This is one I wrote on Hubpages.com
Synchronicity Again: Rufus Guinchard
Well, it’s been a while since I wrote any hubs. I’ve been enjoying a good, long summer off work (by choice), spending time with the kids and doing some cabin activities. Every now and then I would get the itch to write something but I satisfied that by scratching at the BBQ or a tall, frosted mug of Blue Star, Newfoundland & Labrador’s nectar of the hops, or as they used to say in the commercials “The shining star of the Granite Planet”. Actually the two (BBQ and Blue Star) go quite well together. Needless to say, but I’ll say it anyway, I got very little (read: none) writing done over the summer. In fact I was lucky to get on a computer considering the stiff competition provided by three kids no longer in school. About the best I could manage was to toss in a comment on other Hubbers articles once in a while.
Now it’s September and I’m far from home having taken a contract in Western Canada. I’ll get back home every five weeks or so for a week probably. I’m hoping that my time away from the office can be filled with a diet of exercise, music, artwork and of course, writing. Wish me luck.
But what am I writing about today? Synchronicity again. Here’s what happened a few days ago. Having not thought of this particular gentleman in years a conversation with a friend brought his name up. I was watching a program about Irish fiddle playing and my friend mentioned that one time he had been walking through a park in Saint John New Brunswick when he heard the best fiddle playing he had ever had the pleasure to encounter! The fiddler was a man named Rufus Guinchard, a now sadly departed well loved and well known Newfoundland and Labrador fiddler.
http://www.singsonginc.ca/bios/biorufus.html
Rufus was fantastic belting out the traditional jigs and reels of the province but he hasn’t been in the news very much in the past several years.
Here’s the synchronicity…
The very next day after having the casual conversation about fiddlers this article in the St. John’s NL newspaper The Telegram shows up about Mr. Guinchard! Keep in mind that this man has been dead for nearly twenty years! The next day!
http://www.thetelegram.com/Arts---Life/2010-09-08/article-1732997/The-fantastic-fiddle-of-Rufus-Guinchard/1
So here I am, writing my first Hub in months and I’m pleased to say that it’s about one of my favourite topics…music, especially Newfoundland and Labrador music. The province has probably the highest per capita population of musicians, both professional and non, of any place on earth! If you want to get a good representation of the variety of artists and styles the internet is swamped with sites but I will recommend a couple here.
First the Music Industry website which lists just about every active artist in the province complete with samples and interviews, reviews, and so on.
http://www.musicnl.ca/music/
Also of note is the newly launched Museum of Canadian Music. This is a private collection of tens of thousands of recordings of not only Newfoundland musicians but all of Canada! I’ve seen some of this collection and can assure you that some of this stuff is extremely rare and very, very good! This site is well worth the visit and exploration.
So, lean back in your easy chair, turn up the volume and prepare to treat yourself to pure joy. Oh, and please do give Mr. Guinchard an ear for old time’s sake.
Well, it’s been a while since I wrote any hubs. I’ve been enjoying a good, long summer off work (by choice), spending time with the kids and doing some cabin activities. Every now and then I would get the itch to write something but I satisfied that by scratching at the BBQ or a tall, frosted mug of Blue Star, Newfoundland & Labrador’s nectar of the hops, or as they used to say in the commercials “The shining star of the Granite Planet”. Actually the two (BBQ and Blue Star) go quite well together. Needless to say, but I’ll say it anyway, I got very little (read: none) writing done over the summer. In fact I was lucky to get on a computer considering the stiff competition provided by three kids no longer in school. About the best I could manage was to toss in a comment on other Hubbers articles once in a while.
Now it’s September and I’m far from home having taken a contract in Western Canada. I’ll get back home every five weeks or so for a week probably. I’m hoping that my time away from the office can be filled with a diet of exercise, music, artwork and of course, writing. Wish me luck.
But what am I writing about today? Synchronicity again. Here’s what happened a few days ago. Having not thought of this particular gentleman in years a conversation with a friend brought his name up. I was watching a program about Irish fiddle playing and my friend mentioned that one time he had been walking through a park in Saint John New Brunswick when he heard the best fiddle playing he had ever had the pleasure to encounter! The fiddler was a man named Rufus Guinchard, a now sadly departed well loved and well known Newfoundland and Labrador fiddler.
http://www.singsonginc.ca/bios/biorufus.html
Rufus was fantastic belting out the traditional jigs and reels of the province but he hasn’t been in the news very much in the past several years.
Here’s the synchronicity…
The very next day after having the casual conversation about fiddlers this article in the St. John’s NL newspaper The Telegram shows up about Mr. Guinchard! Keep in mind that this man has been dead for nearly twenty years! The next day!
http://www.thetelegram.com/Arts---Life/2010-09-08/article-1732997/The-fantastic-fiddle-of-Rufus-Guinchard/1
So here I am, writing my first Hub in months and I’m pleased to say that it’s about one of my favourite topics…music, especially Newfoundland and Labrador music. The province has probably the highest per capita population of musicians, both professional and non, of any place on earth! If you want to get a good representation of the variety of artists and styles the internet is swamped with sites but I will recommend a couple here.
First the Music Industry website which lists just about every active artist in the province complete with samples and interviews, reviews, and so on.
http://www.musicnl.ca/music/
Also of note is the newly launched Museum of Canadian Music. This is a private collection of tens of thousands of recordings of not only Newfoundland musicians but all of Canada! I’ve seen some of this collection and can assure you that some of this stuff is extremely rare and very, very good! This site is well worth the visit and exploration.
So, lean back in your easy chair, turn up the volume and prepare to treat yourself to pure joy. Oh, and please do give Mr. Guinchard an ear for old time’s sake.