical. I came home and wrote 10 tunes like that. Most of the tunes just come to your head. Driving, walking, golfing, whatever. I always have tunes going through my head. Then I play them and refine them. Also I write tunes for fiddle fans. They don't play but I know what they like. I see their reactions to certain tunes. So when I write a tune, I have a pretty good idea who it's for. I was commissioned to write a tune for the Fiddles of the World Conference in Halifax a few years ago. I tried to write a tune that all could play, and have many types of influences in it. They accepted it and it was played by the 750 fiddlers in attendance. What an honour that was. Mark O'Connor, Natalie McMaster, Alasdair Fraser, Byron Berline, and many others. That was a good feeling to hear all these folks playing my tune
AM - How do you maintain an output of 5 or 6 recordings a year?
CV - I have my own studio so I record when I feel like it. For the past number of years I had enough new tunes for 2 new CDs each year, and then I would record some old traditional, gospel, country, or a house party. I record on a Roland VS 1680. This is a digital hard drive recorder. I start the recording process by bringing in my piano player. The arrangements are on the fly. We play the tune with the fiddle and piano. Usually with a click track. Then we go back and listen. This is when I hear let's change this chord, or add some syncopation here or whatever and keep on going. Then when we have the piano done and are happy with the arrangement we move to the next tune. Some of the more old-timey tunes might not need any fixing. Maybe we nailed it the first time and that's just fine. Some we will work a few hours at before getting what we want. So each song goes through this process. When we've done all the tunes, and there have been times when we recorded 80 tunes in a 4-day period, then the piano player goes home. I then grab my bass guitar, and start with the first tune and play exactly what the piano player played with his left hand. This will take me between 10 minutes and half an hour, depending on the difficulty on the tune. Then I grab an acoustic guitar and play a rhythm guitar track. Then another rhythm track. Then I'll go redo the fiddle if it needs redoing. If the tune needs some improvising, varying of the melody, I just do that on the fly. I never pre-determine solos. If the tune lends itself to guitar solos, I will leave holes where the other solos will be. All of this stuff is decided at this time. So then I'll try playing a solo on the guitar and if I can't get one that's decent, I'll bring in another guitar player that I know will play something appropriate. Then decide if the tune needs fiddle harmony. After I get all that stuff done I will then decide if it needs some percussion. When I say percussion I mean clogging with my feet or spoons. When I'm happy with what I have, I mix it to 2 tracks and listen to the mix and then move on to the next tune. A tune can take as little as an hour to do, but some tunes have taken me two days. I've left certain things on recordings that I really didn't want to play, but I felt the over all feel was very good and didn't want to mess with what I had.
AM - What musicians do you work with?
CV - I have a few different musicians I work with now. Since 1988, Trent Bruner has been playing the piano with me. He's in much demand in Canada, so the last few years I've had a piano player from Quebec, Paul Dacier fill in when Trent can't make it. I also use a guitar player by the name of Freddie Pelletier. He's is a great musician. Lots of my tunes are a bit different so you can't just throw anyone in on the piano or guitar. They pretty much need to know the stuff. I rarely draw up a set list. I always like to play off the cuff.
AM - How do you divide your time between concerts, recording, writing, and the rest of your life?
CV - For the last 8 years or so, since I've just been back to playing fiddle music, touring usually starts about June and goes through to October. Sometimes it will last into November. Then I'm home and this is when I start recording. The last few years there have been more gigs come in the winter months so that makes recording a bit tougher, but I love to perform. A call comes in, and away we go. Last year I only released 3 CDs. People say how come only 3? Well I was too busy to do more. Writing happens at anytime. I've written as many as 6 tunes in one day in a car going to Vermont and performed them that night. The piano player was in the car with me so he heard me humming them and had a good idea how they would go. I love to golf in the summer, and I like going to movies in the winter time, when I'm home. Can't beat the big screen and a bowl of popcorn. I have a beautiful wife named Rhea and 3 wonderful daughters that are all grown up now: Tanya, Jessica and Jaclyn. I don't have much down time. I never complain when it's too busy because I remember the times when it wasn't and rent had to be paid at the end of the week. Yikes...
AM - What happened eight years ago to bring you back to fiddle music? What were you doing before that?
