Re: [Harp-L] Andy J. Forest - what i was up to in Canada

[JohnnieHarp <johnnieharp@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Harvey,

Thanks for posting the link.

I'm familiar with that area and have driven along the isolated road
where the venue is located. Wouldn't have thought there would be a
venue there due to the location and distance from even small towns.
It's really rural in a very rural area of Eastern Ontario in the
Ottawa Valley. There are summer cottages and a ski hill/golf course in
the general area.

I checked out the location of the cafe on google maps and it is the
Eastern Ontario equivalent of a Mississippi juke joint and is at a
crossroads in the midst of the pine forest rather than cotton fields.
Google has been there and one can pull up a "street" view of the
venue.

This part of Ontario was populated in the 1800s by Irish and Scottish
immigrants and is within a few miles of the Ottawa River which forms
the border between Ontario and Quebec in that area. Pretty poor for
farming but was an important area for the lumber industry in the past.

Winslow might have some some insight into the music from days gone by
in the area as fiddle music, step dancing, etc. was common. As well
there likely were French Canadian musical influences infused by french
canadian workers in the timber industry.

Musically, maybe more in common with New Orleans and Louisianna cajun
music than one would otherwise think, given the vast difference in
location within North America?