Louis Schryer is the most decorated champion in the history of the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Championship. He won the title four times, in 1991, 1992, 1993, and 2007, and no one else has won it more than three times. He is one of the Schryer triplets, the Ottawa Valley fiddling family that recorded together in 1982, and the Canadian Fiddle Hall of Honour has inducted him twice, as a performer in 2012 and as a builder in 2018.
Why Schryer matters
The Canadian Grand Masters is an invitational. About 30 fiddlers from across Canada get the call each year, and the judges score traditional playing in the regional styles. Schryer won it three years running when it was new, then came back 14 years later and won it again against a field that had grown up studying him. He is the standard for what the contest rewards: clean, danceable, traditional fiddling across every Canadian style.
Life and career
Schryer is one of triplets, with brothers Pierre and Daniel, and the contest records list him from Ottawa, Ontario. In 1982 the three brothers recorded Pierre, Daniel, Louis for Boot Records with their sister Julie Schryer Lefebvre on piano. The album ranged across the Canadian repertoire: Irish reels, Shetland tunes like Da Slockit Light, Québécois tunes, Down East standards like Don Messer’s Breakdown and St. Anne’s Reel, and western swing numbers like San Antonio Rose.
When the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Championship began in Ottawa in 1990, Pierre won the first title and Louis placed second. Louis then won in 1991, 1992, and 1993, the first three-time champion in the contest’s history.
In 2007 Schryer entered again and won a fourth title, a record that still stands. The Canadian Fiddle Hall of Honour inducted him as a performer in 2012 and again as a builder in 2018, a category that honors work for the fiddle community off the stage. He now lives in Chapeau, Quebec, across the Ottawa River from Pembroke.
Playing style
Schryer’s home ground is the Ottawa Valley, and his playing follows that tradition, a style built for step dancers. The bow is short and driving, the tempo is steady, and the tunes are played straight with a strong downbeat. Ornaments are small. The point is the pulse.
What sets him apart is range. The triplets’ album moved from Shetland to Québec to Texas on one side of an LP, and the Grand Masters format asks for the same thing, with categories that cover airs, jigs, strathspeys, and clogs as well as reels.
Influences and legacy
Schryer grew up in a family band with his brothers and his sister. His brother Pierre Schryer won the first Canadian Grand Masters title. The family recorded in the tradition of Don Messer, whose Don Messer’s Breakdown they cut in 1982, and Graham Townsend, the Ottawa Valley virtuoso of the generation before.
His record set the bar for the champions who followed: Patti Kusturok, Shane Cook, Mark Sullivan, and Scott Woods all won multiple titles, and none has caught his four. He plays Canadian Grand Masters fundraisers, appears in Kusturok’s tune-a-day video series, and has played with his brothers at the Leahy Music Camp.
Signature tunes and songs
St. Anne’s Reel Don Messer’s Breakdown Westphalia Waltz Father Kelly’s Reel Da Slockit Light.
Essential recordings
Pierre, Daniel, Louis, the Schryer Triplets (Boot Records, 1982)
Awards and honors
Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Championship, second place (1990) Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Champion (1991, 1992, 1993, 2007) Canadian Fiddle Hall of Honour, Performer (2012) Canadian Fiddle Hall of Honour, Builder (2018)
Watch and listen
Schryer plays at a Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Association fundraiser. This is the four-time champion in a relaxed setting.
The Schryer Triplets, Louis, Daniel, and Pierre, play together at the Leahy Music Camp. Three fiddles in the family style.
What to learn from Schryer
Learn St. Anne’s Reel. It is the one Canadian tune every American jam knows, and the Schryer family version from 1982 shows how it is played at home: steady, square, and driven from the bow. The technique to steal is his dance pulse. Play the reel with a metronome at a step dance tempo and put a small accent on every downbeat, with no slurs across the bar line. Once your reels can hold a dancer, they will hold a jam.
Sources
Past champions and results, Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Association Louis Schryer, Canadian Fiddle Hall of Honour Hall of Honour, Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Association Competition, Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Association The Schryer Triplets, Pierre, Daniel, Louis, Discogs
Related players
See the fiddle players hub and the fiddle guide for more Canadian fiddlers. His brother Pierre Schryer won the first Canadian Grand Masters title. Patti Kusturok, Shane Cook, and Mark Sullivan each won the contest three times. April Verch carries the Ottawa Valley style he plays.