Apple Podcasts podcast player badge
Spotify podcast player badge
Castro podcast player badge
RSS Feed podcast player badge
Apple Podcasts podcast player icon Spotify podcast player icon Castro podcast player icon RSS Feed podcast player icon

In this episode, we’re remembering the Gu-Achi Fiddlers with Gerald Leos Sr., the last living member of the group. What made their music so unique is the way it blends traditions from multiple worlds. The Gu-Achi Fiddlers played lively Southwest fiddle tunes that carry clear traces of Mexican folk music—alongside influences from Central European traditions, like polkas and waltzes brought by German and Czech settlers. Over generations, the O’odham hemajkam adopted these imported styles, adding their own rhythms, ornamentation, and community-focused energy. The result is music that is instantly recognizable yet uniquely O’odham—a bridge between cultures, history, and generations.  

Gerald shares stories from his life as a musician, reflecting on his time with the Gu-Achi Fiddlers and his experiences playing with other bands, including his own, the Red Feather Band. Also, joined in parts of the conversation is Gerald's wife, Gerry, who is the daughter of Elliot Johnson (baḍ), who played first fiddle and was lead of the Gu-Achi Fiddlers. 

This story hits very close to home for me, because my grandfather Lester Vavages (baḍ) played second fiddle in the group. I have so many good memories of hearing the music and time spent with him and my grandmother Annie Vavages (baḍ). 

Tune in to the conversation as we take a look back at the music, the memories, and the journey that shaped Gerald's life, where the music is not just entertaining—it’s a living connection to the culture, history, and the O’odham community.

Recorded Feburary 2025

EPISODE CREDITS:
Produced, edited, and mixed by Tina Andrew
Graphic designed by Tina Andrew

LINKS:
Be sure to follow and tag the podcast on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok!

WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.520 --> 00:00:04.799
This podcast is for educational purposes only. The views and

2
00:00:04.960 --> 00:00:09.800
experiences expressed are those of the host and guests. The

3
00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:14.519
content shared here is based on research, personal experience, and

4
00:00:14.599 --> 00:00:32.159
publicly available information. There are moments when history isn't found

5
00:00:32.399 --> 00:00:37.119
in books or recordings, but in the voice of someone

6
00:00:37.159 --> 00:00:42.479
who lived it. Some music fades and some music survives

7
00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:46.240
because people carry it forward. I was honored to sit

8
00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:50.079
down with the last living band member of the Gatchi Fiddlers,

9
00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:54.280
a group that carried the sound of old time autum

10
00:00:54.359 --> 00:01:01.280
fiddle music across generations. This music wasn't displayed, it was lived,

11
00:01:02.039 --> 00:01:08.359
passed down from generation to generation, story to story, and

12
00:01:08.680 --> 00:01:14.000
it was a band that annuosc Lester Ravagess Buck was

13
00:01:14.239 --> 00:01:19.480
a part of. He played second fiddle in the Gaachi Fiddlers.

14
00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:25.079
In this conversation, we're listening to history through the voice

15
00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:29.319
of someone who was there, preserving a tradition that still

16
00:01:29.359 --> 00:01:34.480
echoes today. The legacy of the Gachi Fiddlers music lives

17
00:01:34.519 --> 00:01:38.200
on not just through the opt them houmach Gum, but

18
00:01:38.280 --> 00:01:45.200
to all walks of life internationally. Here to share his

19
00:01:45.400 --> 00:01:49.359
life experiences as a musician and as a member of

20
00:01:49.480 --> 00:02:06.280
the Gachi Fiddlers. Is Gerald also known as Jerry.

21
00:02:02.040 --> 00:02:11.159
Oh Yeah, Gerald Leos, senior ukimer Atum from Saxophone Flats,

22
00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:15.759
got introduced to the music with the Goatchy Fiddlers. I

23
00:02:15.759 --> 00:02:19.719
think it was around eighty eight eighty nine. Elliott asked

24
00:02:19.759 --> 00:02:21.840
me if I could play the snare for them. I

25
00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:24.680
don't know anything about the how to play without a

26
00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:28.240
bass drum and you know the whole drum set up, Yeah,

27
00:02:28.479 --> 00:02:31.800
just a snare until they all kind of instructed me

28
00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:35.879
how to play. So I just followed what they were

29
00:02:35.879 --> 00:02:38.800
telling me, and yeah, that's how I got introduced or

30
00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:40.759
got with the Fiddler band.

31
00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:44.759
And when you first got introduced with the band and

32
00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:48.159
you started playing, what was that experience like for you

33
00:02:48.280 --> 00:02:50.840
coming in? And how old were you then?

34
00:02:52.319 --> 00:02:55.719
I guess my late forties or mid forties. When they

35
00:02:55.719 --> 00:02:58.479
had asked me to play the snare for them, and

36
00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:02.520
we did gig out in Teo quite a bit, I

37
00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:05.560
mean kind of all over we were asked to play.

38
00:03:05.800 --> 00:03:08.240
It was kind of strange because I'm used to the

39
00:03:08.280 --> 00:03:14.400
amplified music. Yeah, playing my bass guitar and the drum,

40
00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:18.400
I mean, singing the vocals for Red Feather, it was

41
00:03:18.479 --> 00:03:24.199
kind of awkward. Just to do the snare, but listening

42
00:03:24.240 --> 00:03:26.400
to them as they were going and what they were

43
00:03:26.439 --> 00:03:30.719
telling me followed followed the guitar on this one. Listen,

44
00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:35.439
when the spittle is changing and the bass drums, you

45
00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:39.280
gotta do like a little role or something to to

46
00:03:39.400 --> 00:03:42.879
match the bass drum when he's boom boom boom. Then

47
00:03:42.919 --> 00:03:45.039
it goes doom doom, doom doom.

48
00:03:45.080 --> 00:03:55.879
You know.

49
00:04:06.439 --> 00:04:10.159
So that's what they were telling you. Wow.

50
00:04:10.280 --> 00:04:13.360
So they were pretty much telling you the old style

51
00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:16.720
of how it was back then before all these other

52
00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:18.199
instruments were introduced.

53
00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:22.680
Yeah, Uncle Tommy was kind of really instrumental on that

54
00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:25.160
one because he was sitting right next to me. You know,

55
00:04:26.040 --> 00:04:28.600
I would look at him and he would shake his

56
00:04:28.600 --> 00:04:32.199
head and yes or no, you know, no not that way.

57
00:04:33.279 --> 00:04:36.160
So we you know, do you rehearse, rehearse, and you

58
00:04:36.199 --> 00:04:38.800
do them over again. So that's what he did. He

59
00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:41.199
was telling me, and this is how you do and

60
00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:46.319
have a certain role when it changes, and yeah, that's

61
00:04:46.360 --> 00:04:52.879
how you do it. It's kind of funny, but you

62
00:04:52.920 --> 00:04:53.959
know I learned it.

63
00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:58.800
Wow, that's so cool. So before gotcha for the Lurs,

64
00:04:58.839 --> 00:05:01.120
you were in other bands?

65
00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:05.600
Uh, yeah, started out in the early eighties. I guess

66
00:05:06.040 --> 00:05:09.040
my sister and her husband, my brother in law. They

67
00:05:09.079 --> 00:05:13.680
had a band, family band in Blackwater and my brother

68
00:05:13.720 --> 00:05:18.439
in law, his sister husband played the accordion and they

69
00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:21.600
were looking for a guitar player and then they said,

70
00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:24.639
but we need a bass player too, So I said, okay,

71
00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:28.399
I'll do the bass. And one of the sons, my

72
00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:32.399
sister sons, my nephew, he started playing the guitar and

73
00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:35.879
we couldn't think of a name at that time. Everybody

74
00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:40.839
was saying Ray Chili Peppers, Hot Chili Peppers. And we

75
00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:45.560
did parties in the backyard at Lester Antone's place. Then

76
00:05:45.959 --> 00:05:49.800
people heard us and then started the bar in Coolidge

77
00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:53.160
out Main Street. They hired us and we owned that

78
00:05:53.240 --> 00:05:56.920
place for like two years. I think, oh wow, Yeah,

79
00:05:56.959 --> 00:06:06.879
every weekend we were there, and they just kind of

80
00:06:06.920 --> 00:06:10.959
evolved and evolving. But when we did get kind of

81
00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:14.240
situated on everything, Jerry came up with the name of

82
00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:17.120
my wife. Oh okay, she said, well, why don't you

83
00:06:17.160 --> 00:06:31.600
guys say Redfeather. Yeah, and then they just stuck. Then,

84
00:06:36.680 --> 00:06:41.279
so as the years went on, everybody started dropping out

85
00:06:41.319 --> 00:06:46.040
for different reasons. Yeah, and so I took over Red

86
00:06:46.079 --> 00:06:50.399
Feather and had all these different players, including our boys,

87
00:06:50.439 --> 00:06:56.959
our sons, Mark and Rick. Yeah, and new drummer Irvin Lopez.

88
00:06:57.079 --> 00:07:01.879
Auction initiated Carl Kandia into the band because we had

89
00:07:01.879 --> 00:07:04.720
a gig in San Carlos who were gonna do and

90
00:07:04.759 --> 00:07:08.360
we're looking for an accordion player because Lester he quit

91
00:07:08.600 --> 00:07:14.439
And I asked Carl said he ready to play? Yeah,

92
00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:18.480
I don't know, and he said, I only know four songs.

93
00:07:18.839 --> 00:07:22.040
And I said, well, you know four songs, mix them up.

94
00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:28.319
Do one song, but play a chaude two step massoutka

95
00:07:28.399 --> 00:07:32.079
and cumbia. Out of that one song, you'll get four songs.

