Chris Quinn

I was six years old. I remember standing beside my father in front of the Viking Hi-Fi. As he rested the needle on the record, he looked at me shrewdly and said, Listen to this. Electric crackles, a swelling audience and then the kick off to Salty Dog Blues. I was riveted! He handed me the water coloured album cover and pointed to a man in a dark suit, a string tie and a Stetson. That's Earl Scruggs. I immediately adopted dads copy of Flatt and Scruggs at Carnegie Hall. In my room, with my own little suitcase record player, I played that album to death. I would sit on the floor, my dads stringless Harmony tenor banjo clutched in my hands, and listen over and over. My one constant thought was, How is he doin that?! I had no ideaI got my first five string banjo on Christmas Day when I was twelve. A music store had a serious fire just a few weeks before and my dad bought a beat up old five string for $75.00. I remember looking at it a lot. I was scared to touch it! Not because it was precious or beautiful. I was afraid because if I tried to play it and couldn't then what? I tried anyway. For two years, I played chords out of a book, broke countless sets of Black Diamonds and never touched the fifth string. When I was in grade eight, I broke my leg and couldn't take gym. While away from gym, I met a guy from grade twelve named Jimmy Kyle who knew how to play a few rolls on the banjo. He kindly showed me two patterns. Ah, light!! Fifth string! From then on, every day after school, I was locked in my bedroom for about six or seven hours at a time. I would play my 33 RPM records at 16RPMs, sometimes even pushing them slower with my fingertip, to try and find every note that I could. I played along with records for almost six years before I ever played with another person.

By now, I've played with my share of great musicians. In the early 90s, I played with Chris Coole and Dan Whiteley as One Horse Town. Heartbreak Hill with Dan, Dottie Cormier and Jenny Whiteley was next. That culminated in a JUNO nomination. I currently play with Crazy Strings, which consists of various hot pickers and singers, several of whom appear with me on this recording. My newest band isThe Foggy Hogtown Boys- with Coole again - just can't seem to shake that guy.

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