Fiddle Wall of Fame calls Granger
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/04/2016 (3633 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Allison Granger, formerly of Brandon, will be inducted into the Manitoba Fiddle Association’s Wall of Fame on Sunday.
Granger, 35, will be the youngest member ever elected to the Wall, which is in Carman.
“It’s an honour to be recognized,” said Granger from her home in Edmonton, where she is a professional musician and teacher. “I don’t do it for the recognition though. I do it for the love of music.”
Granger first picked up a fiddle at the age of four with much of her classical training taking place at Brandon University.
“I was guided by a lot of different people and when you study that many people, your own style kind of comes out of that,” Granger said, adding that she describes her style as “eclectic.”
She comes by her musical talents honestly. Her father Brian is a renowned fiddler, while her mother is a keys and drums player. Granger will join her parents on the wall as they were inducted in the builder category in 2007.
After several years guiding the now-defunct Fantasy Fiddlers, Granger was picked up by Barrage, a violin-based modern ensemble, at the age of 16.
Throughout her career, she has been able to perform for the likes of Prince Charles, the Saudi royal family and has done four tours for Canadian troops overseas. More recently, she performed with Juno Award-winning country music artist Carolyn Dawn Johnson, country singer Aaron Pritchett and singer-songwriter Jaida Dreyer. She has also hit the road with Gord Bamford as part of the Reba McEntire Canadian tour.
In 2013, while a member of Bamford’s band, she was named fiddler of the year at the Canadian Country Music Association’s awards.
While it’s almost always a struggle as a professional musician, Granger wanted to thank everyone who has helped her along the way, particularily her family.
“It takes a lot of perseverance and practice,” Granger said. “It really takes a village to get a musician to this point.”
Granger is joined in this year’s class by Denis Encontre from Île-des-Chênes and two Westman fiddlers who are going on the Wall posthumously in Dauphin’s Fiddlin’ Red Sabiston and Neepawa’s Charlie Sage.
» ctweed@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @CharlesTweed