96
00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:34.600
And he thought about it for a while and he said,

97
00:07:34.639 --> 00:07:38.720
oh yeah, okay, okay. So that's when Carl came into

98
00:07:38.759 --> 00:07:42.319
the Red Feather Band and we just kept going and

99
00:07:42.360 --> 00:07:46.120
then he kept learning and getting new songs or different songs,

100
00:07:46.199 --> 00:07:49.120
and we just kept going that way and did a

101
00:07:49.160 --> 00:07:53.600
lot of traveling, played for a lot of places. Yeah,

102
00:07:53.639 --> 00:07:57.519
and in the beginning too, going back trying to squeeze

103
00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:00.439
the fiddlers and playing with the Red Feather. It was

104
00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:01.959
kind of real busy.

105
00:08:02.199 --> 00:08:03.240
Yeah.

106
00:08:04.319 --> 00:08:08.639
Yeah, as a musician yourself, you have to fit your

107
00:08:08.639 --> 00:08:13.079
schedule and you know, yeah, tiring.

108
00:08:13.079 --> 00:08:16.079
I'm learning. This is this is probably just the beginning

109
00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:20.839
for me learning trying to make time for practice and

110
00:08:21.439 --> 00:08:24.920
especially when we do get like gigs and making sure

111
00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:27.720
we're practicing for those gigs and what songs are we

112
00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:28.920
going to play?

113
00:08:29.680 --> 00:08:35.440
Yeah, it was an experience for me and thankful that

114
00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:38.480
I did get that they did ask me thinking about

115
00:08:38.519 --> 00:08:44.120
it after when Elliott and Lester passed on, and I

116
00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:47.360
thought about it and said, wow, yeah, yeah, I won't

117
00:08:47.399 --> 00:08:51.480
get that back, and but I had that privilege to

118
00:08:51.639 --> 00:08:53.039
play with the fiddlers.

119
00:08:53.840 --> 00:08:57.720
So can you name the members of Gotcha Fiddlers and

120
00:08:57.840 --> 00:08:58.480
what they played?

121
00:08:59.320 --> 00:09:04.320
My father, Elliott Johnson, he was a fiddler, I believe

122
00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:09.639
it was a lead fiddler. Leicester Ravage's uncle Lester he

123
00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:16.240
played second fiddle. Uncle Wilferd Mendoza he played the guitar.

124
00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:21.000
At the beginning, Uncle Tommy Lopez from Auction played the

125
00:09:21.559 --> 00:09:27.440
bass drum, and then after Tommy, then Mike Francisco from

126
00:09:27.559 --> 00:09:31.279
Nordick he played the bass drum, came in, and then

127
00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:37.600
our son Mark Leos he played the snare on a

128
00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:41.200
couple of gigs because I couldn't make it. Then after that, well,

129
00:09:42.679 --> 00:09:46.360
uh permanently. After that, I took over Gerald Leo Senior

130
00:09:46.519 --> 00:09:51.840
as a snare player. Yeah, we're all from well Elliott,

131
00:09:51.960 --> 00:09:57.799
Lester Wilfert. They're all from Gauchi District, Mike Francisco I

132
00:09:57.879 --> 00:10:04.360
believe it Cels District, and myself from Hilly River Saxotone Flats.

133
00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:07.440
You know the information that is out there right now,

134
00:10:08.440 --> 00:10:12.120
most of it they'll say that the members are from

135
00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:16.320
Goachi Village, but Goatchi is actually one of the eleven

136
00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:19.399
districts of the Thorn the nation, and in each district

137
00:10:19.879 --> 00:10:26.840
lies multiple villages with different names. So before, in your

138
00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:29.759
younger years, before, what was that like, Like, when did

139
00:10:29.799 --> 00:10:32.240
you decide that you wanted to be a musician.

140
00:10:34.200 --> 00:10:40.039
Oh, way back in the sixties, nineteen sixties, that's when

141
00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:43.440
I started playing the picked up the guitar. I don't

142
00:10:43.480 --> 00:10:47.279
know anything about it. I just see things on TV. Oh,

143
00:10:47.399 --> 00:10:52.840
black and white TV. And one of the home bands

144
00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:57.200
back then, you know, Sacktone Flat. They were a rock

145
00:10:57.320 --> 00:11:02.840
band starting out, and I would hear playing practicing and

146
00:11:02.919 --> 00:11:06.360
I kept thinking to myself, you know, oh man, they

147
00:11:06.360 --> 00:11:08.559
can do it, I can do it. I was trying

148
00:11:08.600 --> 00:11:11.480
to tell my cousins, but they were. They didn't want to.

149
00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:15.159
They made fun of me or laughed at me and stuff,

150
00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:19.879
but I didn't care. Then my other cousins they started

151
00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:22.759
picking it up. Then we started playing and we had it.

152
00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:25.559
We formed a little three man band. We played a

153
00:11:25.600 --> 00:11:28.000
gig in Coolidge one time at a bar and we

154
00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:31.159
were just kids, but they hired us. So we went

155
00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:35.240
there and played. We had this on the stage. We

156
00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:38.559
had a black light, well they had a black light

157
00:11:38.600 --> 00:11:41.399
that was set up in there. We played anyway, and

158
00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:45.200
we were all wearing T shirts, white T shirts and

159
00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:50.759
you know, with the black light. They call themselves the

160
00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:55.440
t shirts. But that was only one gig. My aunt

161
00:11:55.519 --> 00:11:58.519
owned the bar and that's why we got in.

162
00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:02.600
So what kind of music did you guys play?

163
00:12:04.039 --> 00:12:04.600
Rock and roll?

164
00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:05.080
Cool?

165
00:12:05.240 --> 00:12:07.159
Yeah, sixties rock played that?

166
00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:08.799
Did you sing even then?

167
00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:13.919
Yeah? Started there, then went on to high school and

168
00:12:14.639 --> 00:12:20.440
about my sophomore year, this fellow from Sells his name

169
00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:27.240
is Milford, Milford Thomas, but well he passed away and

170
00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:30.000
he was starting a band and he was asking me,

171
00:12:30.360 --> 00:12:33.720
you know, can you play? Can you play? So yeah,

172
00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:38.279
And this other fellow, his name was Justin Garcia. We

173
00:12:38.360 --> 00:12:43.200
knew him ass Freddy. I think it was from Mahoe. Huh, yeah,

174
00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:48.120
from Mahoe. And this one Apache guy was it Manuel

175
00:12:48.519 --> 00:12:53.360
or I can't remember his name. And this one other

176
00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:56.440
boy from santan Hilo River here his name was Aaron,

177
00:12:56.639 --> 00:13:01.960
Aaron Pratt. And then we started playing, and well, I

178
00:13:01.960 --> 00:13:04.600
don't know what happened to Freddy. He was our lead singer.

179
00:13:04.840 --> 00:13:07.480
The guy could sing, but I don't know what happened.

180
00:13:07.480 --> 00:13:11.039
And he just didn't want to do it anymore. So

181
00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:14.440
we would play for the school dances at the auditorium

182
00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:20.080
at PI. Everybody said, oh, Phoenix Indian School. Okay, the

183
00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:23.600
old Phoenix Indian School. Everybody said, come on, Gerald, you

184
00:13:23.639 --> 00:13:28.360
can do it. Do it sing? So I always sang

185
00:13:28.440 --> 00:13:33.000
from there on. Yeah, I played the played the bass.

186
00:13:33.159 --> 00:13:36.080
Then it just kept going after that, and well I

187
00:13:36.200 --> 00:13:44.240
left school. We got married in seventy three, seventy three, yeah,

188
00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:47.480
and then started working and I didn't play for guys

189
00:13:48.039 --> 00:13:51.519
eight or nine years. I think my sister when, like

190
00:13:51.559 --> 00:13:54.480
I said, when they were starting their band. Yeah, that's

191
00:13:54.519 --> 00:13:57.000
when they asked me to play back in eighty eighty one,

192
00:13:57.159 --> 00:14:00.759
somewhere in there, nobody to sing. Some pushed me out

193
00:14:00.799 --> 00:14:02.759
there again. There I was.

194
00:14:06.320 --> 00:14:08.399
And then that's at that point you were read it

195
00:14:08.519 --> 00:14:09.480
was Red Feather Band.

196
00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:13.039
Yeah, after it became Red Feather Band.

197
00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:16.720
Isn't Red Feather Band still together? Or when was the

198
00:14:16.799 --> 00:14:17.679
last time? When did that?

199
00:14:17.799 --> 00:14:22.559
Kind of gosh, you've been about eleven years? Oh yeah,

200
00:14:22.879 --> 00:14:24.600
longer longer.

201
00:14:24.679 --> 00:14:27.320
Here it did eleven so maybe like.

202
00:14:27.320 --> 00:14:30.559
Fifteen, yeah, about fifteen years. It was just getting harder

203
00:14:30.559 --> 00:14:34.360
to practice practice, so we just kind of all decided, well,

204
00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:37.200
it's time to move on. So we did, and then

205
00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:40.720
Carl formed his band, Carl and Buddies, and Urban was

206
00:14:40.759 --> 00:14:43.639
his drummer, and yeah, picked up people from there.

207
00:14:44.519 --> 00:14:46.840
Oh okay, I see, yeah.

208
00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:49.679
Well were it's nothing bad. We didn't go out that way.

209
00:14:49.759 --> 00:14:54.639
It was yeah, time for different inn era. Yeah, everybody

210
00:14:54.679 --> 00:14:58.159
wanted their own thing, and our boys, Mark and Rick

211
00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:00.480
have their own band, and Carl got his.

212
00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:02.919
Yeah what's what are your boys's ben?

213
00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:05.159
A smokestack lightning?

214
00:15:05.720 --> 00:15:09.559
Oh yeah, okay, oh yeah.

215
00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:12.399
But you know, it's been a it's been a long

216
00:15:12.519 --> 00:15:15.559
ride and a long trip for both of us, Me

217
00:15:15.639 --> 00:15:19.480
and Jerry. She always went with me, we traveled him.

218
00:15:19.720 --> 00:15:21.519
She didn't get to go to Alaska with us. So

219
00:15:21.799 --> 00:15:25.000
because uh Helo river, I forgot what kind of conference

220
00:15:25.080 --> 00:15:28.759
they were having, and they tried to get the fiddlers

221
00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:33.879
from here from Healo River to go play, but for

222
00:15:33.879 --> 00:15:38.759
some reason they they didn't want to go. So Lester

223
00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:43.519
Antone from Blackwater, he was our recording player at the time.

