By Jay Scott Kanes

NEAR MONTAGUE, PEI, Canada – Fans of Canadian singer Eddy Quinn easily can visualize him as a national star. But Eddy holds tight to a refreshing modesty that keeps him near home on Prince Edward Island.

A lead singer for the Celtic-influenced band Fiddlers’ Sons, 34-year-old Eddy commands one of the most recognizable and pleasing voices in Atlantic Canadian music. He’s known for his easy-going nature and gentle humor. In 2003, 2005 and 2006, he prevailed as male-vocalist-of-the-year at the PEI Music Awards.

Buoyed by a new Fiddlers’ Sons album, Shoulder of the Road, Eddy competes for more awards this year. He did three earlier CDs with Fiddlers’ Sons, namely Eagles Fly in 2004, Changing Times in 2000 and Beaches of Home in 1998. He also has an acclaimed solo album, Outside of Sneakers Lounge.

“Eddy’s an excellent singer and musician,” said Lester MacPherson, a veteran of regional music. “He’s always out to help people too, usually by getting things going musically.”

Eddy wrote seven of the 10 songs on Shoulder of the Road. The title song followed a phone call from a dying fan keen to have Fiddlers’ Sons music heard at her funeral. Eddy took the call while driving, but pulled over to talk.

Got a call from Phoenix, Arizonia,
From a woman who had one foot in the grave.
She said I’ve listened long enough to know you
Walk a road with good intentions paved.
So will you sing one as they lay me under?
Sing a sad farewell to my remains.
Sing it just as loud as rolling thunder,
And I will rest forever ‘neath the plains.
She said it didn’t turn out like I planned it.
All my life the traffic’s never slow.
I heard a voice to help me understand it.
One moment on the shoulder of the road….
From “Shoulder of the Road”, Eddy Quinn, Recorded by Fiddlers’ Sons, 2007

“I’ll remember that phone call from Phoenix,” Eddy said. “As musicians, we’re around when people mark milestones. We’re asked to play at weddings, anniversary parties, significant birthdays, retirement parties and, unfortunately, sometimes funerals. We witness some personal moments in people’s lives and almost feel like we add to the occasions a little.”

Each summer, the Fiddlers’ Sons host a Close to the Ground Concert Series guest-starring other leading performers. “Music’s for sharing,” Eddy insists.

Fiddlers’ Sons also stars guitarist John Webster, bass player Garth Matthews and usually a fiddler like Cynthia MacLeod, Sheila MacKenzie or Maria McDougall. With then-band-member McDougall away at university in the winter of 2004-05, Fiddlers’ Sons became less active.

“But I’d had a spurt of songwriting,” Eddy said. So he carted his prime material into a recording studio and emerged with Outside of Sneakers Lounge, a solo album about everyday people and problems. It earned his first East Coast Music Award nomination.

As a proven songwriter, Eddy crafts much of the original material for Fiddlers’ Sons. “There’s an instinct within every artist to share experiences and stories,” he said. “That’s part of what makes us human beings. Ultimately, that altruistic instinct to share and learn from each other will save us from harm and destruction.”

One of Eddy’s best songs delivers driving instructions:

Through the apple trees and down past Creeds,
And by Captain Charlie’s store.
Watch out for the kids fishing off the bridge,
And the boats on Sturgeon’s Wharf.
On the Pembroke Road, there’s a bungalow,
Just this side of the park.
The sidings blue, she said. I’ll watch for you.
Try to get there before dark.
From “Gaspereaux”, Eddy Quinn, Recorded by Fiddlers’ Sons, 2004

“Some of the personal songs are very true,” Eddy said. “But sometimes you just write a song from your imagination.

“For me, songwriting happens in spurts. Probably I’m gathering inspiration as I dawdle through life. As circumstances allow me a little free time, then I’ll blurt them out all at once. I might not write anything for a year, but then write 10 or 12 songs within a month or two.”

The Sneaker’s Lounge album holds a tribute to Eddy’s father:

He’s not afraid to close his eyes.
It’s never as sad when a good man dies.
He’s earned his peace of mind,
Being honest, fair and kind,
And it may take a life to learn half what he knows.
My old man has seen a lot of snows.
From “A Lot of Snows”, Eddy Quinn, 2005

“That’s one of my father’s favorite songs, for sure,” Eddy said. “He requests it often. But I’m going to have to write a song for my mother too, or she’ll get jealous.”

Eddy became a bona-fide musician at age 18 when he joined The Outlaws, a country band already starring Matthews. “I grew up in a musical household,” he said. “My father’s a fiddler. My sister’s a music teacher and a classical piano-player. Two other sisters are musical too. One sister liked musicals. As an adolescent, I had to sit through The Sound of Music much more often than healthy for a boy of that tender age. But I didn’t perform much before getting the job with The Outlaws.”

Some people know Eddy for his day-job trucking waste, compost and recyclables, earning him a nickname: “the singing garbage man”.

“My music career has peaks and valleys,” Eddy said. “It’s gone from an inexpensive hobby to a part-time job. My main ambition is to produce music that people enjoy. There’s no greater accomplishment in my life than having people say to me: ‘That song you wrote about your old man reminds me of my old man.’ You want songs to bring smiles to people’s faces or to make them tap their toes and laugh.

“Normally, I don’t leave PEI to perform. To move beyond here, I’d need to start to tour, which means eating from cans, living out of suitcases and approaching management, record companies and distributors. I’d have to go all-out. Ten chances to one, guys in that situation end up going broke. So I’ll keep my fulltime job. It allows me to play a lot on weekends, so I’m happy with that.”

Some tourists travel to PEI mainly to hear Eddy and his band-mates. “It’s subjective what people think of your music,” Eddy said. “You put the albums out there. Some people love them. Others probably wonder why they ever paid 20 bucks for a CD.”

Among the music fans most familiar with Eddy, the majority opinion holds that he’s much too modest.

For more information: www.fiddlerssons.com

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