Scott Benson raises the fiddle to his chin, positions the bow, and begins to play with relish.
He stomps his foot as he plays, the fiddle emitting a reel, the traditional music for an Irish or Scottish folk dance.
When he finishes, he smiles and says: "That was Rannie MacLellan's. It's a reel written by my distant cousin, Brenda Stubbert."
Benson is a Cape Breton-style fiddler who lives in Moose Jaw.
He just released his first CD, Point Aconi, recorded with the help of cousin Stubbert, also a Cape Breton fiddler, and other musicians from the Nova Scotia island.
Benson's family roots are in Cape Breton; in 1900, his great-great grandmother left Sydney Mines, N.S., a community on the island, to settle in Saskatchewan.
Benson dedicated Point Aconi to her.
Cape Breton-style fiddling is a combination of Irish, Scottish, French and Acadian fiddle music, explained Benson. As the different groups settled the island, their types of music melded.
Benson began playing classical music on the violin at age five. He moved on to Cape Breton-style fiddling when he was in Grade 9 in high school (the 27-year-old Benson is a graduate of Central Collegiate in Moose Jaw).
"I wanted to try something different, so I started listening to CDs from Cape Breton fiddlers," said Benson, naming Natalie MacMaster, Glenn Graham and Buddy MacDonald as examples of the musicians who caught his ear.
"I just love it, the tradition of it. A lot of the tunes Cape Breton fiddlers play are 200 and 300 years old."
Benson's new CD, recorded in Cape Breton, is a mixture of traditional tunes and music written by current artists.
Benson is the primary fiddle player on the CD, but other musicians lent their fiddle talents, too, including Stubbert and Andrea Beaton. Troy MacGillivray also played fiddle, but mostly the piano, and Patrick Gillis plays guitar.
The CD was recorded over a couple of days last October.
"I wanted it to have a natural feel, like it wasn't too produced. We would lay down tracks a couple of times, and then pick the one we liked. If the music was edited too much, it wouldn't do it justice."
Friday, June 5
• Moose Jaw Cultural Centre, 8 p.m.
Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at the cultural centre box office,
693-4700.
Saturday, June 6
• Bobby's Place, 9 p.m.
