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Irving Broaddus

39279
To Irving Broaddus
An Esteemed "Knight of the Bow"
From the Author.
Francis O'Neill
Feb 9th
1918

Capt. Francis O'Neill wrote about Irving Broadus in an article for the Cork Examiner in 1934, one of the last things he ever wrote:
THE TRADITIONAL SWING
No one endowed with musical discrimination will deny that there is an appreciable difference between the rendering of Irish dance tunes, by modern musicians, and the traditional or natural swing of the untutored fiddler, whether hailing from Ireland, the backwoods of Mississippi, or Missouri, the prairies of Illinois, or Indiana, or even the hills of Dixieland. For instance, Irving Broadus, a pioneer Illinois farmer, who passed his winters on the Gulf Coast, not alone filled the halls at every entertainment, but "stole the show" with his fiddling, although his daughter, a clever pianist and violinist, college trained, was also on the program. Mr. Broadus, who is of Welsh ancestry, never learned to read music.

Biography: O’Neill must have known Broadus from his winter home in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, which he bought after he retired.
[Michael O'Malley]
Boraddus seems to have been a prosperous farmer in central Illinois, who O'Neill wither knew during his time in Chicago, or later in Mississippi, or possibly both. See also the dedication in Waifs and Strays (1922) to Broadus (different spelling).

Provenance: This copy of Irish Minstrels and Musicians (1913) was listed for sale on WorthPoint.

 

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