Page 25 - Jerry Hollard: Fathers and Son

ISSUE : Issue 48

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1988/6/1

real. Your father obviously--he was going to have a fiddler. Am I correct?) I would say so, yeah. I hate to hear it said as strict as it sounds. But it's just that way. I guess. It's hard to accept it that way. but that's the way it is. and that's the way it was. (It would take that, in 1968. '69. for you not to throw it down and get into either country music or rock-and-roll, or some? thing that was going--that you could go to your friends with. Meet a girl with!) You definitely didn't meet a girl with the fiddle under your arm! Definitely not. (No. I guess not. But you might have in Cape Breton.) Oh. oh, well--that's part of the reason, at the age of 14, that I made up my mind that this is where--because it was more accepted, first off, the type of music that I played. It was also appreciated by-- at that point, as I saw--everybody, young and old. And also young people participat? ing in the love of the music here, as well. Where it wasn't understood, and criticized and ridiculed, in the circles of kids that I went to school with. There was no understanding for what I did. and what instrument I played, and so on, and what type of music I played, in the ar? ea where I grew up. (Among young people.) Exactly. And even the elders, at that point. I would say there was a community of Italians--which were fine people--as well as Ukrainians. There was a Ukrainian vil? lage in the city that I was brought up in. But mainly Italians. And it was the shoe capital of maybe the world--Brockton. Mas? sachusetts- -also (of) Rocky Marciano. and today. Marvellous Marvin Hagler. So. the traditional type of music that I played--if there was a handful of people that even knew what Scottish traditional music sounded like--we're saying quite a bit. That I was aware of. I should say, at that time. (When you went to play, for Bill Lamey, that's not in Brockton, Massachu? setts.) No, no, no, no. That was maybe 20 or 30 miles away, in an area, in an atmos? phere where Cape Bretoners in general were brought together by the music. With some kind of a--I wouldn't say a club, organized thing, but the music was played and--being away from home--that was the closest thing to home that you would get, still in the Boston area. (These are Bill Lamey's danc? es.) That's right. Angus Chisholm also played with Bill during that period of Home of Solid Birch Furniture SMU? 'SlS3' I Sofas Sofa Beds Coffee & End Tables tsfesSJ Rockers Recliners Tables & Chairs All Your Home Furnishing Needs 1115KingsRoad,SydneyRiver, N. 8. B1S1C6 * 539-1715 Enormous Showroom at SYDNEY RIVER Jerry. Bernadette. and Jerry Holland IV time. Bill himself would play and Angus would play. Those were the two hired fid? dlers to play, at the time that I started there, and played on exhibition. There was also--dollars changed hands, to mine, I think, as well, to be an incentive, to come back and to continue on. Which also meant a lot to a young person then, you know. TRAVEL AGENCY 288 Welton St., Sydney, N. S. 562-3100 Based in Sydney Serving All of Cape Breton Lifetime Cape Breton resident Gord Reynolds and his I Staff look forward to helping you with all your business| and vacation travel needs. We are a member of a nationwide chain of full-service travel agencies. And our sen/ices are free! Contact us first to plan group travel-such as genealogical tours, sport and school travel? er any individual need. Summer Hours: Monday to Friday, 9 to 5. And by appointment. serving travellers since 1955

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