Porcupine Awards - 1996

WINSTON 'SCOTTY' FITZGERALD AWARD FOR CELTIC FIDDLING

Sandy MacIntyre, Toronto/Cape Breton

A tireless player, teacher and good will ambassador of Cape Breton. Sandy carries on the tradition of Winston Fitzgerald and Buddy MacMaster by performing and teaching youngsters the tunes and step-dances of Cape Breton. He was once a member of the famed Cape Breton Symphony.

Roy Forbes, Vancouver

For years of dedication and devotion to the roots of country and blues. Roy has been writing songs and collecting them as well, instilling in his listeners a truly Canadian blend of of his Western heritage.

Penny Lang, Montreal

Penny had a great career going for her in New York and Montreal. She gave it all up to get her head together and raise her son, Jason. She fought off addiction and depression and re-emerged with her wit, talent and intellect intact delighting audiences through-out North America.

Brian Black Thunder,Toronto

A Moose Cree who utilizes a great blend of Native lore and contemporary stylings to highlight the plight of his people with Rock, Country and Blues overtones.

Father Germain Lemieux, Sudbury

Father Germain Lemieux has to be recognized as one of the earliest collectors of folk songs in Northern Ontario.

Father Lemieux was born in Gaspé, Quebec in 1914. He became a Jesuit and received ordination in 1947. The following year he was found in Sudbury collecting the lore of the Franco-Ontarians.

Lemieux wasn't only after music, he also collected stories and folk tales. Obviously inspired by Maruis Barbeau, the grandfather of modern day folklore collecting in Canada, and founder of the Canadian Folk Music Society, Father Lemieux stumbled upon a treasure trove of untapped folklore in the Sudbury area.

Folklore is what is handed down through the generations, a roadmap through time that can be used to understand the way we have evolved to this day. The modern usage of the 'folk' word has rendered it into the four letter category; much maligned, it is still the best way to conjure up tradition. The folklore that Father Lemieux collected was mostly anonymous, brought over from France and adapted to the Canadien experience. However there were also folksongs of Canadien origin that survived from the days of Les Voyageurs and les boucherons (woodsmen).

Voyageurs songs were used for paddling in the large birch bark canoes. These canoes were large enough for up to 12 men and their cargo. Then needed the rhythm in which to ply the waters with syncronicity.

Les boucherons lived the winters away in the shanty camps, the spring saw the great river drives that took so many lives away. Songs were made so that their stories would not be forgotten, passed down through the generations.

Father Lemieux collected three such songs which appeared in Edith Fowke's book Folklore of Canada. Mon Canot (My Canoe) was collected from Wilfred Clement of Timmins in 1967 when he was 66.
 
 

Seated in my bark canoe,
Seated in the coolness of the day;
Yes, I brave all the rapids,
I do not fear the white foam.

I take my canoe and I launch it
Across the rapids, the white foam,
And then by great leaps it advances.
I am not afraid even of the ocean.

My canoe is made of fine bark
That they strip from the white birches.
The sides are made of root
And the paddles of white wood.

And when we reach the portage
I take my canoe on my back;
And there I turn it over on the shore,
It is my home for the night.

I have traveled along the coasts,
Also the great St. Lawrence River.
I have known the Indian tribes
And their different languages.

A farmer loves his plough,
A hunter his dog and gun,
A musician loves his music.
As for me, my canoe is all my wealth.

Stompin' Tom Connors, Erin ON for Stompin' Tom Before The Fame

Truly a moving book in his own words, we go through the therapy with him and eventually discover the hard and winding road of the Northern Bar Circuit, the early Toronto Country Music Scene, and his determination to sing his songs the way he sees them.

Michel Faubert for Careme et Mardis Gras

Mostly a traditional singer of Quebecois folk songs, Faubert twists them, eeks out their intensity, and uses dark images and meaningful arrangements to conquer spirit of the songs.

Brian Taheny & Loretto Reid, Toronto

They came here from Sligo in 1988 and have since performed in Tip Splinter and more recently on their own, their own fusion of Irish traditional music with the natural feelings of their adopted land. Great players, original and traditional music.

Pierre Schryer for New Canadian Waltz

Not since Graham Townsend have we seen such a fiddler!

The Schryer Family, Sault Ste. Marie, ON

They are about the biggest thing to come out of The Soo since the Esposito Brothers. I can remember a billboard along Highway 17: "Welcome to Sault Ste. Marie, home of the Esposito Brothers - Tony & Phil."

However great the Espositos were, the Schryers have dittoed their feats in the world of fiddle music. The four brothers totally dominated the world of Canadian competitive fiddling for the past 10 years.

Julien Schryer was born in Blind River and married Juliette Audet of Noranda. They moved to The Soo where they sired five sons and a daughter. Patrick, the eldest, was a guitar picker; he was followed by Raymond who was influenced by his uncle Bud Schryer, a fiddler, and followed in his footsteps. The triplets were born in 1968: Louis, Dan and Pierre. They were only two when Raymond started playing and it must have rubbed them the right way. They too began fiddling as soon as they were old enough to hold a bow. Sister Julie Lefebvre plays piano and still accompanies her brothers.

The Schryers were all classically trained violinists before switching to the more popular fiddle style so closely associated with the Celtic strains that run through the Canadian consciousness. They listened to Don Messer, Graham Townsend, Ward Allen, Ned Landry and other great fiddlers; Jean Carignan of Montreal, Sean McGuire of Ireland and Yvon Cueuillier of Quebec; Jerry Holland from Cape Breton and Americans Mark O'Connor, Johnny Gimble and Bobby Hicks.

