He Fiddles Around With Holiday Spirit
The sounds of Christmas last 133 minutes in Bonners Ferry this year.
They include “A Christmas Yodel,” “The Christmas Waltz” and “Yingling Bells.” They feature the lilting fiddles and down-home voices of Christmases past. They arouse visions of frosty-cheeked farmers and bonfires in snowy fields.
“This is the country-western that modern radio and music’s forgotten exists,” says Joel MacDonald, who produced the 2-1/2 audiotape collection. “This is the western music that isn’t anymore.”
Joel’s experiment in inexpensive music producing last year prompted all sorts of old-time musicians to trek to his rustic MCCBS Studio just south of the Canadian border.
The MacDonalds go way back in Bonners Ferry, and so does their music. Musicians who had never recorded before trusted Joel with original compositions as precious as family heirlooms.
The Christmas project began as family fun last spring. By summer, it had exploded into a regional recital of 42 musicians from 21 families.
“It has a particularly Northwest flavor,” Joel says.
He recorded the waltz his fiddling dad, Allan, composed on an ancient violin he’d just refurbished.
“I tuned it, and the tune just jumped into my head,” 78-year-old Allan says.
Originally he named it “The Ruby Ridge Waltz,” with publicity in mind.
“It was because of the Internet,” Joel says. “Call up Ruby Ridge, and the waltz will pop up with every other Ruby Ridge entry.”
But Joel’s mother, Mildred, wrote Christmas words to the tune, so “The Christmas Waltz” became the first of a dozen original compositions on Joel’s holiday collection.
Joel, a yodeler and singer, recorded his own Christmas version of “An Austrian Went Yodeling,” then asked his musical aunts to contribute.
His wisecracking aunt, Doris Howard, a state senior fiddling champ, teamed with her sister, Ruth Hoglan, her brother Allan and Mildred to record a light French carol. Ruth, who taught Joel to yodel, added the comical “Yingling Bells” to the collection.
In the midst of taping, a local bluegrass band came to record its music. Joel asked if the band had any Christmas music to contribute to his project.
Once the collection became more than a family matter, Joel began inviting every local musician he knew to participate.
“I just did it because Joel asked,” says Robyn Karle, a shy, 30-something guitarist who sings like Carly Simon. Robyn composed her song, “The Stable,” while on vacation last summer with her husband and two sons.
“You hear all these real neat Christmas songs and always associate them with their first singer,” she says. “I wanted to be that first time for somebody.”
The Samter family gathered to contribute two traditional carols. Rosie Samter, who’s 15, fiddled to a top finish in the Idaho State Grange Talent Contest last month, then finished third at the national contest in Massachusetts.
Roger and Bonnie Crigger drove up to Joel’s studio from their home in Cataldo to record a family poem and Roger’s original composition, “Messiah.”
“I never even thought about how much I had,” Joel says. “I just kept recording.”
The Tanner family string players recorded two carols with the collection’s youngest musician, 12-year-old Thomas Tanner. Charlie Beaton, an 86-year-old Canadian fiddle champ, logged in as the oldest contributor.
“This is a first,” says Joel’s Aunt Ruth, tapping her finger on the three finished tapes. “There are kids playing and I went to school with some of their grandparents and I was their first accompaniment.
“Music in North Idaho has always been important.”
Joel didn’t charge anyone to record for the tape. It cost him about $4,000, but he’s not complaining.
“Oh, it was tough,” he says, a smile spilling over his face. “I had grin cramps every single day from working with all these people.”
The MCCBS Christmas Concert tapes cost $20 for the set or $25 for two CDs. They’re for sale throughout Bonners Ferry and at Nieman’s Music and Floral Shop and Northwest Artisans in Sandpoint. They’re also available from the musicians.
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