Devachan Music - Mark Simos

Here are my words describing Childsplay, written some time ago:

"Childsplay is a guild of fiddlers and violinists (fiddlists and violiners?) sharing a unique bond of history and working in manifold ways towards a common vision of musical community. Our genesis was an annual colloquy of musicians who play fiddles made by the contemporary violin-maker, Robert Childs ("Cue" to his friends, based on his famous barbecue sauce—hence the title of the waltz I wrote in his tribute, "Cue's Mug"). Some years ago, Bob's instruments got very popular within traditional musician's circles. Besides making wonderful violins, Bob's been active for many years as a dance caller, workshop leader, and counselor; he's a man who carries the gesture of community around him. It's no accident that Childsplay formed as a kind of family of those lesser men would call clients.

The larger vision we share: we are dedicated to furthering the myriad traditional fiddle styles of the world. Our ranks include players immersed to varying degrees in diverse fiddle (and violin) traditions: Southern Appalachian, New England, Cape Breton, Quebecois, Scandinavian, English, Irish, Scottish, Cajun, bluegrass, jazz, Western European classical, klezmer, and Texas Swing, among others. While there are local, national and international organizations supporting many of these individual traditions, and other organizations (Fiddle and Dance, CDSS, etc.) supporting folk music and dance in general, Childsplay is a unique union of amateur and professional players of diverse fiddle traditions in one celebratory community.

A Childsplay tour celebrates the fiddle in all its particularity, its specialty, its variegated glory. We hope to communicate these values in our music and music-making:

social music-making: the joys of learning and playing music in a community that celebrates individual style;

acoustic instruments: the love of wood and metal—hearing a true "family" of instruments with personal history rather than mere factory-burnished uniformity;

dance fiddling: the connection of live acoustic music with local, community-based dance traditions;

cross-fertilization: the creativity that springs from interaction and crossover between different traditional styles of music;

preservation of living traditions, both through unearthing and sharing forgotten jewels, and by furthering the work of contemporary tunesmiths and dancesmiths from many traditions;

orchestration: exploring the Ivesian "wall of sound" possibilities of a couple of dozen or more fiddlers on one stage (with no conductor!)

We perpetrate this mayhem through dances, concerts, workshops and the inky media. Come find us when we invade your neck of the woods and discover how you too can help Save Humanity Through Fiddle Music!"