224
00:15:44.519 --> 00:15:47.039
They asked him, you know, well, will Red Feather go?

225
00:15:48.200 --> 00:15:52.960
So he asked us, and let's go. And they paid

226
00:15:53.000 --> 00:15:59.120
for everything, car rental, flight, hotel, everything got to me,

227
00:15:59.639 --> 00:16:03.240
equip meant for us and did the whole setup. All

228
00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:06.039
we had to do was tune up, plug in.

229
00:16:06.120 --> 00:16:09.559
And wow, that's nice. Yeah, when you have everything set

230
00:16:09.639 --> 00:16:10.360
up for you already.

231
00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:14.159
Yeah, And they had the sound crew and everything.

232
00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:18.200
So there's some achi fiddlers. And then I know there's

233
00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:20.879
been other fiddle bands. Do you know any of those

234
00:16:20.919 --> 00:16:22.559
other fiddle band names?

235
00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:28.159
I remember one from here from I think it's Leonardstone.

236
00:16:28.759 --> 00:16:32.000
He had a fiddle group. I remember if they had

237
00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:34.840
a name or but they used to play, but now

238
00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:38.759
they're all believe they're all gone. I don't know.

239
00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:43.519
Yeah, And I believe there was the Senevir Fiddle fiddle band.

240
00:16:43.799 --> 00:16:47.240
And then I remember hearing about something that Wilson's fiddle

241
00:16:47.320 --> 00:16:57.320
combo maybe yeah, yeah, yeah, from so during your time,

242
00:16:58.200 --> 00:17:01.480
you know, being a musician. I know, like when we

243
00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:05.319
first crossed paths. I remember you as the bus driver.

244
00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:09.000
How long did you do bus driving.

245
00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:12.759
At the boarding school Center Rose Boarding School? Nine years?

246
00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:15.640
Okay, nine years yeah.

247
00:17:15.480 --> 00:17:20.440
Or nine seasons because we got furloughed during the summertime. Yeah.

248
00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:22.920
I met a lot of kids, they all growing up

249
00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:23.599
and parents.

250
00:17:23.640 --> 00:17:27.000
Now, yeah, some of.

251
00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:31.200
Them, I remember some of my dog. It was pretty good.

252
00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:33.039
I had a lot of fun with the kids everybody.

253
00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:38.160
I used to drive all over. Plus I coached oh yeah, yeah,

254
00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:45.960
coach baseball with coach Lopez, basketball, softball, baseball, softball. Yeah.

255
00:17:46.160 --> 00:17:50.640
Oh we had football too, go football. That was pretty good.

256
00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:53.279
Got to travel when it was a boarding school, when

257
00:17:53.279 --> 00:17:55.920
they had the dorm, they would always request me to

258
00:17:56.039 --> 00:18:00.759
drive them on field trips. Eighth grade class. He went

259
00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:04.400
to Disneyland I think four times. I think, oh, got

260
00:18:04.440 --> 00:18:07.440
to take Jerry and Rick went with us. The first

261
00:18:07.480 --> 00:18:11.079
time our son Rick and j R. Drove down there

262
00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:14.759
with the lay Deloitte Lopez. He was the other bus driver.

263
00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:15.839
That was fun.

264
00:18:16.599 --> 00:18:19.000
Was that that the last time you were at Disneyland?

265
00:18:19.559 --> 00:18:21.559
Yeah? Way backward.

266
00:18:24.839 --> 00:18:28.759
So you say you guys traveled to Alaska and then

267
00:18:29.359 --> 00:18:34.759
for traveling to Port Townsend. Tell us that story. How

268
00:18:34.759 --> 00:18:38.319
did that happen? When who made contact and what year

269
00:18:38.440 --> 00:18:40.200
and all that stuff. What was that experience?

270
00:18:40.279 --> 00:18:44.160
Like? The year was ninety or ninety one somewhere in there.

271
00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:51.319
Pete McCracken, Peter McCracken. Yeah, he contacted Elliott and I

272
00:18:51.359 --> 00:18:55.839
guess they worked it out somehow or however the thing

273
00:18:55.960 --> 00:18:58.680
came about. So he asked if we wanted to go.

274
00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:03.720
So we did, and so we all went. They flew

275
00:19:03.799 --> 00:19:07.160
us out there, paid for everything to uh was it Spokene,

276
00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:11.400
Washington and there then we met a group of people

277
00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:14.680
that were from the fiddling festival that they were having.

278
00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:17.839
Then they picked us up there and drove us across

279
00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:22.799
this floating breach really yeah, into Port Townshend. Because it's

280
00:19:22.839 --> 00:19:26.319
a little place, we didn't know anything about it. And

281
00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:29.079
then they started telling us it was an old Navy base.

282
00:19:29.240 --> 00:19:32.039
Then they started telling us that an Officer and a

283
00:19:32.119 --> 00:19:35.039
Gentleman was filmed in that location where we were at.

284
00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:37.640
Then we start, oh, yeah, we've seen it in the movie.

285
00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:39.640
See this place in this place?

286
00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:41.279
Oh yeah.

287
00:19:41.359 --> 00:19:44.119
Then we were there for about a week. We had

288
00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:49.319
while the fiddlers they had classes every day for different

289
00:19:49.359 --> 00:19:54.119
students that wanted to learn the music and all everything

290
00:19:54.200 --> 00:19:57.599
behind the music. And so Elliott and Vester were pretty busy.

291
00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:00.319
And then we did hunt two.

292
00:20:00.359 --> 00:20:02.960
Three concerts I did hear what's two?

293
00:20:03.160 --> 00:20:06.720
Yeah? Two concerts we did that was open to the public.

294
00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:10.440
That final concert, what was a big concert. A lot

295
00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:13.240
of people had a big, big top buff there and

296
00:20:13.559 --> 00:20:16.759
what was his name, Dave David? Yeah, I don't remember

297
00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:19.599
his last name, but he was the MC for that

298
00:20:20.400 --> 00:20:21.599
last concert that we.

299
00:20:21.559 --> 00:20:26.839
Did Southwestern Arizona. These people have been known in English.

300
00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:29.279
The word that described these people was pobbed the girl.

301
00:20:30.559 --> 00:20:34.359
Now, before we get into this part of the story,

302
00:20:35.119 --> 00:20:38.440
I have a story of my own that I want

303
00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:40.920
to share about the audio you are about to hear,

304
00:20:41.559 --> 00:20:46.119
which is a piece of Gaachi fiddler history that is

305
00:20:46.119 --> 00:20:50.400
a very rare video recording of their live performance at

306
00:20:50.400 --> 00:20:56.480
the nineteen ninety Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, Washington.

307
00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:03.559
This recording took me years to finally track down, even

308
00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:07.119
though I have a close family member who has a

309
00:21:07.240 --> 00:21:12.799
VHS copy of this live performance. But because it is

310
00:21:12.839 --> 00:21:15.960
a rare recording, I could say why they would be

311
00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:19.880
hesitant of lending it out. Well, this video recording is

312
00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:22.960
something that I grew up watching with my whole family

313
00:21:23.480 --> 00:21:28.759
during the holidays or maybe even random times. My eldest

314
00:21:28.839 --> 00:21:32.559
uncle would pop in this VHS and we would all

315
00:21:32.599 --> 00:21:36.839
watch it. As I got older and began doing DIY

316
00:21:37.240 --> 00:21:42.039
archive work on my own, collecting old census documents, finding

317
00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:45.400
online articles, and ote photos of my own family history,

318
00:21:46.079 --> 00:21:49.319
I began to have the desire to track down this recording,

319
00:21:49.839 --> 00:21:53.039
so I asked my family about it, and there is

320
00:21:53.279 --> 00:21:57.640
only one family member who owns this copy, but it's

321
00:21:57.680 --> 00:22:01.400
been stored away for so long, who knows where it

322
00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:05.799
really is. And when I wasn't having any lug with

323
00:22:05.960 --> 00:22:09.799
even just finding it and wanting to watch the video,

324
00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:13.599
I put it on the back burner for a few years. Then,

325
00:22:13.759 --> 00:22:17.000
as I began to think about the idea of featuring

326
00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:20.519
the story of the Gotchy Fiddlers on the podcast, I

327
00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:26.279
began to think about possible other archived content I maybe

328
00:22:26.359 --> 00:22:29.759
could find online. So in doing my research, I came

329
00:22:29.799 --> 00:22:35.279
across a podcast called Kraken the Vault, hosted by this

330
00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:40.799
mehreta gun man named Peter McCracken. The episode featured a

331
00:22:40.920 --> 00:22:44.279
short story of the time members of the band were

332
00:22:44.319 --> 00:22:48.519
invited to perform at the Fiddle Festival in nineteen ninety

333
00:22:48.920 --> 00:22:54.400
at Port Townsend, Washington. Peter was actually there and got

334
00:22:54.440 --> 00:22:58.000
to meet all the members of Gotchy Fiddlers In the

335
00:22:58.079 --> 00:23:02.000
segment Peter titled it but So thirty five the Gatchi

336
00:23:02.079 --> 00:23:08.079
Fiddlers and Man may Leckey, where he also features snippets

337
00:23:08.079 --> 00:23:12.119
of the audio from the VHS recording of their performance.

338
00:23:13.319 --> 00:23:16.440
After I listened to it, I thought to myself, I

339
00:23:16.720 --> 00:23:21.279
have to track this man down. This person could be

340
00:23:21.359 --> 00:23:25.319
the only way I ever get to see this long

341
00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:29.839
lost video. And you know, by this time it was

342
00:23:29.880 --> 00:23:33.680
the year twenty twenty one. When I first made contact

343
00:23:34.200 --> 00:23:38.720
and found his email. I immediately sent him an email

344
00:23:38.799 --> 00:23:43.200
and hope to get a reply back. Thankfully, he did reply,

345
00:23:43.559 --> 00:23:47.000
and he quickly wanted to chat on the phone. So

346
00:23:47.319 --> 00:23:49.839
we got to talk, and he was happy to learn

347
00:23:49.880 --> 00:23:50.880
about who I was.

