WEEKLY JAM SESSIONS – every Tuesday evening 7 – 9 pm, September to June 30 at 663 Douglas St. Cost $5 towards hall rent. All instruments welcome, as well as those wishing to just pull up a chair and listen or have a dance or two. For more information call (250) 565-1025.

GROUP BEGINNER FIDDLE LESSONS – Group lessons with Shawnee Newton. They run in six-week packages for new and beginner fiddlers of all ages; $60. Please contact Shawnee regarding the next session start dates at (250) 568-2215 or (250) 614-8192 or at shawneem@telus.net.

ANNUAL SPRING JAMBOREE  – Our 2023 Spring Jamboree was an amazing success, with the talented foursome Daniel Lapp, Daniel Gervais, Mike Sanyshyn and Troy Gates putting on a great concert and top-notch instruction for those who registered for the weekend lessons. Jamboree 2024 will be even better!! Dates April 26 – 28, 2024 with talented fiddle and guitar instructors.

PLAYOUTS – groups of fiddlers and backup musicians volunteer their time to entertain at seniors’ residences and special events in the community as they come up.

GUEST INSTRUCTORS – The club occasionally brings in a renowned fiddler to put on a concert and provide group instruction  and individual private lessons if desired.

Informal fiddling jam sessions in the 1960s in Prince George led to the formation of the BC Old Time Fiddlers’ Association in 1968 in Prince George that would bring all fiddlers and backup musicians together to further promote and encourage the art of old-time fiddling.  The founding members became the first board, but other enthusiasts quickly joined in. The board formed their own constitution and held their first contest in 1970.  For the early years the contest was held in conjunction with the Fall Fair and was extremely popular.  Guest fiddlers in the early years (who were also judges) included Al Cherney, Graham Townsend, Calvin Vollrath and Reg Bouvette.  Fiddlers came from all over the province as well as Alberta and the US to enter the contests, which eventually led to the formation of other branches throughout the province. In 1978 a group was formed to head up a provincial association and Prince George became Branch #1 of the British Columbia Old Time Fiddlers’ Association. The Prince George club became very active in the 1970s and 80s, and in 1977 had two 16 foot giant fiddles built to scale that decorated parade floats and contest halls for many years. The Championship Contest continued to be held in Prince George for 1978 and 79, and after that it began to rotate throughout the branches. Prince George hosted the Provincial Championships in 1989 and 2014 to mark the club’s 20^th and 45th Anniversaries. In November 2018 we had a fantastic evening to mark our 50 YEAR CELEBRATION.  There was a full house of 135 tickets for a catered dinner, concert featuring former and current members performing tunes written by some of the early members, and a dance. We even brought in one last showing of our GIANT FIDDLES, which were created for the club in the 70s.

CURRENT

The first branch has evolved since its formation 55 years ago, and we currently have a good mix of  all ages participating in jams, lessons, dances, jamborees, play-outs, performances and volunteering. The branch has grown and changed, and become a more vibrant part of the community.  Like many other branches, the Prince George branch became concerned with decreasing numbers of contestants in the contests, and in 2015 replaced the contest with a Jamboree, a fun weekend filled with workshops for various levels of fiddling and backup, as well as a concert, dinner and dance. Our first seven Jamborees have been great successes and we expect to plan another for next spring!

Before Covid, our Thursday Jam nights brought 50 to 80 people out weekly at 7 pm; at least half of these folks come to listen and dance. On jam nights we offered group lessons in adjoining rooms, both beginner and intermediate/advanced, for the first 45 min while the accompanists had their opportunity to provide songs and music for the dancers in the main hall. A weekly group fiddle lesson was a dream of two of our members who have since passed away, Charlotte Lapp and Ardea Wylie. After their lesson this mixed group of children, teens and adults of all levels of ability then went on stage together to play some of the new tunes they had been learning, as well as other fiddle tunes, until 9:30 pm.  As always, the fiddlers were joined by an array of backup musicians on stage and a room full of dancers on the floor, which gave them an opportunity to learn dance tempos and practise playing with other musicians.  This group often opened for celebrity fiddlers that we hosted for concerts and workshops. They also played for community events as a large group, while smaller groups played regularly each month at 8 seniors’ residences.  Besides our weekly jams we had monthly dances from September to March, with rotating groups of fiddlers and backup providing the dance music, and volunteers providing a lunch and bar.

Covid changed all of this, and when we couldn’t rent the previous hall we moved our Jamming to the Elks Hall. We have decided for now to stay at this venue, where we have a small acoustic circle jam instead of a big weekly dance. It is hoped those who used to enjoy our weekly jam-dances will come to our monthly dances instead.  We are learning lots of new tunes and are able to perfect them by slowing them down when we need to, without worrying about the dancers.  We don’t know for certain what the future will look like, but for now we are holding small jams and working on our tunes. Everyone is welcome to come out – to play, watch or dance.

The club is able to continue only as long as we have helpful and willing volunteers, which can be challenging in this busy day and age. We now have a Facebook page, a valuable way to share upcoming events and new fiddle tunes. With our membership at 50 – 60 (once the stragglers renew their memberships) and new fiddlers coming all the time, we believe the club is an inspiration to the community to develop an appreciation for old time fiddle music, as well as being a source of learning and enjoyment for all member musicians and supporters.

Annual General Meeting 

• Our last AGM was Sunday, February 18, 2024, preceded by a potluck dinner.