Page 31 - Jerry Hollard: Fathers and Son

ISSUE : Issue 48

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1988/6/1

I'd try to offer friend? ship or--if that's cor? rect in assuming. (You come to Cape Bre? ton- -a place where you felt more comfortable as a fiddler--and you're wearing a beard, long hair.) Yeah, quite ah extreme change. I have to explain. During the period of time, up until about the age of 16, I was expected to have a man's haircut, as my fa? ther would call it. And that usually consisted of a brushcut. And if I came home with a 3/4-of- an-inch haircut in the front, I was made to go back and have that trimmed off. I was to have what the kids in Brockton called a "baldy sour." My dad called it a man's haircut. This was during the period when everybody was walking around with ei? ther Beatle haircuts or longer hair. It was only after the age of 16 that I started to let it grow, and actually had any kind of say in what kind of a haircut I got. And I guess in rebellion to how long I had to have such short hair, I let it grow. Which didn't go over very well with my father. My mother just looked far beyond that--my hair was never a question in her mind. Only, as mothers always say, "Keep it clean." And that was right from day one, anyway. (So your father wasn't pleased with it.) No, sir. (And you didn't find other people pleased with it when you came to Cape Bre? ton.) The only thing--when I finally moved here--was that, because I was on televi? sion, I used it--and they used it--the tel? evision people used it, as well as possibly John Allan, too--to try and introduce (the music) to the young people. And I was the relating factor. Me having long hair would possibly relate to a teenager that would be watching television. And I used it as an excuse as well, in that same way. (Paul: Did Mike MacDougall influence your playing at all?) He influenced my playing, yes, very much so, for a period of time. He chose to--I wouldn't say change the music-- but express different tunes in a manner that was all his own. And at one time ex? pressed to me that in some circles that wasn't accepted. And that didn't make any difference to him. It was how he chose to play it, and how he interpreted it, and how he wanted to express it. And like I always understood, from the ones I idolized and so on, that that kind of thing was to be done as little as possible, and there was this fine line that should never be crossed. And that wasn't the case--or the extreme case, I should say--with Mike, in some particular tunes, I should say. And that was the thing I liked. And 1 put into practice in some cases. (Paul: Winston Fitzgerald--he certainly took a tune and would doctor it to his own liking. How did that influence you?) As I said, I think he drew a finer line, in a The Violin Shop ' Johannes Sturm VioUnmaker/repairer Quality Repairs to String Instruments Custom Work Bow Rehairing New and Used Instruments Strings Accessories For information or appointment, call (902) 345-2883 R. R. 1, Grand Anse, Richmond County, N. S. BOE 1V0 .Mr 'trfp' LeBlanc Siding Ltd. We Install Authorized Dealer for ICAYCAN Aluminum & Vinyl Siding Imargaree Iwindows Aluminum Windows & Doors - Shutters Softfit - Fascia - Awnings 109 Reservoir Road Sydney FREE ESTIMATES Professional Installation of Aluminum & Vinyl Siding in Cape Breton County for over 10 years. Free Estimates for R.R.A.P., N.S.H.C., & C.M.H.C. Programs and all other siding inquiries. Call collect: SONNY MacPHERSON 539-4626 31

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