Gordon Stobbe is a Canadian fiddler, teacher, and broadcaster from Saskatchewan who has lived in Nova Scotia since 1977. He co-created and hosted the television show Up Home Tonight for eight seasons in the 1980s, taught fiddle in Halifax for 30 years, and has published 27 fiddle books. He was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 2017 for his work preserving fiddle music as a performer, composer, and teacher.
Why Stobbe matters
Stobbe built the infrastructure of Canadian fiddling. His television show put Maritime fiddlers on the air a decade before roots music came back into fashion and gave early exposure to Natalie MacMaster, Ashley MacIsaac, and the Rankin Family. His books put scales, bowing, and hundreds of tunes into the hands of learners across the country. His articles in Fiddler Magazine told the rest of the world who Canada’s fiddlers were.
Life and career
Stobbe grew up in Saskatchewan and worked in Ontario before moving east. He played with the Dixie Flyers and spent five years touring with the NDWT theatre company in James Reaney’s The Donnellys trilogy. He moved to Nova Scotia in 1977 and settled in Seaforth.
In the Maritimes he played with the Ladies Choice Bluegrass Band, Nova Scotia’s first full-time bluegrass group, then with Those Fabulous Clichés, the Mighty Oak String Band, and his own Gordon Stobbe Trio. He appeared on The Ronnie Prophet Show on CTV.
In the 1980s he co-created, hosted, and directed the music for Up Home Tonight, a traditional music variety show that ran eight seasons on the ATV and CTV network out of Halifax. He hosted the weekly radio show Bluegrass Express on CHFX in Halifax for twelve years and won the Canadian National Bluegrass Award for Bluegrass Disc Jockey of the Year in 1987.
He developed the fiddle program at Musicstop’s Canadian Conservatory of Music in Halifax and taught there for 30 years until 2014. He has traveled across Canada’s North to teach First Nations and Inuit children. His solo albums include Small World, nominated for Best Roots/Traditional Solo Artist at the 2003 East Coast Music Awards, and Solo and Still Point in 2008. He now performs as half of Twin Fiddles with Saskatchewan fiddler JJ Guy.
Playing style
Stobbe plays a plain Canadian old-time style with a strong dance beat and clean melody. He is a teacher first, and his playing sounds like it: every note is where a student can find it. He also plays mandolin, guitar, and clawhammer banjo, and his fiddle phrasing carries some of the drive of a bluegrass band.
His teaching materials focus on the right arm. His DVD Twelve Things Your Right Hand Should Know breaks bowing down into habits a learner can practice one at a time. His Fiddler’s Red Book of Scales and Arpeggios and Fiddler’s Green Book of Accompaniment treat the fiddle as a full instrument, not just a melody machine. In the Twin Fiddles duo he and Guy write and arrange in close harmony, with tunes such as Maligne Canyon built for two fiddles from the start.
Influences and legacy
He has co-written tunes with Calvin Vollrath, John Arcand, Patti Kusturok, and Oliver Schroer. His book Canadian Fiddlers: Their Stories, Their Tunes and his 55-plus Fiddler Magazine articles since 1999 document players from every region.
Up Home Tonight gave Natalie MacMaster and Ashley MacIsaac early television exposure. The Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Association gave him its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009, and he has judged its competition. His Order of Canada citation names his commitment to preserving fiddle music as a performer, composer, and teacher.
Signature tunes and songs
Maligne Canyon Val’s Dream.
Essential recordings
Small World (New Traditions, 2002) Solo (New Traditions, 2008) Still Point (2008)
Awards and honors
Canadian National Bluegrass Award, Bluegrass Disc Jockey of the Year (1987) Curtis Hicks Memorial Award, New Brunswick (1988) Lifetime Member, Downeast Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Society (1991) East Coast Music Awards, Best Children’s Recording, Razzmatazz (2003) East Coast Music Awards nomination, Best Roots/Traditional Solo Artist, Small World (2003) Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Association Lifetime Achievement Award and Canadian Fiddle Hall of Honour (2009) Nova Scotia Country Music Hall of Fame (2014) ECMA Stompin’ Tom Award (2016) Member of the Order of Canada (appointed 2017, invested September 6, 2018) North American Fiddlers Hall of Fame (2019)
Watch and listen
Stobbe and JJ Guy play Maligne Canyon as Twin Fiddles. Listen to how the harmony part moves with the melody instead of sitting under it.
What to learn from Stobbe
Learn Maligne Canyon with a friend, one on each part. It teaches you to hear a harmony line as its own tune, which is the skill you need for twin fiddle work in any bluegrass band. The technique to steal is his right-hand discipline. Pick one bowing habit, such as keeping the bow on the string between notes, and practice that alone for a week on a tune you already know. That is how his method books work.
Sources
Gordon Stobbe, Wikipedia Gordon Stobbe, Fiddlebooks Fiddlebooks home page Hall of Honour, Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Association Gordon Stobbe, Discogs
Related players
See the fiddle players hub and the fiddle guide for more players. Stobbe has written tunes with Calvin Vollrath, John Arcand, and Patti Kusturok. His show gave Natalie MacMaster and Ashley MacIsaac early airtime, and Daniel Lapp is another teacher and builder honored by the Canadian Grand Masters.