NB beat.

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

Old Time music in New Brunswick is getting some new life thanks to an up and coming fiddler who is catching the ears of some of our region's more respected players.

Quispamsis native Matt Hayes likes to hang out with his high school friends. They do all the things most people his age would be doing. When friendly discussions about music come up, Matt tries to keep his musical tastes a bit under the radar.

"When people my age hear what kind of music I like they won't give it a chance, they'll make jokes and call you a hick," he says. "I really think if they'd just give it a listen they'd be hooked."

So just what is it that this talented New Brunswick teenager hides from his friends? Hayes lives and breathes bluegrass music. In fact he not only devotes most of his spare time to the genre, his skills have fast tracked him to a possible career in music.

Having watched his sister pick up the fiddle when he was only four, Hayes says his early exposure to old time music planted the seeds of his interest and a mere three years later he was taking lessons.

Surrounded by today's hip hop and emo etc... via his schoolmates, Hayes maintains a love for bluegrass music. He tells [here] it's the sum of the parts that makes bluegrass strike a musical chord with him.

"It's such a unique style. It brings a lot of different styles together. You hear swing and blues as well as jazz and folk. You can really do a lot with bluegrass if you wanted to try different things. I like the sound too, the real simple arrangements of guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo and bass just sound real good together."

Hayes also points to a certain democratic nature in the music. While top rated bluegrass players are noted for incredible style and technique, the music is generally written quite simply so that even someone with minimal musical training can at the very least strum along and take part in a song.

With skills that go beyond his 10 years experience of playing the fiddle, Hayes now finds himself a part of one of the region's most successful and influential bluegrass bands, Moncton's Bluegrass Diamonds.

While that in and of itself is nothing short of remarkable, how that arrangement came to be illustrates just how much faith a seasoned group of musicians put in a relatively unknown 17-year-old fiddler.

"A while ago they (Bluegrass Diamonds) were in Quispamsis for a show and I guess someone had told them about me. They asked me to sit in for a couple of tunes and I think it went really well. It was fun. We met again a few months later when Ricky Skaggs played in Moncton. They came right up to me and said 'boy, we're looking for a fiddle player' I guess that was their way of asking me if I was interested. The next time they played in Quispamsis I was playing with them and they made the announcement that I was their new fiddle player." Hayes does admit that there was a bit more to it than that, but not very much.

Now the newest member of a proven act, Hayes has been finding his voice within Bluegrass Diamonds not only in terms as being a key member of the group, Bluegrass Diamonds hail mainly from Memramcook and Hayes doesn't speak French.

"The guys are great, if I'm around they speak English. It's great that they keep that in mind. If we're playing somewhere and their buddies come to say "hi" they'll be speaking French and I understand that it's their language, it's not a problem at all." He adds with a laugh that when he's the only Anglophone he'll nod his head and pretend he understands what's going on.

"I think I can say 'bonjour' and that's about it."

In terms of musical conversations with fellow members of Bluegrass Diamonds, Matt says that was the easiest part of the transition.

"The good thing about Bluegrass Diamonds, especially when I was learning their material was that they play a lot of standards in regular keys so it was easy to slide in. We rely on a lot of nods and winks to let each other know who's going to take the next musical break and we seem to be fitting together really well."

With the school year wrapping up, Hayes has a summer booked full of bluegrass festivals across the East Coast. He'll be playing pretty much every weekend up until school starts again in the fall. While only 17, Hayes knows he wants music to remain front and centre. He says if he doesn't find a career in music he does want a job that understands he won't be available on weekends when the festival season kicks into high gear. He's already been looking into American universities that offer an education in bluegrass music and intends to continue pursuing perfection in his style and techniques as long as he can hold a bow.

"This isn't a hobby. This is a passion and I want to make it my profession and a part of my life as long as I'm around."

For more on Bluegrass Diamonds and Matt Hayes visit www.bluegrassdiamonds.com

If your NB based act or musical event would like to be featured in this column please contact the columnist at oneyearofnbmusic@yahoo.ca