CV - Well it's not that I stopped fiddling. I couldn't make a living just playing fiddle tunes so I joined a country band, that I played fiddle in, where we played country clubs all over the country playing country music. It was in these years that I really learned how to improvise to tunes. Around 8 years ago the country music scene started changing. This new country thing became very popular. Not much fiddle in those new tunes. Clubs were closing down as well. Harder to make a living playing in a band. So I thought I'm gonna try getting more work playing fiddle tunes. I think through my recordings and the exposure I've gotten over the years most fiddle fans in Canada knew who I was. Contest started hiring me in to judge and entertain for them. Fiddle camps have been popping up all over the place, and I'm getting hired at quite a few of them. That's how I got back to playing fiddle tunes for a living.
AM - What are your plans for the future?
CV - I just want to keep on doing what we're doing. Things seem to be going good. Going to more places all the time, but still getting hired at places I've been doing for years. I teach at many fiddle camps as well and it's nice to pass on knowledge to the next bunch of fiddlers. With my studio I've also recorded other performers. Mostly fiddlers but some singers too. I really enjoy that as well.
AM - When are you likely to be over in Europe again? Do you have plans to go back to Scandinavia, or Shetland, or Scotland?
CV - I sure hope we can come back to Shetland again. I'm sure it will happen sometime. If we do Shetland, then we'll try to add others to the tour as well. We hope to go back to the Scandinavian countries as well. We played the folk festivals in the those countries and they don't hire the same acts year after year, but will bring back the odd act that went over good, maybe on special anniversary years. So we hope to come back to Norway and Sweden in a few years' time.
So now you know almost as much as I do. Calvin's website is well worth a look, and gives details of all his performances and recordings. You'll need javascript to view it, but most people have that built in now. Maybe the name Calvin Vollrath will be more widely known in Europe soon. We'll certainly be hearing more of his music, from his many pupils and fiddle-playing fans. More power to his elbow.
Alex Monaghan - 4.6.03
Article MT127
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Shetland Fiddlers in State of Shock
September 2001
Shetland Fiddle Enthusiasts were recently treated to an incredible weekend of music at the hands of virtuoso Canadian Fiddle player Calvin Vollrath and his band. Calvin who hails from St Paul, Alberta, visited the Shetland Isles on the return leg of a Scandinavian tour taking in Norway, Sweden and Finland. Calvin was accompanied by his wife Rhea Labrie, a wonderful step dancer, who?s lightning fast foot work had the audiences amazed and shouting for more. Also his regular backing band of Trent Bruner on piano and Freddie Pelletier, playing his vintage 1909 acoustic guitar provided Calvin with first-rate accompaniment.
Calvin played at four sell out concerts in the Isles where he stunned audiences with his incredible expertise and total command of the instrument. Some local fiddle player are still said to be in shock, while others are threatening to burn their beloved instruments, such was the impression he made.
The different styles of music Calvin plays is just what Shetland listeners want to hear, ranging from beautiful haunting slow airs to high speed novelty numbers like the Orange Blossom Special, with plenty of reels, jigs, swing and the beautiful Canadian waltzes, of which he is a master, using the double stopping technique. Most of the tunes he played were his own compositions, and mostly different sets for each concert, what a repertoire.
The highlight of the weekend was a trip to the Cullivoe Hall on the island of Yell, which involved a 90-minute bus journey and a 15-minute ferry crossing, excellent live entertainment was provided on the journey by Calvin, Freddie and local musicians. The audience in Cullivoe were really in the mood for Calvin giving him a standing ovation and a further three encores, when he tried to leave the stage after a brilliant show.
The tour was rounded off on Sunday with an afternoon concert in Lerwick, followed by a jamming session with local fiddlers, guitar players and piano players at a house party hosted by a couple who had played a big part in the musical success of the weekend.
People are already asking when they are coming over again, they have made a big impression on Shetland, not only as expert musicians, but also as really lovely people, and we sincerely hope this is the first visit of many.
Ivor Scollay
Shetland
A Calvin Vollrath Show can have many different looks. From a few musicians to many musicians, depending on your budget. Calvin likes to perform with at least 2 musicians that he brings along with him. Calvin's wife, Rhea, is a wonderful step dancer and likes her to be a part of the show as well.
For bigger concerts, this band can be expanded to include a 3 piece string section. Very nice touch.
Calvin is also able to come on his own and have local people back him up but the local musicians must be able to follow chord charts that Calvin will supply well in advance of the show.
Calvin is also available for workshops, music camps, recording sessions (e-mail transfers).
So as you can see, there are many possibilities.