By MERRILL GONZALEZ/Era Reporter
Those with an interest in acoustic traditional American, Irish,
Scottish, New England and Southern Old Time tunes may want to set
aside Tuesday nights for the opportunity to experience them – and
to see a certain young fiddler perform.
A weekly folk and fiddle jam session will be held at 7 p.m.
every Tuesday at Crook Farm Homestead in the bank building on
Seaward Avenue beginning Tuesday.
Beginners, listeners and experienced players are welcome to
attend the sessions in this new setting. The get-togethers had been
held at Gravitz and Associates since last fall.
The new setting will only enhance the talents of these folk
music players.
Bradford teen John Siepierski has been playing the fiddle since
he was five years old. Now, at the age of 14, he has found a style
of playing that makes him enjoy playing even more – Irish fiddling
has given him a new genre to experiment with.
His mother, Karen Siepierski said when John was three, after he
saw a person playing the violin on a PBS special, he had to have
one.
“He’d wanted one since that day,” she said.
But he would have to wait until he was five years old before he
received his first fiddle; then he started taking classical
lessons.
“He got pretty good pretty quick!” added Siepierski of her son.
“He was seven years old when he played a solo Christmas Eve at St.
Marys Church in Mayville, N.Y.”
At this time, Siepierski is not taking lessons, unless the jam
sessions he participates in can be considered a learning
experience. To him that is just what they are, as much as they are
fun.
“I feel I have learned a lot more with Howard and Jodi
(Blumenthal.) I feel more enthusiastic about it, and I have been to
go to a lot of festivals,” said John Siepierski.
About his ability to play in front of crowds, even at the age of
seven, he said, “I really like playing it. I wasn’t very conscious
of what others really thought of it.”
He is also now playing with Jodi Blumenthal in a band called
Tunescape with another musician, Rachel Bell.
While in his Irish fiddling phase, John Siepierski said he will
get out to the Crook Farm to play when he can. He was excited to
find that the get-togethers would be held there.
His interest in Irish fiddling started when he attended a
concert by Hey Diddle Diddle! on New Years Eve at Angells Family
Entertainment Center in 2003. He said the band played songs for
contra dancing.
“I liked it, and they invited me and my fiddle to their
(Blumenthal’s) home for a New Year’s Eve party afterward,” said
John Siepierski.
“I play to have fun and enjoy myself,” he said. “I like playing
in contra dances, and when I play in them, I feel like I am playing
tunes that go back hundreds of years. The dances are so neat.
“I have only been playing Irish fiddling music for about two
years; classical helped me get proper tones from the violin. The
other is more expressive and classical is more limited to the way
the music is played,” he added.
He explained that a person might work on a classical song for
two months when he can learn two or three fiddling songs in one
night.
“I’m happy to be a part of it. I discovered a whole new world
when I met Jodi and Howard,” he added. “I believe I continue to
learn new things in this genre.”
The music Siepierski enjoys is popular in community dances
around the country. Most acoustic instruments are welcome to join
out at Crook Farm including fiddle, banjo, guitar, flute, whistle,
piano, accordion, harmonica and hand drums. Organizers ask that
musicians not bring drum kits or electric guitars.
Musicians are welcome to attend and play in an “open mic”
fashion where each can start a tune while everyone makes an attempt
to maintain initial starting tempos. Most tunes are repeated three
to six times before moving on to another tune.
Beginners, listeners and experienced players from other music
genres are welcome, but the group usually tries to concentrate on a
traditional repertoire.
Coffee, tea and snacks will be available.
