Weekend Events To Benefit
Cape Breton Fiddler Jerry Holland
By Sandy Vondrasek

People who know traditional Cape Breton music invariably use the word "awesome" to describe fiddler Jerry Holland.

Even his young students—and there are a surprising number of them in Central Vermont—quickly volunteer "awesome" or "amazing," when asked about Holland.

Chat a little bit more with these Holland fans and it quickly becomes clear that they aren’t just referring to the performer; they’re talking about the man.

Master fiddler Jerry Holland is much admired for his extraordinary playing, and much loved for who he is.

And since Holland has been driving to Central Vermont from his home in Nova Scotia for concerts and fiddle workshops—several times a year, for years—many have gotten a chance to know the man quite well.

In interviews this week, they described Holland as a star-power talent without a whiff of ego, and a patient and inspiring teacher. And, whether or not a fiddle and bow are in his hands, Holland is always ready to help others and make them laugh, they say.

And now that Holland is struggling with cancer, and the double pinch that comes with extra expenses and no income, his many friends are stepping forward.

Spearheading efforts locally for Holland is his friend and musical collaborator, Beth Telford of Braintree. Telford, who has for years co-taught at fiddling camps with Holland and produced some of his local concerts, is now organizing benefits on his behalf.

She started with a fundraising night of music with local musicians at the Braintree Town Hall earlier this year.

Benefit Concert

Now, Telford has enlisted some of Holland’s friends from Canada and New England for a big benefit concert at Chandler Music Hall this Saturday night. Headlining the 7:30 p.m. concert on December 8 is Cape Breton fiddling phenom Ashley MacIssac. Musical "friends," including Irish guitarist and singer John Doyle and Irish fiddler Tony De Marco, will do guest sets.

There’s more. During the concert, there will be drawings for an impressive raffle (prizes range from a handmade fiddle to maple syrup), and before the concert, 3-5 p.m., John Doyle will lead a guitar workshop. (See sidebar for raffle and events details.)

Before Telford met Jerry Holland, she was captivated by his music.

"It’s unique," she told The Herald. "He plays with absolutely beautiful tone, really intricate ornamentation, and a lot of drive."

Depending on the tune, Telford said, "you want to dance or cry."

Her introduction to Holland’s music was in 1996, via his CD "Fiddlesticks," which bowled over Telford and her local musical friends.

"We started to try to learn the tunes; we were all completely taken with his music," she recalled.

An innovative interpreter of traditional music, Holland has also composed tunes that have become part of the repertoire.

Telford, who produces traditional music concerts, remembers thinking, "Oooh, boy!" when another musician advised her, six years ago, that Holland was planning a New England concert tour.

Telford booked Holland for a Montpelier concert and a workshop. As it happened, the two events were a week apart, and Holland spent some extra time in the area.

"We just became fast friends," she said. Holland "graduated from staying at a friend’s nice home to sleeping on the floor" of the Braintree home of Beth and Clint Telford.

Telford, who knows many professional musicians, said Holland immediately "stood out in terms of absolute humility."

No ordinary houseguest, Holland cooked, cleaned, and, formerly a full-time carpenter, fixed whatever was broken.

"He sort of jumps in," Telford said. "You’d come home to find him riding around on the riding mower."

Holland is spontaneously generous with just about everyone, Telford said.

She recalled the time she and Holland were driving and Holland saw a woman struggling with some big packages.

He "whipped around," stopped the car, and got out to help.

"He’ll see a student, someone who has a bow that’s not good enough for her, and say, ‘Try out this, what do you think?’—and then just give it to her," Telford added,

Holland has collected used fiddles and bows and shipped them to Mexico and distributed them to folks in need in Cape Breton, Telford added.

He is also a very funny and sociable guy—a prankster of the first order, who will duct tape a sleeping friend to a bus seat.

All these qualities put Holland in big demand as a teacher and workshop leader.

‘Totally Inspiring’

Some of his biggest fans and most ardent students are in the new generation of fiddlers, kids ages 3 and up, who have picked up fiddles due to the influence of teachers and performers like Holland and Telford.

