Recently I had the great pleasure of visiting my Mom's nursing home on the same day that Wendy's Uncle David was playing his fiddle there. David is very generous with his musical talent, appearing monthly, and the audience was most appreciative. The wife of one of the nursing home residents was telling me that David is by far the best of the fiddlers who visit the nursing home. She mentioned that he's the only fiddler who is talented enough to play Orange Blossom Special, a particularly challenging piece of music.
David is no mere fiddler. He's got music coming out of every pore. He's a multi-instrumentalist who can play many instruments frontwards and backwards (literally). There are a lot of talented musicians in the world, but only a small percentage are also entertainers. It's quite a combo when you see musical skill combined with the ability to engage an audience. When you've got these two skills, you're well on your way to going wherever you want to go. Uncle David has it. Gary Morris has it. Tommy Emmanuel has it. Ian Varty doesn't....but he appreciates it.
I also witnessed this happening at a coffee house performance in the Village of/de Gagetown recently. A two piece duo took their musical skill and added some theatrics and crowd pleasing banter. By doing so they added fifty members to the band and became one happy orchestra. The magic started long before the performance. It started when the duo chose their repertoire....a four song set that was appropriate for the venue and the audience. There were mellow moments, rising crescendos, and even some amazing fireworks. It's exactly what Uncle David did too, and though it's a musical performance, it felt like a magic show.
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