There are a lot of things about fiddling that people in these parts love, but there’s going to be more to love with the show that will be coming to town on May 15. The Scott Woods Band will be stopping in Yorkton, Humboldt, Melfort, and Lashburn during their annual nationwide tour.
The main man, Scott Woods, performs a trick fiddling routine that includes acrobatic somersaults and walking on a barrel, which has earned him the nickname, “The Flippin’ Fiddler.” During this year’s tour, they’ll be performing a show called Fiddling in the Key of Eh.
“We’re taking a look at different fiddling styles we call Canadian,” he said. “The fiddlers that came to Canada brought the fiddling traditions of their home country. Each has its own unique style. It can be the same tunes, but the way they’re played is different. It’s kind of like a dialect.”
Woods, who is from Ontario, and his band have been traveling back and forth across Canada for the last ten years. While he’s the lead member now, the band itself was inherited from his father, despite having three older siblings.
“We all play fiddle, but I guess I showed the most interest, so he passed the torch to me,” said Woods. “He saw the potential and wanted to give me the experience, so I was very lucky.”
After handing the band down to his son, the senior Woods retired to the background and became their soundman. He also did all of their bookings right up until he passed away on at the end of 2003.
“We came home and missed one show for the day of the funeral and then we were back on the road the day after,” said Woods. “He booked that tour; he wouldn’t have wanted us to miss a show for any reason.”
Woods’ first tour was in 1986 and has since played various types of events at different venues. In 1998, he became the musical director of Memories of Don Messer’s Jubilee, which continued for the next seven years in a large circuit across Canada. It wasn’t until 2006 that he decided to take his band on the same circuit, but a smaller scale.
Their shows, he had decided, would be all old-time fiddling in a variety show with singing, dancing, jokes and silly anecdotes. They provided that as a service to different churches, charities, and clubs that were raising funds for their activities. Eventually, Woods and his bands became a traveling act.
“We usually go from northern Ontario to the Prairies and then go generally north off Trans-Canada, up through Humboldt, Melfort and Prince Albert to Lloydminster and Edmonton,” he said. “Sometimes we go further north past the Prairies to Grand Prairie, to the interior of B.C., and then come back east and drop down to Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Swift Current, and Regina. Then we make our way more south with a stop at Manitoba.”
Despite the seeming glamour that goes with driving across the country in a bus with a band, Woods says it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. They have to haul all their gear and CDs and sleep on the bus with each other every night.
His mother, who used to play piano and help do all the traveling work with Woods’ father, has since retired. Now, Woods’ wife has taken over some of the responsibility.
“My wife is our manager and she does all of the bookings, marketing and logistics and deals with all of that stuff,” he said. “It’s a full-time job in the office for her. Our two girls are gone to college now, but it’s not ideal when I’m gone for seven weeks at a time.”
It’s the same with any of his band members as well. When they’re gone seven, eight, or nine weeks at a time, something as simple as opening the pool or cutting the grass becomes a chore. Sometimes they have to hire someone to do it. Oftentimes, this also means missing special moments with the family.
That being said, Woods is like any other musician who chooses that type of life: he does it because he loves it.
“For me, the best part is when we hit the stage. Those two hours, that’s the drug that every musician craves; that high from being on the stage, seeing the audience respond to your music, the energy that’s between the band members, especially when you’re doing a really good show,” he said. “There’s some connection. You don’t speak, but you communicate across the stage and (the other members) know what it means. That’s very unique and heard for someone who’s never had that to understand the connection between band members.”
Woods also says that because this show is all about Canadiana fiddling and things, there are some nostalgic and patriotic moments.
“There will be couples in their 80s who have been married for years and they’ll grab each other’s hands in the front row. That’s immediate justification … when you’re doing something really exceptional and the crowd is responding, they’ll whistle or clap. That’s the drive that every musician will tell you about. All the long nights, no sleep and lugging gear and all the years of practice, it’s all worth it for that feeling on the stage.”
Scott Woods and his band will be performing on May 15 at the Humboldt Royal Canadian Legion Hall. Tickets can be purchased at Center Stage Music, Kemway Lanes or at the legion itself. If tickets aren’t sold out by the day of the show, they can also be purchased right at the door. Anyone out of town can purchase tickets by calling their office at 1-855-726-8896.
