Celtic Fiddle Music on the Porch, in Maine

July 19, 2013 at 1:21 AM

A fiddle!

Indeed, I expected to be the only guest toting a violin at the marvelous little Bed and Breakfast where I'm staying (Snow Squall Inn) in Wiscasset, Maine. It has only seven rooms, after all!

But actually, Zoe Emrick, age 8, arrived before me, also with her violin. This morning, she was practicing Celtic fiddle music, right outside!

I couldn't help but think that this was fate, so I struck up a conversation with her mom, who told me that they'd traveled from Texas to Maine so that Zoe could participate in the fiddle lessons, step dancing and more. She's planning to participate in a fiddle workshop as well as some Celtic Dancing, which she is also studying.

How did she get so involved, so young, in Celtic fiddle and dance? Her mother said that when Zoe was four, the family went to the North Texas Irish Festival.

"We left with a child who was in love," she said -- in love with all things Celtic!

Zoe said that she always wanted to play Celtic fiddle music, she wasn't really interested in learning classical, so they went on a search for a Celtic fiddle teacher. They were helped by the Traditional Irish Music Education Society, or "TIMES" of Richardson, TX, which has been setting up Irish music schools in Dallas, Houston and Austin, said director Ken Fleming. The group also has connections in Oklahoma City, he said. If people are looking for Celtic fiddle instruction, another source Fleming recommended was TradConnect.com, a community for Irish tradition music.

As for Zoe, after much searching, she found Michelle Feldman at the North Texas School of Irish Music.

Maybe tomorrow she can teach me a few Celtic tunes after breakfast!