348
00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:57.160
Hello, Hey Peter, good morning, and told me his story

349
00:23:57.200 --> 00:24:01.279
about the time he and his friends invited the Fiddlers

350
00:24:01.359 --> 00:24:03.519
out to perform at the Fiddlefest.

351
00:24:03.920 --> 00:24:08.519
Okay, now I know we've taken a little detour, but

352
00:24:08.920 --> 00:24:11.319
I'll be back to finish up the story. After this

353
00:24:11.640 --> 00:24:14.160
rare audio clip from nineteen ninety.

354
00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:22.079
Enjoy southwestern Arizona. These people have been known in English.

355
00:24:22.240 --> 00:24:25.839
The word that described these people was papago. But papago

356
00:24:25.960 --> 00:24:28.160
is a word that came from the Spanish language, a

357
00:24:28.160 --> 00:24:30.759
word given by Spanish people who first came into the

358
00:24:30.799 --> 00:24:35.079
New World. And it's of course a bastardization, a deformation.

359
00:24:34.680 --> 00:24:37.240
Of the word in the people's language.

360
00:24:37.799 --> 00:24:40.039
I was really interested to learn that, you know more

361
00:24:40.079 --> 00:24:43.920
and more in America, people are learning that maybe you

362
00:24:43.960 --> 00:24:46.160
can go ahead and call the group by the name

363
00:24:46.200 --> 00:24:49.200
too oh them, which they call themselves that I'm mispronouncing.

364
00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:52.960
But I learned later that a lot of the music

365
00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:55.519
they're going to play for us tonight, which was originally

366
00:24:55.559 --> 00:25:00.160
introduced by Spanish priests. Specifically, one of the early Arizona

367
00:25:00.319 --> 00:25:03.000
was Father Keno. You may have heard of Father Keno.

368
00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:06.119
He was a very prominent priest in the eighteenth century

369
00:25:06.480 --> 00:25:09.799
in southern Arizona. And the music was played for masses

370
00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:15.279
in the church and has continued to be played that way,

371
00:25:15.319 --> 00:25:17.839
but has also spread out and has played for weddings

372
00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:22.200
or community celebrations parties. And I was talking to some

373
00:25:22.279 --> 00:25:24.240
of the members of the band who told me that

374
00:25:24.599 --> 00:25:27.720
the music is played quite often at what's called piast.

375
00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:29.599
Is that correct?

376
00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:30.839
Piast?

377
00:25:31.079 --> 00:25:34.119
Which can you guess what word that is? Where that

378
00:25:34.160 --> 00:25:43.599
came from? Yeah, Marla, yes, Spanish, what's the word fiesta?

379
00:25:44.359 --> 00:25:47.160
So it's very charming that even the Tona Odon people

380
00:25:47.200 --> 00:25:50.480
have managed to deform a Spanish word into a word

381
00:25:50.519 --> 00:25:53.160
they can use for the names of these parties. I

382
00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:54.759
should tell you about the band.

383
00:25:56.960 --> 00:25:57.359
Over here.

384
00:25:57.359 --> 00:26:00.519
On the bass drum, the big bass drum, and this

385
00:26:00.599 --> 00:26:02.799
may be your only chance to actually see the player

386
00:26:02.839 --> 00:26:07.039
of this bass drum. This is Mike Francisco. On the

387
00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:15.559
bass drum, and on the snare drum is Gerald Leos.

388
00:26:16.119 --> 00:26:21.920
I've I've had the great good fortune to spend a

389
00:26:21.960 --> 00:26:25.160
fair amount of time with Jerry and his family. His

390
00:26:25.240 --> 00:26:27.920
wife and child is up here, and if you see them,

391
00:26:27.960 --> 00:26:30.079
it's really easy to talk to them because his name

392
00:26:30.119 --> 00:26:33.480
is Jerry, and his wife's name is Jerry, and their

393
00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:40.880
son is Jerry Junior. That's that's because it's it's hard

394
00:26:40.920 --> 00:26:44.799
for us to remember exotic names. So and on the

395
00:26:44.839 --> 00:26:56.160
guitar is Wilfrid Mendoza, and on the fiddle here the

396
00:26:56.319 --> 00:26:58.319
smilingest man you'll ever meet.

397
00:27:01.480 --> 00:27:03.000
Leicster Vavages.

398
00:27:09.400 --> 00:27:12.000
And right here next to me on the fiddle, Elliott Johnson,

399
00:27:12.319 --> 00:27:16.160
please give a big round of applause for the Guaci Fiddlers.

400
00:27:23.079 --> 00:27:27.359
Okay, my first number is uh. Louis is a Spanish name.

401
00:27:27.400 --> 00:27:29.240
I don't know what that means, but I just know

402
00:27:29.400 --> 00:27:48.680
the name is.

403
00:28:17.920 --> 00:28:24.000
Now you're probably wondering where, how, and when did I

404
00:28:24.319 --> 00:28:30.720
finally get a copy of this videotape. Well, fast forward

405
00:28:30.880 --> 00:28:37.160
another four years. I ran into Gerald Leo Senior, who,

406
00:28:37.200 --> 00:28:40.839
as you heard during this interview, was the snare drum

407
00:28:40.880 --> 00:28:44.680
player for the Gaachi Fiddlers. It was at the beginning

408
00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:48.920
of this year, in January twenty twenty five, that I

409
00:28:49.000 --> 00:28:52.440
got to talk to him in person while helping prepare

410
00:28:52.559 --> 00:28:55.960
for a family member's week service in off Chin Village.

411
00:28:57.039 --> 00:29:00.759
Another thing I forgot to mention is that during my

412
00:29:00.960 --> 00:29:05.519
time of thinking of how and who I could talk

413
00:29:05.559 --> 00:29:08.960
to in regards to helping me tell the story of

414
00:29:09.039 --> 00:29:13.640
the Gauchi Fiddlers, I didn't really know who I could

415
00:29:13.680 --> 00:29:16.720
turn to. At the time, I was so fixed on

416
00:29:17.359 --> 00:29:21.000
tracking down this VHS that I hadn't really thought of

417
00:29:21.079 --> 00:29:24.640
that part of well, who's going to tell the Gotchi

418
00:29:24.720 --> 00:29:28.720
Fiddler story, it has to come from a close source.

419
00:29:29.519 --> 00:29:35.160
But as fate would have it, there I was exchanging

420
00:29:35.279 --> 00:29:39.759
contact information with Jerry in regards to setting up some

421
00:29:40.039 --> 00:29:43.920
time to do an interview with him on this very topic,

422
00:29:44.680 --> 00:29:49.359
and it was actually Jerry that loaned me his copy

423
00:29:49.400 --> 00:29:54.359
of the VHS tape of their performance and even his VCR.

424
00:29:54.960 --> 00:29:58.920
To make a digital copy of the video, I used

425
00:29:58.960 --> 00:30:03.279
what is called a a VHS to digital converter that

426
00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:07.119
connects a VHS to a laptop and uses software to

427
00:30:07.200 --> 00:30:13.680
digitize videotapes, cassettes and video recorders to make NP four FiOS.

428
00:30:13.720 --> 00:30:20.480
So yes, mission accomplished. I was so thankful to Jerry

429
00:30:20.519 --> 00:30:25.400
and his wife Jerry for their hospitality in their home

430
00:30:25.799 --> 00:30:29.359
and for sharing photos of the band members. They definitely

431
00:30:29.440 --> 00:30:34.640
helped with the missing pieces of the story. Now back

432
00:30:34.720 --> 00:30:36.000
to the interview.

433
00:30:40.759 --> 00:30:43.200
And there was surprisingly there was some people from a

434
00:30:43.839 --> 00:30:48.119
three point oh really yeah, because we played some songs

435
00:30:48.160 --> 00:30:53.160
and Elliott was describing, Yeah, this music very popular down

436
00:30:53.240 --> 00:30:58.880
on the reservation, close to and then somebody from the audience, yeah,

437
00:30:59.160 --> 00:31:02.640
close to three points and then always said, I don't

438
00:31:02.680 --> 00:31:04.839
say that, you're making me thirsty.

439
00:31:06.319 --> 00:31:09.119
And then we were all laughing about it, but some

440
00:31:09.160 --> 00:31:12.440
of them didn't understand because they're not from Three Points.

441
00:31:12.440 --> 00:31:16.680
The stories behind Three Points. Well, that was pretty cool

442
00:31:17.640 --> 00:31:21.359
that we did our encore performance. Yeah, so I was

443
00:31:22.440 --> 00:31:26.839
pretty pretty good. Experience got mixed up on the day

444
00:31:26.960 --> 00:31:28.200
so and oh.

445
00:31:28.160 --> 00:31:30.559
Yeah, the time difference, yeah, m hmm.

446
00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:34.680
Because we were Ellio has said, you know, practice this evening,

447
00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:39.319
go practice. So we all got together fiddlers went to

448
00:31:39.359 --> 00:31:43.119
go practice and going out and playing and everything. Finally

449
00:31:43.160 --> 00:31:46.240
started getting tired and said, well what time is it

450
00:31:46.559 --> 00:31:49.279
almost midnight and it was still daylight?

451
00:31:49.680 --> 00:31:50.440
Oh really?

452
00:31:52.200 --> 00:31:56.279
Whoa where did they go? Just ran away?

453
00:31:56.680 --> 00:32:02.440
So what were's people's reaction to learn about this group

454
00:32:02.559 --> 00:32:06.440
of natives playing fiddle music and the types of song

455
00:32:06.640 --> 00:32:10.519
even the way that even how they describe it online,

456
00:32:10.640 --> 00:32:13.960
I've seen them describe it as just like something a

457
00:32:14.039 --> 00:32:17.240
mix of different things that it's just so unique.

