Cape Breton's Magazine

as wanting to sound like those people. Be? cause I figured this is what I really liked of this fiddler, and this is what I really liked of the other. And gradually tried to choose, of the fiddlers that I had heard, and I tried to choose the best of what each of them had to offer, as far as technique, and tried to acquire my own style of tech? nique or expression in the music. My name is Jeremiah James Holland. And, along with the fiddle, that was an unbeata? ble- -how could I put it? (You didn't get along very well at school!) I just plainly didn't get along very good with school, with having those things against me. But it wasn't too awful bad, other than I heard a lot of "Jeremiah was a bullfrog!" (A hit song on the radio.) I heard plenty of that. Oh, my God, when that came out, I thought I'd never live it down. (What was this amateur hour that you were on?) "Ted Mack Amateur Hour"--out of New York. (How old were you?) Oh, 15, or 16--in that age. (How did you manage to get on it?) I can't remember what came around--! think it was an audition of some form, or just word of mouth. I think it was a letter that was sent in by somebody.... No, it wasn't by my parents at all! And we had got a letter for an audition. I won twice. I won the first prize twice. I think I won three times. And then, I was supposed to go on to the finals. And their main sponsor at the time was Geritol, of all things. I be? lieve in the commercial they said there were more vitamins in it than a pound of calves' liver--it ended up being a false statement. Somebody had picked up on it and took it to court, and Geritol didn't spon? sor the show any more. Because of them be? ing the longtime sponsors of the show--the show (fell) through, anyway. Just at this point before the finals. Never got to be in the finals. New, during that period, I played the fiddle and danced at the same time-- competed against acts all across the coun? try. I played "The Devil's Dream" and danced at the same time. That was the one tune that I pretty well stuck with. Once I got into the groove of playing the one tune, that's what I stayed with. It seemed to work just fine. (Where does writing tunes come in?) I wrote a tune when I was 12 or 14--I think it was 12, actually. A priest by the name of Fr. J. J. MacDonald was at the house at the time. And thought it was a cute tune. And he asked me what I was going to use for a title of the tune. And I said, "Jeez, I don't know what I'll name it!" Was my an? swer. I was just taking out a stick of gum at the time and I was ready to chew the stick of gum, and he said, "Why don't you call it the 'Wrigley's Reel'?" That's what it ended up being. And with his bit of en? couragement- -thinking that it was a cute tune or whatever--kept it fresh in my mind about possibly at some point taking a shot at composing another tune. It was actually quite a few years later that I had a second tune I composed. My dad had a start on a tune, which would have been the only tune that I was aware of that he had ever even tried to make. I believe he played it in the Key of C, as a for in? stance, and I transposed it to B flat--the second half--and kind of polished up what he had for starters. And (that) became "Mary Claire"--was a tune that was very popular. I just completed the tune and played it for some of the guys in The Cape Breton Symphony (on the John Allan Cameron television show). And they just went crazy over it. We had all our music recorded for the group of shows that we were to do. And I don't know if we used it right then, or Whale Cruises CHETICAMP Scenic 3-Hour Boat Tours * June to October 3 Times a Day in July & August Contact Capt. Bill Crawford, Cheticamp Boat Tours, Box 10. Grand Etang, Nova Scotia B0E1L0 . (902)224-3376 150 YEARS OF SHIP REPAIRS TRADITION Good People Sea & Shore Services Inc. "You are welcome to be served by long tradition and high quality." ?? Ship & Industrial Repairs Dry Docking (1000T) ?? Diesel Engines Repairs & Rebuilding ?? Propeller Repairs I Welding ?? Carpentry ?? Diving Services ?? Fueling Station Carmel Ship Supplies If we don't have it, We can get it! If we cant get it, It doesnt exist! Complete Stock of Fishing & Fish Plant Supplies SERVING THE INSHORE AND DEEP-SEA COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN 255 Commercial Street, NORTH SYDNEY, Nova Scotia (902) 794-4741 1362 Main Street, LOUISBOURG, Nova Scotia (902) 733-2209 255 Commercial Street • North Sydney DAY: (902) 794-4741 (office) - CALL 24 HOURS A DAY ~ NIGHT: 794-8235 or 794-4338 or 539-8634