Good news for Fiddlesticks Fox and his pals Pickle Pete and Cinnamon Bear. These creations of Gibsons entertainer Graham Walker are up for music industry honours. Walker's latest CD, Fiddlesticks!, has been nominated in the outstanding children's recording category at this year's Western Canadian Music Awards to be held in Winnipeg Oct. 22.
The CD of amusing lyrics and simple tunes written by Walker is aimed at kids under the age of eight. Many local musicians were involved, including Joe Hatherill and Ken Grunenberg on sax (Walker also plays with Grunenberg in the jazz band Cedar Groove Quartet), Lowry Olafson on violin, Celso Machado on percussion and Steve Quattrochi, among others. Several songs were recorded at Glitchless Studios in Roberts Creek while the majority were completed at glass blower and engineer Wayne Harjula's studio in Langdale. Fiddlesticks! was inspired by an illustration of Fiddlesticks Fox by Gibsons artist Sa Boothroyd, whose work can be seen on the cover.
This CD was a long time in the making. From a pool of over 100 original songs, Walker determined which 14 would make the cut. The result has already earned an Parenting.com media award.Walker, whose son is now 21, has been in the children's entertainment field since the 1970s. Following his degree in English, he went to work for parks and recreation in Burnaby. As the eldest brother of six siblings, he had experience organizing programs for young kids.
"Kids aren't stuffy or stuck up; they're great to be around," he said.
Even as an adult back in the 1970s, he would often find himself looking through the children's section of the library being inspired to write down what he calls his "funny little ideas" until they became poems.
He admired the many artisans who created jewellery or pottery and knew that he could be as creative, so he gathered his poems for children into a small book that he had printed for sale at the Circle Crafts Co-op fair in Vancouver. He recalls being delighted when the first grandmother bought a copy, then another one, until he sold out all 500.His dad was musical, his mom sang, and Walker has played the drums since the age of 14. When he picked up a guitar for the first time at the age of 30, his children's poems and stories turned into lyrics. "In good songs, the lyrics have to work," he said. "Each line should tickle your ear."
His first recording was Cat's Night Out produced in 1986 in a Kitsilano studio under the helpful guidance of producer Wayne Chase. By 2001, on his compilation CD, Jumpety Jump, he had learned to do his own production and was able to find local musicians to help him. The next CDs earned him national parenting association awards.
Also nominated at the Music Awards in the children's recording category is the latest from Pied Pumkin singer Rick Scott for his Snooze Music, an album of dulcimer lullabies. (Scott will be giving a family concert featuring his CD music in Gibsons on Oct. 15 at the Heritage Playhouse.) Walker is not interested in turning the awards into a competition among fellow musicians.
"Awards are good, but they're not what motivates me," he says.
Another musician familiar to Coast music fans has also been nominated for a Western Canadian Music award in the category of outstanding classical music recording. Alexander Tselyakov, who has twice turned his talents towards the artistic direction of the Pender Harbour Chamber Music Festival, has been nominated for Alexander Tselyakov Plays Variations on the Theme of Paganini.
The music awards on October 22 follow three days of festival and honour outstanding achievement in the industry across four western provinces.
