Transcript

File: poirierzelieanne-oh-musicinhome_M.mp3

Speakers:

ZP – Zélie-Anne Arsenault Poirier

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

KP There must have been a lot of music around the home

ZP Oh yeah!

KP Can you tell us a little bit about ...

ZP We had an old-fashioned organ, and you remember them old fashioned organs?

KP I've seen a few of them.

ZP We had an old guitar. Always a couple of fiddles in the house: had to be, there was too many playing. And we used to have square dances in the house, there were so many. We had 14 one winter, all winter: 14 in the house, so lots of nights we has square dances. We were never short of music, and that's for sure. Everybody used to come down and sing and dance and God knows what.

KP You mean other people in the neighborhood?

ZP Yes, the neighbors.

KP Now who used to play for the square dances in your house?

ZP Anyone at all that could grab a fiddle. We could all play.

KP Right. So how could - who would be the first one? Would everyone want to play the fiddle or would everyone want to dance?

ZP It didn't matter, as long as one would grab the fiddle and played: the others would dance. And we used to stepdance, learn to stepdance – It was on the cellar door outside. We’d make so much noise in the house, so my mother'd kick me out. Go out there and make all the noise I wanted to make. And that's how we did it.