Scott Woods is a Canadian Grand Masters fiddling champion and band leader based in Ontario.[1][2] He is known for his travelling variety fiddling show.
Early life and education edit
Woods was born in Fergus, Ontario and grew up in Fergus and Courtice.[3] He began learning to play violin at the age of four,[4] and when he was growing up played in his family's band, along with his parents and three siblings. He began competing in fiddle contests when he was eight, and by 1984 he was an Ontario fiddle champion.[5][6]
Career edit
In the late 1980s, Woods took over the family band. He continued to compete in fiddle contests and won the Maritime Fiddle Festival Champion Class in 1996,[7] and the Canadian Open Old Time Fiddle Championship in 1993 and 1996.[8] Scott Woods also won the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Competition in 1998 and 1999, as well as finished in the top eleven finalists between 1992-2005, including twelve top three finishes over that period.[9]
In 1998 Woods was hired to play the part of Don Messer in a series of tribute shows, "Memories of Don Messer Jubilee", after the series' co-founder and fiddler Graham Townsend died.[10] He became music director, and continued to perform in this series for seven years.[4][11]
By 2004, the family band had become the Scott Woods Band. In 2006, Woods and his band released an album of traditional fiddle music, Reflecting the Past,[12] and another album Dancing Fiddles.[13]
Woods organized a traveling show, in which he often performed with his sister, Kendra Woods-Norris.[14][15] For many years the show has toured throughout Canada, staging more than 100 concerts each year. The show includes guest musicians, and sometimes members of Woods' family, performing traditional and modern fiddling from a variety of genres.[16][17][18][19] During the shows Woods demonstrates "trick fiddling", including his well-known summersaulting and barrel rolling.[20][21][22][23] Step dancers and other performers add to the variety.[24] Each year's show is different.[25]
In 2014, Woods once again MC'd a Don-Messer-themed tour across Canada.[26]
As well as his regular tours, Scott organizes and performs in a series of Christmas fundraisers each fall for various charities and service organizations.[21][27][28] As of 2017, about $2 million had been raised by the concerts.[29]
In 2017, Woods was Master of Ceremonies at the 67th Canadian Old Time Fiddle Championships in Shelburne.[30]
In 2018, The Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Association also presented Scott Woods with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions in composing, recording, teaching and recording of Canadian fiddle music as well as for his performances throughout Canada, the United States and Europe.[31][32]
References edit
- ^ "Champion Canadian fiddler Scott Woods admits adding new themes to shows featuring age-old melodies can be challenge". By Jeffrey Ougler, Sault Star, April 24, 2015
- ^ "Scott Woods". Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Association website. Accessed June 2018.
- ^ "Scott Woods and Band 'Fiddle Up a Storm' Wednesday". Discover Humboldt, 17 May 2018. by Katie Kraus
- ^ a b "Fiddler channels more than Messer". Chronicle Herald, By Elissa Barnard, September 22, 2011
- ^ "Mackenzie-Smith talent terrific at annual show". Acton Free Press, Feb 29, 1964, page 5
- ^ "Old-time fiddling competition a success". Brandon Sun, August 11, 1981
- ^ "Maritime Fiddle Festival, Champion Class Past Winners". Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ "Past Winners" Shelburne Fiddle Contest website.
- ^ "Canadian Grand Masters Top Three Finalists 1990-Present" cgmfa-acgmv.ca
- ^ "Fiddle-duddle". The Globe and Mail, Paul Waldie, Dec 18, 2004
- ^ "Scott Woods Fiddling Champion Performs June 24, 2008 Southampton United Church". Saugeen Times,
- ^ "Scott Woods-CD-Reflecting The Past-In Review". Atlantic Seabreeze, By John Gavin, Friday, April 07, 2006
- ^ "Scott Woods-CD-Dancing Fiddles-In Review". Atlantic Seabreze, By John Gavin, Tuesday, December 19, 2006
- ^ "Scott Woods may still play lead, but sister Kendra Woods-Norris is happy in her natural habitat providing harmonies; play Sault Monday". By Jeffrey Ougler, Sault Star, June 15, 2017
- ^ " Continuing a tradition, creating a legacy". International Falls Journal, By Whitney Jackson, Apr 21, 2017
- ^ "Scott Woods returns to Melfort to Fiddle Up A Storm. Melford Journal, May 22, 2018
- ^ "Scott Woods' Old Time Christmas". Mitchell Advocate, December 11, 2017
- ^ "Woods and his band fiddle around in Humboldt". Becky Zimmer, Humboldt Journal, May 18, 2016
- ^ "Scott Woods' Old Time Jubilee in Tillsonburg Sunday". By Chris Abbott, Tillsonburg News, April 6, 2014
- ^ "Fiddler Scott Woods plays to sell-out crowd". Elliot Lake Standard, WOLF KIRCHMEIR, December 15, 2010
- ^ a b "Masterful fiddling". Fort Francis Times, Dec 6, 2017. Duane Hicks
- ^ "Scott Woods returns with Twin Fiddle Express". Melfort Journal, May 22, 2017
- ^ The Island Fiddler, September 2017, page 10
- ^ "In the key of . . eh?". Dauphin Herald, May 19, 2015
- ^ "German-Canadian impressions: Interview with musician Scott Woods". DKG, September 2017 / Danielle Neuhaus
- ^ "Two hours of musical thrills". Castlegar News, Jim Sinclair, Jun. 17, 2014
- ^ "National fiddle champion raises funds across Saskatchewan". Northeast Now, By Clark Stork. November 19, 2017
- ^ "Christmas Traditions with Scott Woods". Snapd Ajax, December 2017
- ^ "http://thegrand101.com/blog/a-nice-surprise-for-residents-at-wellington-terrace "A Nice Surprise for Residents at Wellington Terrace". Grand 101FM Radio, Mar 31, 2017
- ^ "The Shelburne Heritage Music Festival & The 67th Canadian Open Old Time Fiddle Championship of 2017!". The Shelburne Freelancer
- ^ "Canadian Grand Masters Lifetime Achievement Award Winners" cgmfa-acgmv.ca
- ^ "Canadian Grand Masters 29th Annual Contest Program, Page 36-37" cgmfa-acgmv.ca