Winston "Scotty" Fitzgerald (1914–1987) was a Cape Breton fiddler. He was a pioneer in recorded performances of the music, and has heavily influenced the style and repertoire of later generations of players. Fitzgerald was born on February 16, 1914, at White Point,

Victoria County, Nova Scotia Victoria County is an historical county and census division of Nova Scotia, Canada. Local government is provided by the Municipality of the County of Victoria and the Wagmatcook 1 reserve. History Named after Queen Victoria, it was establishe ...

, a remote fishing village on the northeastern tip of

Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18. ...

. His parents were of Irish-French descent. Both his father and older brother played the violin, and Winston began to take an interest in playing at age eight. His first public performance was at a picnic at age twelve. The Fitzgeralds worked as fishermen in the summer, and in the 1930s Winston also worked at the shipyards in Halifax in the winter. During this time, Winston played radio shows and tours with

Hank Snow Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow (May 9, 1914 – December 20, 1999) was a Canadian-American country music artist. Most popular in the 1950s, he had a career that spanned more than 50 years, he recorded 140 albums and charted more than 85 singles on t ...

for about two and a half years. Winston served a stint in the army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, then settled in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

after the war. He took a correspondence course from the U.S. School of Music, learning a lot of useful bowing techniques. In 1947, he formed a group called the "Radio Entertainers" with Beattie Wallace (piano) and Estwood Davidson (guitar). The group recorded numerous 78s, as well as four LPs. As he became better known, Winston also got exposure playing on the " Cliff MacKay" and "

Don Messer Donald Charles Frederick Messer (May 9, 1909 – March 26, 1973) was a Canadian musician, band leader, radio broadcaster, and defining icon of folk music during the 1960s. His CBC Television series '' Don Messer’s Jubilee'' (1959–69) feature ...

" shows. Later, he played as part of the Cape Breton Symphony on The John Allan Cameron Show. Never a full-time musician, he worked at a variety of jobs, including cooking, carpentry, and aluminum siding work. Many of Winston's recordings are out of print, but a selection culled from his albums has been reissued as ''Classic Cuts'' by Breton Books & Music. A significant portion of his repertoire has been preserved in a book called ''Winston Fitzgerald: A Collection of Fiddle Tunes'', issued by Cranford Publications.

References

* Cranford, Paul (1997), ''Winston Fitzgerald: A Collection of Fiddle Tunes'' * MacGillivray, Allister (1981), ''The Cape Breton Fiddler'', College of Cape Breton Press. .

External links

''Winston Fitzgerald: Classic Cuts''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgerald, Winston Musicians from Nova Scotia Canadian male violinists and fiddlers 1914 births 1987 deaths Cape Breton fiddlers 20th-century Canadian violinists and fiddlers 20th-century Canadian male musicians