458
00:32:18.079 --> 00:32:21.680
Yeah. I think they were pretty interested in it because

459
00:32:23.119 --> 00:32:25.599
the one group from New Mexico, well they're kind of

460
00:32:25.599 --> 00:32:33.319
scattered New Mexico, Nevada in California called Bioseco. Oh yeah,

461
00:32:33.680 --> 00:32:37.640
and they really picked up on the music they wanted

462
00:32:37.680 --> 00:32:44.039
to learn. Just listening to Lester and Elliott and playing

463
00:32:44.119 --> 00:32:46.680
and I don't know how to really describe it. How

464
00:32:46.720 --> 00:32:50.759
they were following. One was a high, one was a low,

465
00:32:51.400 --> 00:32:54.400
one was a lead, one was a follow. They were

466
00:32:54.400 --> 00:32:59.240
pretty interested in it, and they wanted to form a

467
00:32:59.279 --> 00:33:03.640
band over there, and they're asking, uh, oh, we had

468
00:33:03.680 --> 00:33:07.559
a cookout I think it was, and uh they wanted

469
00:33:07.599 --> 00:33:10.640
to play some of the fiddler songs that they had learned.

470
00:33:11.200 --> 00:33:15.720
And then they said, yeah, and here these guys or

471
00:33:15.759 --> 00:33:16.880
who was cooking.

472
00:33:18.240 --> 00:33:23.680
Vomitch Oh, we were myself and uh uh uncle Mike's

473
00:33:23.759 --> 00:33:26.119
wife Josephine.

474
00:33:26.559 --> 00:33:29.519
They cooked some walwiches and they were asking, you know

475
00:33:29.559 --> 00:33:33.000
what it was, and then they said, yeah, we're gonna

476
00:33:33.079 --> 00:33:42.440
name her band yea, oh getting into it.

477
00:33:42.799 --> 00:33:43.880
Yeah, what it was.

478
00:33:43.960 --> 00:33:46.519
Like was that when they got there, they were like

479
00:33:47.920 --> 00:33:52.279
they had classes and like my dad and uh Leicester

480
00:33:52.440 --> 00:33:56.440
were the fiddle part, and then they had the guitar part,

481
00:33:57.240 --> 00:34:00.440
and then the snare and the bass, so they had

482
00:34:00.480 --> 00:34:04.400
their each they had students like and they would learn

483
00:34:04.680 --> 00:34:08.199
different songs like that, I mean, the different tunes and stuff.

484
00:34:08.679 --> 00:34:11.119
So then when they at the end, then they all

485
00:34:11.360 --> 00:34:14.800
like more or less like a talent show, oh together

486
00:34:14.920 --> 00:34:19.760
and they they played, Wow, they played and yeah, there's

487
00:34:20.159 --> 00:34:23.880
there was quite a few, take about almost ten of

488
00:34:23.960 --> 00:34:30.360
them all together from California and some up there from Seattle, yeah.

489
00:34:30.119 --> 00:34:31.400
And New Mexico.

490
00:34:32.639 --> 00:34:37.280
Wow, that all got together that what they were their students.

491
00:34:37.760 --> 00:34:41.559
Wow. So they were just they really like, brought you

492
00:34:41.599 --> 00:34:44.639
guys to do more than just perform on the stage.

493
00:34:45.159 --> 00:34:45.400
Yeah.

494
00:34:46.079 --> 00:34:50.760
I also read online that it's like an annual thing,

495
00:34:50.920 --> 00:34:55.360
annual Wednesday night and they call it Gachi Night where

496
00:34:55.519 --> 00:35:00.360
they still get together at this fiddle festival and they

497
00:35:00.400 --> 00:35:02.400
play gotcha for the little music.

498
00:35:03.280 --> 00:35:05.960
That's probably by your cycle. And they were the ones

499
00:35:06.039 --> 00:35:07.920
that just kind of kept it going.

500
00:35:08.159 --> 00:35:12.719
Can Ken and Jeannie one was O'Leary, wasn't it Oh.

501
00:35:12.639 --> 00:35:15.280
Jeannie o'liary and Ken.

502
00:35:15.320 --> 00:35:17.719
Knuppler yeah a Knoppler, Yeah.

503
00:35:17.920 --> 00:35:21.480
Yeah, they were still in contact. Well, they were all

504
00:35:21.519 --> 00:35:25.719
still in contact with them. And they won't come and

505
00:35:25.840 --> 00:35:27.119
visit up there at Kai.

506
00:35:27.320 --> 00:35:28.199
Oh yeah, I'm.

507
00:35:28.079 --> 00:35:33.320
From California to New Mexico and the one lady from Seattle, Washington,

508
00:35:34.039 --> 00:35:36.800
and they won't camp out over there, just sit out

509
00:35:36.800 --> 00:35:38.119
there and start playing.

510
00:35:38.280 --> 00:35:43.559
Oh really it didn't matter, just grably going at it.

511
00:35:44.559 --> 00:35:45.800
Wow.

512
00:35:46.119 --> 00:35:48.440
They came here a couple of times, and that's what

513
00:35:48.480 --> 00:35:51.400
they said, asked me play the guitar, hero, We're gonna

514
00:35:51.480 --> 00:35:56.239
play some songs, and here I was.

515
00:35:57.280 --> 00:35:59.719
But some of the their tunes too that they were

516
00:35:59.719 --> 00:36:06.079
doing was Cajun music kind of sounded the same in there,

517
00:36:07.039 --> 00:36:11.480
you know somehow the beat, So they did a lot

518
00:36:11.519 --> 00:36:16.480
of that. That group by your Second kind of like

519
00:36:16.760 --> 00:36:19.719
it was easy, but they were still saying it was

520
00:36:20.159 --> 00:36:25.840
something different with the yeah mm hmmm hm, the autumn

521
00:36:26.079 --> 00:36:26.599
side of it.

522
00:36:27.000 --> 00:36:28.000
Yeah.

523
00:36:28.079 --> 00:36:33.519
Yeah, I just want to remember Stevie. Uh he sent

524
00:36:34.119 --> 00:36:37.360
a text, I think to Jerry or a video. He

525
00:36:37.480 --> 00:36:40.760
thought he heard this man on the street he was

526
00:36:40.760 --> 00:36:44.199
playing the gatchy Fiddlers. Really, I don't know where.

527
00:36:44.559 --> 00:36:45.239
Oh wow.

528
00:36:46.480 --> 00:36:49.920
I don't remember the whole deal behind it or what

529
00:36:50.039 --> 00:36:52.719
he said, but he said it kind of just blew

530
00:36:52.760 --> 00:36:55.159
them away that the guy went on the sidewalk playing.

531
00:36:56.639 --> 00:36:57.440
That's so cool.

532
00:36:57.800 --> 00:37:03.000
Yeah, man, And they've been well Biocycle, they go overseas

533
00:37:03.519 --> 00:37:08.400
European countries and they played Godler. Yeah.

534
00:37:08.440 --> 00:37:13.800
So they're really continuing the keeping the music going and alive.

535
00:37:14.719 --> 00:37:18.480
Yeah. They live in Silver City.

536
00:37:18.559 --> 00:37:23.599
Uh huh. Do you know how and maybe Jerry, you

537
00:37:23.639 --> 00:37:29.840
know how did Lester and your dad connect and like

538
00:37:29.920 --> 00:37:32.320
how when did that? When do you know the story

539
00:37:32.360 --> 00:37:36.639
of like when Gachi Fiddlers kind of became a band.

540
00:37:37.320 --> 00:37:37.800
I think it.

541
00:37:38.079 --> 00:37:42.719
Started from when I'll call them late Uncle Augustine love

542
00:37:42.800 --> 00:37:48.599
Us from Chuca had this mariatric group or like something

543
00:37:48.679 --> 00:37:53.199
like a Mariachick group, and he would ask being that

544
00:37:53.320 --> 00:37:56.880
Lester was from Chucca, so you know, they know each others.

545
00:37:57.039 --> 00:38:00.840
And then and then somehow they got a hold of

546
00:38:00.880 --> 00:38:04.440
my dad and then my dad started playing with them too,

547
00:38:04.800 --> 00:38:07.840
and they would perform here and there and test grand

548
00:38:07.920 --> 00:38:11.920
and stuff. And then after that kind of went down

549
00:38:12.079 --> 00:38:14.679
and then and then I think it was when they

550
00:38:14.719 --> 00:38:20.119
were when that Walk Festival was gonna happen. Oh, then

551
00:38:20.159 --> 00:38:24.039
they heard that there was gonna be a fiddle band contest.

552
00:38:24.320 --> 00:38:27.199
So that's when I guess Uncle Leicester wanted to go.

553
00:38:28.039 --> 00:38:31.320
He was asking my dad, you know it's over and

554
00:38:31.559 --> 00:38:34.719
try it. So that's when they that's when they started

555
00:38:34.719 --> 00:38:38.840
and they came together. And then from there then they

556
00:38:38.920 --> 00:38:42.840
just people started how it goes, People start hiring them

557
00:38:42.960 --> 00:38:46.519
or asking them to play, and yeah, invites started coming

558
00:38:46.920 --> 00:38:50.920
from the church feast that they have and stuff celebrate its.

559
00:38:51.119 --> 00:38:51.360
Yeah.

560
00:38:51.480 --> 00:38:53.960
Then that that's where it just kept going.

561
00:38:53.920 --> 00:38:57.760
Well, do you know about what years that might have

562
00:38:57.840 --> 00:39:01.480
been in the beginning, like during the then into the.

563
00:39:02.239 --> 00:39:03.519
Well the late seventies.

564
00:39:03.760 --> 00:39:05.400
I think it would be probably.

565
00:39:05.119 --> 00:39:08.360
In the late late seventies, yeah, or the late sixties,

566
00:39:08.400 --> 00:39:10.360
cause I think I was kind but I was still

567
00:39:10.360 --> 00:39:13.880
in high school m oh Okay when my mom would say.

