The Friends of Fiddler's Green
(an explanation)
Left to right: Cherie Whelan, Ian Clark, Alistair
Brown, Ian Robb, Tam Kearney,
Laurence Stevenson, Grit Laskin.
"The Friends" were recipients of the 2003 Estelle Klein Award, awarded by the Ontario Council of Folk Festivals for service to folk music in Ontario.
The Toronto-based "Friends" boast six versatile musicians, five fine singers, two brilliant joke tellers, two widely-sung songwriters, and the occasional Fiery Dragon. This totally uncategorizable collection has been together, in one form or another, for over twenty years, and has played countless clubs, concerts and festivals across Canada and the northern United States. Nobody, not even the Friends themselves, can predict what might happen during one of their concerts, but it always includes humour, powerful vocal harmony, great musicianship, social commentary and an irresistible urge to dance.
More clues may be found in the following low-down on the players:
Alistair Brown
From Paisley, Scotland, for many years a resident of London, Ontario, and now back in the UK. Sings Scottish and English songs, is the man behind the booming bass harmonies, plays melodeon, concertina, mouth organ and Jew's harp, and tells incapacitating jokes. Former artistic director of London's Home County Folk Festival and a high school teacher in previous life, Alistair has two solo recordings on his own Prospect label.
Tam Kearney
From Glasgow, Scotland and now Toronto. Co-founder of Toronto's late and lamented Fiddlers' Green folk club. Definitely the mouthpiece of the band, Tam sings and plays guitar, banjo and mandolin among other things, and is possessed of an unmistakably Glaswegian ability to find humour in anything, even his own erstwhile day job in the Metropolitan Toronto sewage treatment plant.
Grit Laskin
Ontarian by birth ("we only bring him along so we can apply for grants..."), Grit is an internationally-known guitar maker and inlay artist in real life. He plays a bewildering assortment of instruments, and has some notoriety as a writer of wicked parodies and songs on subjects as diverse as dieting and apartheid. Grit has two solo recordings on the Fogarty's Cove label, one on Borealis, and has played on more records than he can remember, including those of the late, great Canadian songwriter, Stan Rogers.
Cherie Whelan
When the Friends' previous piano player was arrested by the religious police in Saudi Arabia, they decided it was time to improve their image. Cherie's pleasant and polite exterior belies a mean piano and fiddle player and a musical sophistication that is the envy of the rest of the band. She currently lives in Southfield, Michigan.
Ian Robb
An Englishman, now living in Ottawa, Ian's singing is well-known among afficionados of British music this side of the pond. His occasional spasms of songwriting have produced some gems which have far out-travelled their author. His songs and fine concertina playing may be sampled on his three albums for the Folk Legacy label and one on Fallen Angle, his own label. Ian was for many years a regular columnist for Sing Out! magazine, and a co-founder of Ottawa's Old Sod Folk Music Society.
Laurence Stevenson
Good fiddle players with a sense of humour are hard to find, so when Glasgow-born Laurence turned up at Fiddlers' Green, the band had no hesitation in slipping him the Queen's shilling, and signing him on for life. Besides, as a CBC producer and sound guy, he is the only member of the band capable of meaningful conversation with sound engineers.
Ian is the most recent addition to the band, having replaced Ian Clark in 2006. He lives in Paris, Ontario, and is the creative eminence behind the Port Dover Harbour Museum, on the Lake Erie coast of Ontario. He is also celebrated in these parts as the writer of many wonderful songs about rural Ontario and its characters. An alumnus of such great bands as Muddy York and the Dawnbreakers, Ian plays mostly guitar and mandolin with the Friends, but is also an honoured member of the Gary Larson band from hell, one of those masochistic enough to excel on both bagpipes and accordion.
David Parry
In June 1995, the Friends sadly lost long-time band member, David Parry, to a heart attack. David was a great singer with a huge repertoire, and an incomparable story-teller. For more information on David, please read his obituary, first published in Sing Out! magazine.
Fiery Dragon
There is currently no fiery dragon in this band, it having been slain on April 23rd.
Recordings:
(See also Fallen Angle Music)
The Friends of Fiddlers' Green:
This Side of the Ocean. Fogarty's Cove FCM 005
The Road to Mandalay. FOFG 01Ian Bell
My Pious Friends & Drunken Companions - (Free Range 2009)
Shallow Water - (Free Range 2007)
Ian's numerous other recordings may be traced by emailing him at ian.bell@sympatico.caAlistair Brown
No Idle Jest. Prospect PCS001
The Swan Necked Valve. Prospect PC002Grit Laskin:
Unmasked. Fogarty's Cove FCM003
Lila's Jig. Fogarty's Cove FCM009
Just a Few Simple Words. Borealis 1David Parry:
The Wind that Tramps the World. Fogarty's Cove FCM 008
The Man from Eldorado. Bonanza Creek 1 Available from Borealis Records
'E Liked it all! FOFG 02Ian Robb:
The Barley Grain for Me (with Margaret Christl). Folk Legacy FSC 62
Ian Robb and Hang the Piper. Folk Legacy FSI 71
Rose & Crown. Folk Legacy FSI 106
From Different Angels. Fallen Angle FAM 01
Jiig. Fallen Angle FAM 06
Finest Kind: Lost in a Song. Fallen Angle FAM 02, Heart's Delight FAM 03, Silks & Spices FAM 05, Feasts & Spirits FAM 07
The Old Sod Band: Grass Roots. Fallen Angle FAM04