Where it got them has become almost legendary. Since the Schryers hit the scene they have dominated Canadian fiddling like no other family before them. After entering their first competitions at the Bon Soo Winter Carnival there was no holding them back. In 1982 the triplets recorded their first album on the Boot Records label when they were just 14.

At Shelbourne Louis won the Canadian Open in 1986 and 1987, followed by Pierre in 1988 and 1989; Louis again in 1990 and 1991; Raymond in 1992 and Louis again in 1995.

The Grand Masters in Nepean (near Ottawa) is an invitational event; 5 competitors are chosen from each province and invited to compete for the gold. Pierre won it all in 1990 and Louis followed suite the next three years (after three wins, a champ has to retire).

But the toughest test, according to Louis, was his win in 1995 at Pembroke. The Ottawa Valley is a spawning ground for great fiddlers and this is the win that he cherishes most.

The Whiteley Brothers of Toronto for Sixteen Shades of Blue

This album contains 16 songs of original blues by brothers who’ve paid their dues at the feet of the masters. The Whiteleys blend years of experience with the ability to think together as only brothers can do.

Glen Reid of Burk's Falls, ON for the CD Heritage River

Glen has reached into his heart and produced songs that incorporate the love of the land and its people. He may credit others for his inspiration but when it comes right down to it, Reid has defined for himself and others, what it means to be of this land. This is his second Porcupine Award.

• Tim Harrison, Toronto - Founder of Summerfolk and Northwinds folk festivals, and currently the Artistic Director of the Eaglewood festival.
• Sue Goldberg, Toronto - one of the organizers of The Woods Camp and the weekly Song Circles.
• Colm O'brien, Toronto - Host of CKLNs 'The Long Note' Celtic radio program for the past 10 years.
• Ron Jones, Scarborough, ON - supporter of many up and coming artists whose loyalty and optomism inspires them to greater things.
• Bernie Finkelstein, Toronto - Founder of indie label True North in 1970, home to Bruce Cockburn, Murray McLauchlan and many others.

Rick Spires of Toronto for Comes A Time

STAN ROGERS GOLDEN QUILL AWARD FOR SONGWRITING

Rick Fielding, Toronto

Rick has the uncanny ability to transform places with his music, while painting the details with his lyrics. Comfortable in almost any genre of North American folk, with his strong playing and voice, he is able to create scenes that are accessable and memorable.

Stefan Hannigan, UK

Champion piper, Hannigan has been popping up on all sorts of CDs by Canadian artists. Well known for his musical abilities in the UK, he is starting to make his mark on North American soil.

Les Charbonniers De L'Enfer, Joliette, QC

Made up of some of the cream of Joliette traditional singers, this group features Michel Faubert, Normand Miron, Jean-Claude Mirandette, Andre Marchand and Michel Bordeleau. Together their acappella arrangements frame each song in a spectacular way.

Gilles Losier, Montreal

A piano tuner who has toured the world playing music with some of the greatest names in traditional French music. Started performing at a young age, backed up Jean Carignan and Philippe Bruneau on their albums, composed wonderful melodies utilizing his wonderous mind. His music expands and contracts on chord patterns in ways that keep a simple melody with rich textured phrasings.

JP Cormier, Cape Breton

"If it's got strings on it, he can play it." Thus spake Fieldingthustra. JP is well known for his ability to crank out fiddle tunes, but he is also an excellent singer/songwriter, guitarist, mandolinist and who knows what else?

Brian Adam, Pembroke, ON

Long a city councillor in Pembroke, his family hails from the hamlet of Chapeau, Quebec on Allumette Island. Always hung around the traditional singers learning the songs of the Upper Ottawa Valley. Loy Gavin proclaimed him to be an exceptional traditional singer, most capable of his handling of the famous Chapeau Boys.

John Switzer, Toronto for Three Sheets To The Wind

Producer of many fine recordings, John was recently rated the Number 1 producer in Toronto in a Now Magazine poll. He began with the Jane Siberry band and has since dedicated himself to the fine art of production - of allowing artists the benefit of making the kinds of albums they always dreamed of making. This one was is one of those exceptional recordings.

Jim Stewart, St. John, NB for The Marco Polo Suite

Jim has single handedly brought the plight of this famous vessel to the fore, where it belongs, up there with the Bluenose as one of Canada’s finest ships ever built. This album is dedicated to the resurrection of a replica of the original tall ship.

Ward Allen's Country Hoedown, Vols 1 - 3 on Spartan Records

Three albums of tunes of one of Canada’s most unique fiddlers. Recorded in the late 1950s, they are sadly not available commercially any more.

Brandon Scott of Toronto

GEM OF CANADA ALBUM

Jean Paul Loyer for OJNAB: The Messenger

When I was in Montreal I attended a music session and over the course of the evening tunes from this album were being played with so much gusto. When they performed at a house concert in Toronto in the Fall of 1996 people went away humming the tunes. And during the course of listening to this CD over the past 12 months, I too have been convinced that this is an album that should be in every collection.

Memorial




• Wilf Carter, Tuscon AR - moves over to the Memorial catagory
• Edith Fowke, Toronto - moves over to the Memorial catagory
• Father Germain Lemieux, Sudbury ON
• Colleen Peterson, Peterborough ON
Member




• André Alain, Quebec - fiddler
• Eddie Duke, Kirkland Lake ON - jazz musician
• Wolf Hess, Sudbury ON - CBC announcer responsible for recording hundreds of musicians in Northern Ontario.
• Estelle Klein, Bloomfield ON
• Bernie Finkelstein, Toronto ON

Estelle Klein, Toronto

Principal mover of the Mariposa Folk Festivals from the mid-1960s till 1979. Founded the workshop ideal that became standard fare af folk fests throughout North America. Still dedicated to the ideals of folk and currently sits on the board of the Prince Edward County Arts Council.