Sasha Ross-Becker, 18 of Montpelier, has been studying with Holland since she sat in on his first workshop here in 2001. Since then, she’s traveled annually to Cape Breton to attend Holland fiddle camps there.

"Jerry is so amazing," she said. "The teaching style is so great. I can learn tunes easily from him; he sets it up in a way you could catch phrases and put them together."

There is never a sense of competition—with oneself or with the master fiddler—at a Holland workshop, Ross-Becker said.

"With Jerry, it’s just about getting your voice out with your fiddle."

Or as Holland puts it on his website, www.jerryholland.com, "The beauty of traditional music lies in individual interpretation."

Ross-Becker traveled to Nova Scotia with Telford and others this past fall to play in a benefit concert there for Holland, and she’ll be on stage, with other students, this Saturday night at Chandler.

Azalea Tautfest, 14, of Northfield, who first encountered Holland at a fiddle camp in 2005, added her accolades.

"He’s really awesome," she said in a telephone interview. "He inspired me totally and completely—I never heard anybody play like this."

"And if you get really discouraged and don’t think you can learn a tune, he says, ‘No, you can do it,’" she said.

Tautfest admitted that she picked up her fiddle again, after a break, when she heard about Holland’s cancer.

"I realized the one thing I really needed was to start playing again," she said.

"My sense of what makes Jerry so successful with kids is he is enthusiastic, patient, and modest—those three traits," said John Roe of Brookfield, who has had two children study with Holland. "And he so obviously loves the kids, takes a real interest in what they’re doing, they just want to please him."

According to Beth Telford, John Roe’s daughter Sophie was just three when she first heard Holland at "ceiliedh" (pronounced cay-ley, it’s sort of a Celtic jam session).

Holland "saw her totally paying attention to the music," Telford recalled, and told Sophie’s parents, "She’s full of music—get her started as soon as you can."

Sophie, now 7, is still playing, sometimes on stage.

She played her fiddle in this summer’s production of "Brigadoon," at Chandler Music Hall, her dad noted.

"She wrote a note to Jerry," he said. "She knows he’s sick."

Young fiddlers are not intimidated by Holland’s fame, but sometimes Telford’s adult students are.

Some of those learners, initially "terrified" about playing for the master, she said, later report, "Oh, I’m more nervous with you than with him."

Cancer Diagnosed

Holland was diagnosed with cancer in May of this year. This summer, doctors removed a kidney, but not a leg, as initially feared. He has had treatments and is now on an expensive medication, according to Telford.

Holland became the director of the Ceiliedh Trail School on Cape Breton this summer, and he has numerous gigs and workshops scheduled in the new year, throughout North America. But it is not clear how much he will be able to work in the near future.

"He’s kind of a regular person, not a wealthy person, and he has always had a simple lifestyle, in terms of giving stuff away," Telford noted.

In a website posting, Holland admits it’s a little tough being on the receiving end of others’ generosity:

"I’ve always tried to be the helper, fixer, caregiver, and mender of whatever came in front of me," he wrote.

Concert, Raffle, Workshop

To Benefit Holland

Tickets for Saturday night’s concert with Ashley MacIsaac and other internationally acclaimed artists are available at the Chandler box office, 728-6464, at Shiretown Books in Woodstock, and at the door.

A display of raffle items, and tickets for the raffle, are at the Randolph Farm Stand, Route 12 South.

There are two raffles. A "red ticket" raffle has as prizes a handcrafted violin, donated by Vermont Violins, and an Aspire bow, donated by Greg Griffin.

The "blue ticket" raffle has a host of prizes: a bronze sculpture by Jim Sardonis, jewelry, a quilt, maple syrup, a gift certificate to Sweet Tomatoes Trattoria, and other items. Tickets may also be purchased from Beth Telford.

Also contact Telford, at 728-6351 or lukeydog@innevi.com to register for John Doyle’s Irish guitar workshop, this Saturday, Dec. 8, 3-5 p.m., over the Chandler Gallery.

For more information, see jerryhollandfund.org.