568
00:39:13.679 --> 00:39:17.599
That that they went to go practice. So my dad

569
00:39:17.639 --> 00:39:20.920
played with a lot of uh other scratch bands, but

570
00:39:21.039 --> 00:39:25.119
he did the guitar, yeah, with the Cisco band and

571
00:39:26.199 --> 00:39:29.239
those guys from Ajo Mattias.

572
00:39:30.119 --> 00:39:30.599
And he.

573
00:39:31.000 --> 00:39:34.159
People would ask him to play, so he would do

574
00:39:34.280 --> 00:39:38.199
the scratch band music, I guess scratch music. But it

575
00:39:38.320 --> 00:39:43.840
was then when these guys STU. I can't remember the

576
00:39:43.840 --> 00:39:47.400
the name of that group, but I know Augustine, Uncle

577
00:39:47.440 --> 00:39:52.599
Augustine was in there and his name was Leonard. I

578
00:39:52.639 --> 00:39:59.480
think Leonard Lopez. He's fuh from the the Lopez family

579
00:39:59.519 --> 00:40:03.280
on se Rosa on the on all in the on

580
00:40:03.320 --> 00:40:05.800
the east side. He was part of it too, So

581
00:40:06.800 --> 00:40:08.760
I think it was in the late sixties side.

582
00:40:09.239 --> 00:40:14.000
Wow, So now you know now that you're we're at

583
00:40:14.039 --> 00:40:17.800
where we're at today. I know you talked about how

584
00:40:17.840 --> 00:40:20.199
you were glad that you got to be a part

585
00:40:20.239 --> 00:40:25.519
of something with Gatcha Fiddlers and the music part. When

586
00:40:25.559 --> 00:40:28.679
you think back, what do you what do you think

587
00:40:28.719 --> 00:40:33.559
that you miss most about the group or being with them?

588
00:40:33.719 --> 00:40:38.360
And yeah, kind of kind of just sometimes I didn't

589
00:40:38.440 --> 00:40:41.480
listen too well, you know, to the music, or I

590
00:40:41.519 --> 00:40:45.000
didn't get really involved in it. I could feel it,

591
00:40:45.079 --> 00:40:50.800
but I couldn't really absorb it until sometimes when I

592
00:40:50.840 --> 00:40:55.119
play my cassettes or my CD, I missed there that

593
00:40:55.199 --> 00:40:59.800
they're not here nomore. Yeah, Yeah, because I could talk

594
00:40:59.840 --> 00:41:03.079
to them and joke with them, and they would say

595
00:41:03.119 --> 00:41:08.760
things about, you know, a certain song, what they remembered

596
00:41:09.079 --> 00:41:12.519
about somebody, what they were doing at that time, and

597
00:41:12.639 --> 00:41:16.920
we'd be all laughing because it was funny just being

598
00:41:16.960 --> 00:41:20.519
around they were older men. I did pick it up,

599
00:41:20.559 --> 00:41:23.280
but it was just at that time it was kind

600
00:41:23.280 --> 00:41:26.440
of hard to really experience it, I guess, but I

601
00:41:27.440 --> 00:41:33.000
I feel I felt it after when they left left us. Yeah,

602
00:41:33.400 --> 00:41:39.159
and Uncle Tommy would say, play that song, play that song,

603
00:41:39.760 --> 00:41:41.960
un Lester, and ELI would look at him, say what

604
00:41:42.159 --> 00:41:47.039
song that one song about that old man Gabby Hayes.

605
00:41:47.239 --> 00:41:50.760
Gabby Hayes song, Play that Gabby hay song, and hey

606
00:41:51.079 --> 00:41:55.920
could quit it and we start laughing because Gabby Hayes,

607
00:41:55.960 --> 00:41:57.840
I don't know, if you know, he's an old western

608
00:41:58.960 --> 00:42:03.119
back from the fifties. Oh yeah, movie star and he

609
00:42:03.280 --> 00:42:07.119
had a beard and an old guy, and he's always

610
00:42:07.159 --> 00:42:10.559
the clown of the movie. Okay, And that's what they

611
00:42:10.599 --> 00:42:13.199
would be laughing about. Was that song?

612
00:42:18.239 --> 00:42:19.239
What was the song?

613
00:42:20.159 --> 00:42:24.559
Gosh, it's a it's a scratch, I mean a two step.

614
00:42:25.039 --> 00:42:27.039
Oh okay, but I don't remember.

615
00:42:27.239 --> 00:42:31.159
How do you know where they picked up the songs

616
00:42:31.239 --> 00:42:34.159
or where they learned the songs? So because some of

617
00:42:34.199 --> 00:42:37.679
the songs are pretty unique, even like there's my favorite

618
00:42:37.679 --> 00:42:43.239
song off of the recorded one, like you never heard

619
00:42:43.320 --> 00:42:46.280
that song anywhere else. I always I'm curious just to know,

620
00:42:46.440 --> 00:42:49.400
like what is that song go? Even that one, because

621
00:42:49.400 --> 00:42:52.840
it's like different and I've never heard anybody else, or

622
00:42:53.639 --> 00:42:55.360
I don't know, it's just caught a two step, but

623
00:42:55.400 --> 00:42:58.280
it's that one that goes how does it start? It's

624
00:42:58.360 --> 00:43:45.480
kind of like slow, like it almost sounds like a waltz. Yeah, yeah,

625
00:43:46.199 --> 00:43:46.800
excuse me.

626
00:43:46.840 --> 00:43:49.840
I think on that part it just a lot of it.

627
00:43:50.840 --> 00:43:53.679
I'm not sure on Uncle Lestra's part of it side

628
00:43:53.679 --> 00:43:58.920
of it, but my dad was I guess our family

629
00:43:59.079 --> 00:44:03.119
was into the fiddle all from a grandpa, his dad

630
00:44:03.360 --> 00:44:06.559
and all these uh brothers and cousins that were there.

631
00:44:06.679 --> 00:44:10.280
The Johnson's from Kababbi. They had a band at that time.

632
00:44:10.800 --> 00:44:15.039
They would play the music like that, uh fiddle music.

633
00:44:15.199 --> 00:44:15.840
Don't like that.

634
00:44:16.000 --> 00:44:19.639
Noh yeah, Johnson's from uh like those. I don't know

635
00:44:19.639 --> 00:44:23.840
if you're a you know those Gloria Johnson and Marion Johnson,

636
00:44:24.639 --> 00:44:29.000
Rose Rose Johnson. They think it's just Marion and Gloria

637
00:44:29.079 --> 00:44:34.079
that's left right up and Kabobby Mary Johnson my aunt.

638
00:44:35.199 --> 00:44:40.000
But those guys, they were all piddl fiddle players.

639
00:44:40.039 --> 00:44:41.039
I guess, oh wow.

640
00:44:41.159 --> 00:44:44.800
And that's where it came from dad's site. You will be.

641
00:44:44.920 --> 00:44:47.320
He was always been in fiddle player.

642
00:44:47.679 --> 00:44:50.559
Yeah, but he would do like that guitar also on

643
00:44:50.760 --> 00:44:53.719
the side, and we grew up with that and that's

644
00:44:53.719 --> 00:44:56.280
where they count him sometimes when we were up there,

645
00:44:56.400 --> 00:44:59.280
when we were just kids, said Kababbi would we would

646
00:44:59.280 --> 00:45:03.280
go up there or the feasts and everybody get all excited.

647
00:45:03.280 --> 00:45:07.119
Who's gonna go after the generator? Cause that's.

648
00:45:08.599 --> 00:45:11.360
Get mad at each other. Make sure you get enough gas.

649
00:45:11.480 --> 00:45:14.000
And that's how they used to just play like that.

650
00:45:14.119 --> 00:45:18.199
These like what do you call it not no electric

651
00:45:18.320 --> 00:45:21.119
guitars are no drum, big old drum.

652
00:45:20.880 --> 00:45:23.480
Set, all acoustics right here.

653
00:45:23.880 --> 00:45:27.440
Uh, I mean it will go. I mean that's how

654
00:45:27.800 --> 00:45:30.320
how I remember the bands. And it was always like that,

655
00:45:30.519 --> 00:45:33.039
you know, some once in Hawaii it all will be

656
00:45:33.079 --> 00:45:36.039
in the most of the time I was guitar came

657
00:45:36.119 --> 00:45:39.000
from that side of it. But on my dad's side,

658
00:45:39.039 --> 00:45:42.079
that's how I remember. But m other ones I'm not sure.

659
00:45:42.440 --> 00:45:44.280
Like I was surprised Alcotomy played.

660
00:45:44.320 --> 00:45:49.679
I didn't even know the uncle Wilfrid.

661
00:45:49.800 --> 00:45:53.880
Yeah he he uh participated with the church groups and

662
00:45:54.000 --> 00:45:56.920
he will play the guitar choirs, I guess and stuff

663
00:45:56.960 --> 00:46:00.840
and he will play and yeah, yeah, I never knew

664
00:46:00.920 --> 00:46:06.239
Uncle Lester don't I mean played violin until they started playing. Yeah,

665
00:46:06.920 --> 00:46:10.960
so it's so quiet, I know, say anything. So the

666
00:46:11.039 --> 00:46:14.199
price when they all got together and they asked him

667
00:46:14.280 --> 00:46:18.119
to play, and Mark and our our son mm hmm,

668
00:46:18.719 --> 00:46:22.119
because he's he's always been into rock and roll and

669
00:46:22.119 --> 00:46:25.639
everything and never played. I never thought he would get

670
00:46:25.639 --> 00:46:29.159
into fiddle. I'm glad he did, mm hmm. Say the

671
00:46:29.159 --> 00:46:30.360
same way with Mark.

