Scott Woods is a Canadian fiddler from Fergus, Ontario, who won the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Championship in 1998 and 1999. He placed in the top three at that contest 12 times between 1992 and 2005. He now leads the Scott Woods Band, a touring fiddle variety show that plays more than 100 fundraising concerts across Canada each year.
Why Woods matters
Woods is the model of the Canadian show fiddler. He won the two biggest contests in the country, then turned that credibility into a career of packed community halls and church fundraisers. For seven years he stood in for Don Messer in a touring tribute, so a whole generation of Canadian listeners heard the Messer repertoire through his bow. His trick fiddling keeps old-time fiddle music in front of audiences who would never attend a contest.
Life and career
Woods was born in Fergus, Ontario, and grew up in Fergus and Courtice. His father, Merv Woods, started playing old-time music in 1944 and formed the Merv Woods Orchestra in 1950. His mother, Carolyn, joined that band as pianist in 1956. All four Woods children studied classical violin and piano and played in the family band by age eight. Scott started violin at four and entered his first fiddle contest at eight. By 1984 he held an Ontario fiddle title. In the mid 1980s Merv handed the band to Scott, and the Scott Woods Band was born.
Woods kept competing through the 1990s. He won the Canadian Open Old Time Fiddle Championship in Shelburne, Ontario, in 1993 and 1996, and the champion class at the Maritime Fiddle Festival in 1996. At the invitational Canadian Grand Masters he finished in the top three 12 times and took the title in 1998 and 1999, both held in Ottawa. He also won three straight Canadian novelty fiddle titles for his trick routine.
In 1998 Graham Townsend died, and Woods was hired to fill his role in the touring show Memories of Don Messer’s Jubilee. He became its music director and stayed seven years. His mother Carolyn toured as the show’s pianist for eight years. Woods released Reflecting the Past and Dancing Fiddles in 2006. His band now tours Canada with a new themed show twice a year, and by 2017 its concerts had raised about two million dollars for churches and charities. He hosted the Canadian Open championships in Shelburne as master of ceremonies in 2017.
Playing style
Woods plays the clean, danceable Canadian old-time style that Don Messer made the national sound. His bow stays close to the strings and his tone is smooth and even, with a strong downbeat that a step dancer can follow. He plays waltzes with a long, singing bow and reels with a tight, even shuffle. His classical training shows in his intonation on double stops.
The showman side is a separate skill. In his trick routine he plays through somersaults and while walking on a rolling barrel, which takes a fiddle hold so secure that the instrument never leaves his chin. He also plays drums, bass, piano, guitar, saxophone, and clarinet, and his shows mix fiddle tunes with country, swing, and gospel.
Influences and legacy
Woods comes from six generations of fiddlers. His father Merv and his mother Carolyn, who chorded for fiddlers at the Canadian Open in Shelburne, shaped his sense of dance rhythm. The Don Messer repertoire is his foundation, and he learned the show tradition from filling Graham Townsend’s chair. His sister Kendra Woods Norris plays piano and fiddle in his band and has won the Canadian Open duet class with him three times. Step dancer and fiddler Leo Stock has toured with the band since 2017. In 2018 the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Association gave Woods its Lifetime Achievement Award for composing, recording, teaching, and performing Canadian fiddle music.
Signature tunes and songs
Log Driver’s Waltz Debbie’s Waltz.
Essential recordings
Reflecting the Past (2006) Dancing Fiddles (2006)
Awards and honors
Canadian Open Old Time Fiddle Champion (1993, 1996) Maritime Fiddle Festival Champion Class (1996) Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Champion (1998, 1999) Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Association Lifetime Achievement Award (2018) Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Association Hall of Honour Canadian Fiddle Entertainer of the Year Canadian Novelty Fiddle Champion, three consecutive years
Watch and listen
Woods plays Log Driver’s Waltz. Listen to the long bow and the even tone on the waltz melody.
A radio station clip of Woods as the Flippin’ Fiddler. Watch how the fiddle stays locked under his chin through the tricks.
What to learn from Woods
Learn Log Driver’s Waltz from his recording. It is a Canadian standard with a simple melody, and it teaches you to play a waltz with a full bow instead of short strokes. The technique to steal is his dance rhythm. Play a reel along with his band and keep your bow on the string for the whole tune. Canadian old-time fiddle is built for step dancers, so every note has to land on the beat.
Sources
Past champions and results, Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Association Bios, The Scott Woods Band Our story, The Scott Woods Band Scott Woods (fiddler), Wikipedia
Related players
See the fiddle players hub and the fiddle guide for more players. Woods followed Graham Townsend in the Don Messer tribute show. Shane Cook won the Canadian Grand Masters the year after Woods’s second title, and Louis Schryer and Patti Kusturok share the association’s Hall of Honour with him.