Mr. Rendell Mercer is an individual who has had a profound effect on the Conception Bay North area, bringing to life the fiddling tradition that exists there today. In a recent interview he enlightened me with details of the role that traditional music and fiddling played in his generation.

Mr. Mercer was born in 1940, and was raised in Upper Island Cove. After completing grade eleven, Mr. Mercer went to Bay of Islands. There he alternated between teaching and going to University. He was later assigned a permanent teaching position in Spaniard’s Bay, where he taught and was principal of the school until he retired, approximately twelve years ago.

Music was a very prominent part of Mr. Mercer’s life from an early age. During his youth, community dances were still a very important part of the community social scene. Mr. Mercer said that listening to the many repetitions of these tunes implanted the melodies into the minds of both the listeners and the dancers. He described his personal method of learning the dance steps. He would observe the dancers at the “time,” and upon his return home, he would make his way to the cellar, and hanging from two rails, would whistle the tunes and practice the steps in mid-air.

Mr. Mercer received his first fiddle when he was in grade nine. It came as an unexpected Christmas present from his mother. She had much admired Mr. Mercer’s grandfather, who had been a fiddler during his lifetime. As there were no fiddlers at this time in Upper Island Cove, it was up to Mr. Mercer to learn the art himself. He deciphered the proper tuning of the violin and initially played “backup” for his brother Verdun, who played the guitar. The first tune he learned, “I’s the B’y,”, and many other tunes, were taught to him by his mother. She would sing the tunes to him, including any ornamentation that was present in the version she knew. Mr. Mercer would then try to reproduce these melodies.

Because there were no other fiddlers in the area, Mr. Mercer had to figure out the physical mechanics of how to play the instrument himself. For example, to ensure the music was in tune, he would bar his first finger across the string, adjusting it accordingly, and use his remaining three fingers to play the notes of the particular fiddle tune. It was not until his first teaching assignment in the Bay of Islands that he came in contact with other fiddlers and realized that one could play using the first finger and open strings. Eager to learn and practice these new techniques, Rendell used a violin belonging to his boarding house and practiced these new techniques when he was alone.

As country-style music and rock ‘n’ roll became popular, the art of traditional music slowly dissipated. Mr. Mercer illustrated the change in interests by talking about his band. “The Twilights,” a band of friends from Upper Island Cove, played during the late 1950s. The band originally played a more traditional repertoire. Initially, such instruments as the banjo, fiddle, guitar, accordion and drums were used, without amplification. With the rise in popularity of country music, instruments such as the electric bass and guitar became more popular and the traditional repertoire was replaced with the popular music of the day. Mr. Mercer described to me his own personal estrangement from traditional music; ‘I hung up my fiddle home over the couch where I learned to play. My fiddle just hung there, and it hung, and I guess it just waited on me…” (Mercer).

Mr. Mercer also explained to me the development, and his contribution to it, to Newfoundland traditional music in Spaniard’s Bay and its surrounding area. After his retirement twelve years ago, Mr. Mercer volunteered to return to his old school, and start a fiddling program with the grade five and six classes. In order to this, he had to repair and make use of old instruments from the community, many of which had been unused for some time. The fiddle group was a notable success Children wanted private lessons, and a community fiddle class was established. Fiddling programs were also started at Amalgamated Academy, Ascension Collegiate, Baccalieu Collegiate, All Hallows Elementary and Carbonear Collegiate, to name a few. Mr. Mercer has played an instrumental role in the creation, instruction and advisement of all these groups. To date, the number of fiddle students taught or influenced by Rendell Mercer exceeds three hundred.

Mr. Mercer exposes his pupils to a number of different fiddle styles, claiming that all have something of importance to offer. Whether it be the ornamentation of the Irish style or the deliberation and intention of the Cape Breton style, he feels that in order to be a well rounded fiddler, one must be subjected to all the genre has to offer. In addition, Mr. Mercer strongly encourages the study of classical violin to develop the fundamental techniques needed to play the instrument properly.

Rendell Mercer’s fiddle group has had many outstanding achievements to date, all which have greatly increased the community’s exposure to traditional music and culture. One of the highlights was their performance at the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra’s “Big Ticket” concert three or four years ago. Mr. Mercer described the hard work, dedication and determination required of the group to prepare for such a performance. The group regularly performs at folk festivals across the province, bringing our unique traditions and styles to other parts of the island, and every year the group performs at the Kiwanis Music Festival in Carbonear. Before Mr. Mercer’s involvement in the musical community, the fiddle class did not exist in our festival. Rendell insists that both his group and his private students enter every year, as it is an occasion for which they must be prepared, and are adjudicated. He feels it is important, as it increases the public’s awareness, appreciation and love for traditional fiddle music.

Mr. Mercer considers Kelly Russell an “unsung hero” for the work he did in promoting our traditional style through recordings and transcriptions of traditional repertoire. I strongly feel that Mr. Mercer, too, is an unsung hero in his own right, and deserves to be in the same league as those he admires. Not only has he revived the traditional fiddling style in my hometown, but he has re-instilled in the hearts of our community members a love and appreciation for the precious art form that nearly disappeared all those years ago.

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