672
00:46:31.280 --> 00:46:35.880
Yes, Like when they introduced us at Port Townshend when

673
00:46:35.920 --> 00:46:40.760
we did the concert that MC. His name's David, but

674
00:46:40.800 --> 00:46:45.000
I remember his last name. He was introducing the guys

675
00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:48.800
in the banding and this man over here, the most

676
00:46:49.039 --> 00:46:56.639
smilingest man that you'll ever see, he said, Lester, that

677
00:46:56.760 --> 00:47:00.400
was pretty cool. But a lot of the songs were

678
00:47:00.480 --> 00:47:03.639
some of the songs that I remember that Elliott had

679
00:47:03.960 --> 00:47:07.519
composed on his by himself, and he just Lester her

680
00:47:07.599 --> 00:47:10.519
followed him and picked it up from there, like memories

681
00:47:10.519 --> 00:47:13.679
in Kobobbi and Libby Bird's.

682
00:47:13.239 --> 00:47:15.079
Song, Oh really wow.

683
00:47:15.280 --> 00:47:19.920
Yeah, Libby was our one of my my nieces and

684
00:47:20.079 --> 00:47:24.559
my older sisters. M my, my dad was saying out

685
00:47:24.599 --> 00:47:27.840
and she was practicing that one song, and I guess

686
00:47:27.840 --> 00:47:30.519
he she was just a little girl. Then she said

687
00:47:30.599 --> 00:47:34.480
he was out there playing and he was practice practicing,

688
00:47:34.519 --> 00:47:38.199
and then forty soon all these little blackbirds started coming

689
00:47:38.239 --> 00:47:40.400
around when she was sitting there. I guess I don't

690
00:47:40.400 --> 00:47:42.360
know if she was eating or what she was doing,

691
00:47:42.960 --> 00:47:45.440
but they all came around and they were around her

692
00:47:45.480 --> 00:47:48.480
when she was sitting there. After that, he that's when

693
00:47:48.519 --> 00:47:51.559
he just called that song, named it Levy Blackbird.

694
00:47:51.920 --> 00:47:53.719
Wow, that's so cool that.

695
00:47:53.519 --> 00:47:55.440
There was another one to I don't know where that

696
00:47:55.559 --> 00:48:02.079
came from that was peanut Shoes. Yeah, I guess it's

697
00:48:02.119 --> 00:48:04.199
just things that happened while they're playing it.

698
00:48:04.400 --> 00:48:07.760
Uh, they just pick it up after that.

699
00:48:08.480 --> 00:48:10.960
Yeah, like a lot of the scratch songs that are

700
00:48:11.519 --> 00:48:13.760
you know that all the bands play, they have this

701
00:48:14.119 --> 00:48:18.000
different styles of playing. Like I hear when the fiddlers

702
00:48:18.000 --> 00:48:21.519
were playing, they will play the song. Then I hear

703
00:48:21.599 --> 00:48:24.880
these other bands playing them. They said, oh wow, they

704
00:48:24.960 --> 00:48:28.760
changed it because everybody changes it. Yeah, a lot of

705
00:48:28.800 --> 00:48:32.960
Mexican music is like that. Yeah, they changed. There will

706
00:48:33.039 --> 00:48:36.800
be one the original one will be there, then another

707
00:48:36.840 --> 00:48:38.679
band will pick it up and change it all the

708
00:48:38.679 --> 00:48:42.199
way around. Just like when Red Beetter when we did

709
00:48:42.280 --> 00:48:46.599
Made in Japan, we played it one way. Then after

710
00:48:46.639 --> 00:48:50.960
that everybody started following and they played the song. Yeah,

711
00:48:51.039 --> 00:48:53.159
and a lot of the songs that we played at

712
00:48:53.159 --> 00:48:56.320
that time with Red Fetter, they some of the bands

713
00:48:56.360 --> 00:48:58.800
picked it up and they started doing their own versions

714
00:48:58.800 --> 00:49:02.360
of songs. And yeah, the same way with the fiddlers,

715
00:49:02.360 --> 00:49:04.360
you know. That's uh, the scratch bands in.

716
00:49:04.360 --> 00:49:07.639
Ality play the song those songs.

717
00:49:07.199 --> 00:49:08.320
Just different style.

718
00:49:08.679 --> 00:49:09.159
Yeah.

719
00:49:09.239 --> 00:49:13.079
Yeah, but yeah, Elliott did do original some originals and

720
00:49:13.199 --> 00:49:14.920
the bands picked it up.

721
00:49:15.320 --> 00:49:16.639
Yeah, that's cool.

722
00:49:17.800 --> 00:49:20.599
I don't remember if uh, I know they recorded it

723
00:49:20.679 --> 00:49:24.719
was uh and then if they called it don, it

724
00:49:24.760 --> 00:49:27.599
was called don and there was always uh always the

725
00:49:28.559 --> 00:49:31.719
that was the last song time or I guess my

726
00:49:31.800 --> 00:49:37.039
grandpa's and those guys so my grandpa my his name,

727
00:49:37.119 --> 00:49:39.960
so they Johnson, my dad's dad, and then the other

728
00:49:40.760 --> 00:49:45.440
other ones that h his his brothers too that uh

729
00:49:45.480 --> 00:49:48.239
they made that song. They put put that song together.

730
00:49:48.239 --> 00:49:51.880
It would play the feasting coabab com in the beast

731
00:49:51.920 --> 00:49:54.800
day and kababi and uh when they just one if

732
00:49:54.880 --> 00:49:56.239
the son was coming out.

733
00:49:56.119 --> 00:49:59.159
There, uh play that song and they just called it.

734
00:49:59.239 --> 00:50:01.639
I don't remember b if they called it, say are

735
00:50:01.639 --> 00:50:03.760
they yeah yea or something like that.

736
00:50:04.440 --> 00:50:06.239
But anyway, I just named.

737
00:50:06.000 --> 00:50:11.039
It dog oh okay or one of our our songs

738
00:50:11.079 --> 00:50:12.679
like the Thompson's family.

739
00:50:13.119 --> 00:50:13.960
But it was too bad.

740
00:50:14.039 --> 00:50:16.760
There was no recording things done at that time where

741
00:50:16.800 --> 00:50:19.960
they couldn't record. I don't think it would have been

742
00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:24.239
either for the fiddlers, but I your daughter's kind of

743
00:50:24.960 --> 00:50:28.559
bright them into going into Kenyon to record.

744
00:50:29.320 --> 00:50:31.480
When what's his name?

745
00:50:31.639 --> 00:50:35.239
The old man uh Foley? Uh No, the old man

746
00:50:35.320 --> 00:50:36.719
no Ray.

747
00:50:36.559 --> 00:50:39.239
Not Ray Bowley was there, but there was another one

748
00:50:39.280 --> 00:50:42.320
to the owner. I forgot they just went blank.

749
00:50:42.360 --> 00:50:44.880
You said his name Robert Robert.

750
00:50:45.079 --> 00:50:46.960
Robert Robert was there later on.

751
00:50:47.079 --> 00:50:51.159
But yeah, but anyway, I guess cause they they they

752
00:50:51.199 --> 00:50:53.559
didn't wanna go. I guess they kind of like didn't

753
00:50:53.599 --> 00:50:57.679
wanna share their songs or the Uh. Yeah, I forgot

754
00:50:57.719 --> 00:50:59.760
what my dad said or how he had put it.

755
00:50:59.800 --> 00:51:04.679
So they finally they finally went in and that's when

756
00:51:04.719 --> 00:51:05.880
they did their person.

757
00:51:06.800 --> 00:51:08.800
That's good that they did, though.

758
00:51:08.920 --> 00:51:14.440
Because this one says Robert Doyle, Ray Bowley, Steven Butler,

759
00:51:14.800 --> 00:51:15.440
Jack Miller.

760
00:51:15.880 --> 00:51:18.559
Ray Bowley said, the old man, Yeah, I guess that

761
00:51:18.719 --> 00:51:19.000
was him.

762
00:51:19.199 --> 00:51:21.119
He's passed on though he worked.

763
00:51:20.880 --> 00:51:24.400
With him, kind of be sneaky about it. But after

764
00:51:24.519 --> 00:51:27.320
one day then he he fed us to that day

765
00:51:27.400 --> 00:51:28.480
when we went over.

766
00:51:28.280 --> 00:51:31.360
There miss some restaurant and fed us lunch.

767
00:51:32.320 --> 00:51:35.760
The Ray Bowley and then he said, and I'd like

768
00:51:35.840 --> 00:51:39.480
to thank Ricardo for thank you for bringing the bringing

769
00:51:39.519 --> 00:51:53.239
the fiddlers in. Busted him a long ways too badly

770
00:51:53.320 --> 00:51:53.880
staying out.

771
00:51:54.000 --> 00:51:58.440
I guess nobody's really doing that. And it's like you're saying.

772
00:51:58.199 --> 00:52:00.920
You guys are So I started start playing the accordingon

773
00:52:00.920 --> 00:52:04.360
in twenty eighteen, and I've just been learning through YouTube.

774
00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:08.480
That's how I learned. And then, you know, once I

775
00:52:08.599 --> 00:52:11.280
learned the song, then I talked to Steve, and I

776
00:52:11.400 --> 00:52:15.519
talked to Uncle Isaac and Uncle Lusha's and I was

777
00:52:15.639 --> 00:52:18.599
wanting to bring the music together again with the new

778
00:52:18.719 --> 00:52:23.840
generation and not be the Express but just Vavage's family band.

779
00:52:24.199 --> 00:52:28.480
And so just when Uncle Lou came back around just

780
00:52:28.679 --> 00:52:34.639
last year, it was me, him and LeHo and nephew Emilio,

781
00:52:35.519 --> 00:52:38.440
and we started playing together. And then we now we're

782
00:52:38.519 --> 00:52:40.719
just going to cheat you and playing there with Isaac

783
00:52:41.320 --> 00:52:44.639
and Steve. When he's back home, he'll come and he'll

784
00:52:44.679 --> 00:52:45.239
play with us.

785
00:52:47.000 --> 00:52:48.920
But you guys are going to be doing different you

786
00:52:49.320 --> 00:52:53.039
just a regular like fiddle music and scratch music.

787
00:52:53.199 --> 00:52:57.079
Like yeah, yeah, that's kind of what we're doing.

