LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - Music lovers of Fort Simpson were stomping their feet to the musical stylings of the Kole Crook Fiddle Association and the community's young fiddle players on Sept. 25.

"They're natural musicians up here. They all play by ear," said Linda Duford, one of the fiddle teachers, who was also on stage.

Young fiddlers Angela Lu, left, and Lauren Lafferty are joined by Calvin Cairns on the piano to cook up some old time tunes on stage at the Fort Simpson recreation centre last Friday. - Tim Edwards/NNSL photo

The ambiance of the crowd quieted when the performers took to the stage, opening with an old song called "Boil Them Cabbage Down." Other songs had the crowd clapping and stomping their feet to the beat.

The group sounded good from the start and approved as the show went on. Moving on to a more complicated song called "Little Liza Jane," the fiddlers' confidence level grew, and some of the notes were accented with whoops and sharp whistles from somewhere in the little orchestra

"They were excited. Some of them were nervous," said Calvin Cairns, another fiddle instructor who was backing up the fiddlers on the piano.

"A couple of little girls tonight, they just played fiddle for the first time today and they were so excited about it that they just went up there and did what they could," said Cairns.

He said a bonus of having a large group of fiddlers is that even the inexperienced can join in.

"You can play lightly. Even if you don't know the tune, you can join in on the fun," said Cairns.

Duford said that fiddling has been part of the North since the settlers first arrived from overseas.

"The Kole Crook Fiddle Association is helping to revive the tradition of fiddling in the North which was kind of dying out, and now the youth are getting into it. It's really fun to be a part of that," Duford said after the show.

The fiddle teacher said the association, which teaches kids how to play fiddle all around the Deh Cho region, teaches them to play by ear, and they find that many of the kids learn best that way.

The Kole Crook Fiddle Association is a non-profit organization that works in conjunction with the District Education Authority to bring teachers and instruments around the region.

"It covers from Fort Liard all the way to Fort Good Hope," said Cairns.

The territorial government funds the association.