FIDDLING WITH TRADITIONS
Early in 2022, I began a project called “Fiddling with Traditions,” setting out to compose a new collection of tunes inspired by conversations with Northern New York artists. After a creative pause during the pandemic, I was in search of new ways to think about approaching music. With the support of TAUNY [Traditional Arts in Upstate New York], I conducted interviews with artists from a variety of media from papermaking to blacksmithing. Over the course of this year, I have composed a new suite of tunes, written articles, and am currently producing a series of music videos featuring these extraordinary folks.

~Gretchen

"Fiddling with Traditions" is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

METAL SHOP

Ever been to a metal shop? It is not generally a quiet place! Walking into James Gonzalez’s Farmhouse Forge in Potsdam, NY I was met with childhood memories of my father’s welding shop in Massachusetts. From the clangs and bangs, the distinct smell of steel, seeing his latest projects, it was a place with endless possibilities. 

SOUNDS

James commented that his shop was not full of beautiful sounds for a violin. I laughed, but when metal hits metal, there is a a high frequency ring that is similar to how my high E string rings after being struck by my bow. And when I heard the pounding of the pneumatic hammer, it reminded me of the fierce “driven bow” a fiddler uses during a rip-roarin’ contra dance tune. For me, a metal shop was easily translated into a fiddle tune.

JAMES GONZALEZ, Blacksmith & Metal artist

Though this was my first time officially meeting James, I had known him for many years through his work. I am welcomed by the beautiful signs he designed for the entrance of the Potsdam Public Library, I love the gorgeous railing at our friend’s camp, and I always marveled when his work was on display at TAUNY, Traditional Arts in Upstate New York and The St. Lawrence Arts Council.

FIDDLING SKELETON

Just before our interview, I played at the St. Lawrence Arts Council next to a wall of James’ work, one of which featured a fiddling skeleton! I loved this work and remarked to the audience that I felt like that skeleton and I were playing a duet.  I knew if my new idea for “Fiddling with Traditions” every became a reality, I would have my chance to write a fiery dance tune for my skeleton colleague!

FARMHOUSE FORGE

Just as serendipity connected me to James, he feels it brought him to the North Country a decade ago from Texas via Massachusetts. At his Potsdam homestead, he has converted an old dairy barn into his metal shop. Trained in sculpture, James focuses on blacksmithing and plasma cutting, making everything from knives, to architectural pieces to his personal favorite, 2D wall art. 

BLACKSMITH

The essence of  blacksmithing involves heating and reshaping metal. James lights up when he talks about how much he enjoys working with the “resistance” of the metal. He said it is akin to cold, hard clay that needs to be coaxed into movement. Metal is made malleable when it is heated to high temperature, and he shapes it with his clean, shiny hammers (just as blacksmiths like to keep them) on his equally shiny double horned Artist’s blacksmith anvil. In addition to using his muscles,  he uses machines to flatten, bend and grind the metal into its final shape. 

QUENCH

During the process, he dips the hot red metal into a bucket of water used to quickly cool the metal. On my first visit to the forge, his slag tub was frozen solid, as he had to offer the heater to his very cold chickens for the week until their coop heater was fixed. The quenching process freezes the hot/loose molecules of the heated metal in place and makes the metal hard. When the red hot metal hits the water there is a wonderful plume of steam that makes a great hissing sound.  I loved the onomatopoeia of the word “quench” and was determined to figure out a way to work a “chhhhhh” into a tune!

PLASMA CUTTING

If forging metal results in something heavy and dense, then plasma cutting is quite the opposite. With his hand held plasma cutter, he is subtracting metal to reveal light and airy cutouts. Inspired by Haitian metal cutting and the Mexican paper cutting of his youth, his 2D wall hangings are full of mythological characters, whimsy, the natural world and more. He tells me that old metal roofing material is his favorite, since it only contains one bumpy ribbed seam that needs to be hammered flat, unlike modern roofing with many ribbed seams to be flattened. He also loves the beautiful patina (non-metal lovers call rust) that adds “character” to each piece. I agree that his canvases are quite beautiful. When I asked him where he gets such metal, he points out the window to a collapsed barn. The old barn is getting new life as it is slowly being transformed into art, from its metal roof to the wood that frames many of his pieces.

QUIET IN THE METAL SHOP

I asked James about his creative process. He says when he begins a new piece, the shop is unusually quiet as he sits with his canvas of mottled steel. It is here the ideas flow as he uses soapstone like chalk to explore, create and improvise a design on the metal. He might sit down with one idea and another idea is revealed on the canvas. This is different from how I approach a tune. I often come up with the title first, and have a clear image of what I want to compose. James’ exploring reminds me more of my partner, pianist Daniel Kelly’s improvising. In a flash, Daniel is able to channel a steady flow of thought right onto the piano keyboard, revealing something new each time.

NO HESITATION

Once the design has been set, James moves to the cutting stage and his “creative mode” turns “worker bee” mode. He told me that the plasma cutter is not forgiving. It requires concentration and no hesitation. He likens plasma melting the metal to drawing on a paper towel with a magic marker. Any pause and the color will start to bleed out from your clean line. James smiled as he describes it as intense, quick work and then it is done. I could describe playing a high energy tune the same way.  

COMPOSING OPPOSITES

Just before I composed this piece, I enjoyed reflecting on the “extremes” that James had in his work. The “heaviness” of forging was balanced with the “lightness” of plasma cutting. The clean shiny forging tools countered by the rusted metal canvases. The loudness of the workshop silenced for a moment for designing. My fiddle’s tone would need to be clear yet rugged. My bow would stroke, both heavy and light. The piano would hammer away at the chords and just as easily improvise a sketch of a whimsical scene. As I sat with my fiddle, ready to compose, I kept the idea of opposites in mind. Then I looked at a photo of the fiddling skeleton and asked, “what shall we play?” A rip-roaring reel ensued.

LISTENING GUIDE

This is a New England Contra dance inspired tune. It is full of energy and percussive rhythms like the hammer on an anvil. James described a resistance in the material that he enjoys. So this tune is fiery to warm up the metal. Listen for the quick moment when I take my fingers out of the flame and let them cool off, like dipping the red hot metal into the slag, a moment called quenching. But then back to the clangs and bangs that are associated with a  metal shop. Mid-tune you will hear the fiddle  switch on the plasma cutter, becoming  the whirr as the electrical current charges the plasma. The piano begins cutting out a non-hesitating, steady stream of whimsical shapes into the old metal roofing. James says if you stop moving while using the plasma cutter it is like what happens when you draw with a marker on a paper towel, it bleeds out.  We end the tune back at the forge, hammering out driving rhythms. It is focused, intense work, but then it is done. 

To James, Thank you so much for sharing your incredible imagination with all of us in the North Country and beyond. You know that I am particularly fond of the many, many string players in your work! Keep ‘em coming! ~Much appreciation and admiration, Gretchen