- TOiVO artist and snare drum
I have two regrets in life – I didn’t learn to play an instrument, and I didn’t learn many different languages when I was young and my brain quickly absorbed the things that interested me. My parents would have gladly paid for lessons, but I never asked them.
In my early twenties, I taught myself how to play the fiddle by listening to record albums - with the speed turned down from the usual 33rpms to 16rpms, which made it possible to hear every note of a tune so slowly - that I could learn the tune. At that speed the tune was an octave lower, but my fiddle was still in standard pitch. I learned about using that method from a great fiddler.
Eventually I played fiddle in a few dance bands, including one with Rich Koski – our accordion player in Toivo. BUT, I never liked my fiddle playing, and so I quit doing it. Lately I toy with the idea of picking it up again, but so far, I haven’t done it.
I do LOVE playing my snare drum with Toivo though! I am happy banging away to the tunes that we play. I have my own odd way of playing, and I hope that the people who dance to our band, and the ones that come just to listen, think it fits in and adds to the fun.
I have painted in watercolor and other mediums since I was a toddler. I discovered late in life that I also love to write and wrote a memoir of my life called The Whore Next Door, which I illustrated. It covers my wild years – age 18 to 35. I am now working on the sequel, which I will illustrate as well. If you are curious, you may check out my website for more details.