Phew! Big subject!

I played in a session today with musicians from Ryburn 3 Step and the wonderful (it's catching Sue!!) Geckoes dance band.

It felt to me like an English session whatever one of those is. Some of the tunes were lumpy and slow. Some were faster and lighter. The lumpiest and slowest tune we played was a Scottish tune as played for a Northumbrian dance (Laddy With the Plaidie/Kielder Schottische) so there are no absolutes.

In terms of fiddle players displaying 'Englishness' in style let's just list a few and see what people think. You won't have heard of all of them but to me an English list would include

Dave Swarbrick
Barry Dransfield
Nic Jones
Willie Taylor
Paul Burgess
Flos Headford
Fi Fraser
Jackie Allen
John Dipper
Matt Green
Caroline Ritson
Jane LLoyd (Flett)
Nina Hansell
Chris Partington
Me

All of these people have differing styles and apply decoration in different ways but probably all borrow from the same bucket of tricks used by other traditions like Irish and Scottish and American. They just apply them differently.

As an English fiddler I feel closer to Tommy Jarrel and Alan Jabbour than I do to Frankie Gavin or Sean McGuire.

I also feel closer to the Cajun fiddlers and interestingly, the (wonderful) Boat Band can sound very English when (the even more wonderful) Kate Barfield sounds, in isolation, very Cajun.

Interesting discussion.

J