| Fidler's Philly Connection |
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| I first heard of Jim Fidler at a Great Big Sea concert at the Painted Bride Arts Center in downtown Philadelphia in 1999. Great Big Sea sang Rhythm of the Goat and Downtown Girl from Jim's first solo album, Gypsy, and left the audience screaming for more. "No, we can't take credit for those," stated Alan Doyle, "Our friend, Jim Fidler, wrote those songs. Go buy his album." So we did and the rest is history. I emailed Jim after listening to and enjoying the heck out of Gypsy. I told him how much I enjoyed it and how it struck a chord (or several) wiith me. To my surprise, he emailed me back and we began a friendship that continues to this very day. Before our first trip to Newfoundland, Jim invited us to come say "Hi!" to him after his performance at the Folk Festival in St. John's. I was the only one from the family who was brave enough to do that. Jim Fidler was amazing. Didn�t know how he�d sound live since he plays all the instruments himself on the CD Gypsy. Accompanied only by a 12-string guitar, he opened with Rise Up, played Rhythm of the Goat, Downtown Girl, a new song called Mr. Ambassador and some other stuff. Ended the set with Iko Iko (Jacamo). He had the audience in the palm of his hand the whole time! But the last song had everyone singing and clapping. He was a hit! Jim Payne and Fergus were next. I gave Jim some time to unwind and then went looking for him. Corresponding by email is fine, but the man was too good to not tell him so in person. Went to the back and asked the security guard to deliver a message for me. �I can�t do that. He�s not back there, he just left,� he says. Well, I was so disappointed! I began telling the guard that I had tried to call him twice while we were in St. John�s and didn�t get ahold of him. �He only went over to the beer tent,� he says after my rant. Oooops! So I ended up in the beer tent with Jim and his entourage. His wife, Lillian, is a wonderful lady. Jim himself is friendly, funny, and was surprised that the people were singing along to his songs. He was delighted, but surprised. Found out he is also a ham radio operator and knows Ken and Diane! The man graciously had his picture taken with me, giving me a hug and whispering that us Pennsylvanians have to stick together. He may have been born a Pennsylvanian, but he doesn�t sound like one now! Victor teased me the rest of the night, calling me a �Downtown Girl.� I totally missed Jim Payne and Fergus O�Byrne. Read about the rest of the trip here or continue reading. After my brief encounter with Jim at the Festival, we continued corresponding by email and I was so excited when Friendly Fire came out. I played it for my class and they loved it! It spoke to them much more than Gypsy. They seemed to feel the music and were excited about the CD. In the meantime, Jim began an audio chat forum called Fidler's Green that was truly a "Chat" Room. I met many of his colleagues from St. John's there and helped celebrate its opening by playing Auntie Mary on my fiddle over the airwaves. People read poetry, sang songs, played tunes, and sang the praises of one of Newfoundland's favorite sons. |
| Jim and I at the St. John's Folk Festival (2001) |
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| Turn to the next page to read about that class's close encounter with Mr. Fidler! |
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| School Connections |