788
00:52:59.239 --> 00:53:03.000
I don't jam the fiddlers too much, but when I

789
00:53:03.119 --> 00:53:05.199
do it, you know, I still feel it.

790
00:53:05.880 --> 00:53:08.719
Yeah, So do you still play? I mean, so you

791
00:53:08.760 --> 00:53:12.199
don't play with any bands anymore, you're just you know, yeah.

792
00:53:12.280 --> 00:53:16.199
I helped out a couple of bands before, just a

793
00:53:16.360 --> 00:53:21.039
gig and that's about it, they asked me. And here,

794
00:53:21.199 --> 00:53:27.199
we're busy with our food business. I don't know these

795
00:53:27.280 --> 00:53:29.119
fienders can move anymore.

796
00:53:31.280 --> 00:53:31.519
To me.

797
00:53:31.639 --> 00:53:34.440
I just want to go play, but then they put

798
00:53:34.519 --> 00:53:42.280
me up front again. Oh yeah, that's true. I mean

799
00:53:44.119 --> 00:53:46.880
I get to do that, but I haven't for a

800
00:53:46.960 --> 00:53:50.000
while now, a few years now, a couple of years. Yeah,

801
00:53:50.880 --> 00:53:55.280
played for a retirement party. Yeah it's the number one

802
00:53:55.639 --> 00:54:02.360
made in Japan. Everyone's request m Terror's ABC's Oh yeah,

803
00:54:03.559 --> 00:54:04.760
I wrote that one for her.

804
00:54:05.079 --> 00:54:05.679
Oh cool.

805
00:54:06.079 --> 00:54:06.280
Yeah.

806
00:54:06.360 --> 00:54:08.000
I used to play that a lot too.

807
00:54:08.079 --> 00:54:12.920
It cagen the other one. Pretty girl wrote that one

808
00:54:13.000 --> 00:54:16.639
for Terror too, Oh cool. With just Baby. We went

809
00:54:16.760 --> 00:54:19.599
to go see her at the hospital. She was laying

810
00:54:19.639 --> 00:54:22.239
in there. That's when it just came came on.

811
00:54:22.920 --> 00:54:28.599
Yeah, and just recent before Thanksgiving, somebody had wonderful and lost.

812
00:54:29.239 --> 00:54:31.599
That's when I tried to ask him to do a

813
00:54:31.639 --> 00:54:33.119
gospel tea.

814
00:54:34.400 --> 00:54:37.440
Not ready yet, Yeah, I don't know. I'm not ready

815
00:54:37.480 --> 00:54:39.760
to play gospel music yet, I guess.

816
00:54:40.280 --> 00:54:40.480
Yeah.

817
00:54:41.239 --> 00:54:44.000
So is there any any last thing that you want

818
00:54:44.079 --> 00:54:46.519
to add, or any last thing that you want to say,

819
00:54:46.559 --> 00:54:50.559
any shout outs or comments or message that you want

820
00:54:50.599 --> 00:54:52.159
to share with a younger generation.

821
00:54:53.320 --> 00:54:56.039
Well, most of all, just thankful that I did get

822
00:54:56.079 --> 00:54:59.800
to play the music that I did play, be part

823
00:54:59.840 --> 00:55:06.159
of of the music fiddlers and the scratch music, the singing.

824
00:55:07.199 --> 00:55:10.559
I've enjoyed all that. Had a lot of fun, met

825
00:55:10.599 --> 00:55:15.920
a lot of people, and the interview whatever you know

826
00:55:16.039 --> 00:55:20.320
you're gonna write or print. I don't mean to offend

827
00:55:20.480 --> 00:55:25.159
anybody or give them the idea that it's wrong to

828
00:55:25.280 --> 00:55:28.400
play this way or that way, because everybody has their

829
00:55:28.440 --> 00:55:33.320
own style. Everybody hears it different. You know, it might

830
00:55:33.440 --> 00:55:37.239
sound like a can rolling around and somebody's gonna like it,

831
00:55:38.000 --> 00:55:42.480
but maybe that's the music to them. I do miss

832
00:55:42.639 --> 00:55:49.199
it sometimes to jam, but I'm good all the experiences

833
00:55:49.320 --> 00:55:53.800
and travels that we did since I started playing, and

834
00:55:54.039 --> 00:55:57.000
the younger kids, you know, they have their own styles.

835
00:55:58.000 --> 00:56:02.480
Just keep on, keep on playing the music because you

836
00:56:02.599 --> 00:56:06.480
never can tell them you're gonna miss it. Just enjoy

837
00:56:06.559 --> 00:56:11.840
your time there, especially you know you're coming up. You

838
00:56:11.960 --> 00:56:16.239
want to express yourself into the music and people are

839
00:56:16.320 --> 00:56:20.960
gonna hear you and they'll they'll appreciate it. And I

840
00:56:21.119 --> 00:56:25.360
still sell Red Feather ceds even though we haven't played

841
00:56:25.440 --> 00:56:28.159
for a long time, people asking me for them. I'm

842
00:56:28.199 --> 00:56:31.199
thankful for the fans out there, you know that are

843
00:56:31.280 --> 00:56:35.679
still there. The families, all the families that were directly

844
00:56:35.800 --> 00:56:39.599
involved with the band, putting up with our late nights

845
00:56:39.679 --> 00:56:43.000
and all this other stuff that went on. And I

846
00:56:43.119 --> 00:56:46.199
know a lot of the groups are like that, and

847
00:56:46.320 --> 00:56:49.400
the families go through it too, and so you know,

848
00:56:50.159 --> 00:56:53.320
they stick with them though. And thank thank you for

849
00:56:54.000 --> 00:56:57.400
asking to do this interview. Trying to remember the best

850
00:56:57.480 --> 00:56:59.920
we can. But you know, I appreciate that you are

851
00:57:00.599 --> 00:57:04.800
picking up the fiddle music. M keep going well with Tina.

852
00:57:05.119 --> 00:57:06.800
It's something you'll trigger.

853
00:57:08.119 --> 00:57:13.880
Yeah, yeah, yeah, thank you. Thank you and everybody that

854
00:57:14.000 --> 00:57:18.280
came before us who picked up this type of music

855
00:57:18.519 --> 00:57:21.800
or any music and and and put it out there

856
00:57:22.119 --> 00:57:25.840
and recorded it and in some way whatever form of

857
00:57:25.960 --> 00:57:29.280
recording that is, and was able to tell their story

858
00:57:30.039 --> 00:57:33.519
because it's important, you know me. Even now, there's not

859
00:57:33.639 --> 00:57:37.559
a lot of information out there, at least from autumn.

860
00:57:37.840 --> 00:57:41.480
You know, this is being told from autumn on autumn perspective.

861
00:57:41.880 --> 00:57:44.719
So yeah, thank you for taking the time to share

862
00:57:44.760 --> 00:57:48.159
your story and for you know, just inviting me into

863
00:57:48.199 --> 00:57:49.760
your home to capture it.

864
00:57:50.079 --> 00:57:51.679
Yeah, thank you, appreciate it.

865
00:57:55.679 --> 00:57:56.280
Well, I thank you.

866
00:57:56.440 --> 00:57:58.000
Fuck I am going on me.

867
00:57:58.960 --> 00:57:59.880
I helped to see that.

868
00:58:02.280 --> 00:58:04.800
Thank you very much. I already go at the country

869
00:58:04.840 --> 00:58:05.280
on Jerry.

870
00:58:05.280 --> 00:58:06.320
It's very beautiful.

871
00:58:07.159 --> 00:58:10.360
We're there now, I'm gonna feel the hot oil on

872
00:58:10.519 --> 00:58:22.400
again starting I let it go, check on the three points,

873
00:58:22.400 --> 00:58:25.199
because somebody imagine it's.

874
00:58:24.599 --> 00:58:41.320
Just what do you think you wanted to play another one? Elliott, Jerry,

875
00:58:43.480 --> 00:58:47.159
you may as well not wheel it away, Come on

876
00:58:47.440 --> 00:58:48.199
back out.

877
00:58:55.840 --> 00:58:56.000
Let me.

878
00:58:57.039 --> 00:58:58.760
Let me just tell you one more thing, Jerry.

879
00:58:58.800 --> 00:59:01.679
I was asking Jerry about the music and asking him

880
00:59:01.719 --> 00:59:03.599
if he could describe the kind of feeling and the

881
00:59:03.679 --> 00:59:06.639
context in which it was played down in southwestern Arizona,

882
00:59:06.679 --> 00:59:08.960
and he was trying to tell me some of the

883
00:59:09.039 --> 00:59:10.599
things it meant to people who play it and to

884
00:59:10.679 --> 00:59:12.440
listen to it, and he said, you know, for me,

885
00:59:12.599 --> 00:59:20.639
the music is lively, relaxing and spiritual. And somehow that

886
00:59:20.800 --> 00:59:23.360
was such a magical description of it for me. I

887
00:59:23.480 --> 00:59:26.679
don't do many things that are lively and relaxing, and

888
00:59:28.239 --> 00:59:30.840
nor are many of the things that I do in

889
00:59:31.000 --> 00:59:33.199
terms of this kind of music things that I would

890
00:59:33.239 --> 00:59:36.760
consider spiritual experiences. But I have a lot of feeling

891
00:59:36.840 --> 00:59:39.079
from talking to them about that, and I think I

892
00:59:39.239 --> 01:04:46.039
understand something. Let's hear one more tune, Okay, then.

893
01:03:28.679 --> 01:03:41.400
Thanks, Well, it's great. Dacchi Fiddler's the autumnation.

894
01:03:46.519 --> 01:03:51.079
Supple. That's it for this episode. Thanks for listening and

895
01:03:51.360 --> 01:03:55.440
for helping the podcast grow. I really do appreciate it.

896
01:03:55.840 --> 01:03:58.960
To support the podcast and to hear more episodes, you

897
01:03:59.079 --> 01:04:03.599
can go to t Oyong Voices dot com