April Verch was born to traditional music, in Canada’s hard working, hard dancingOttawa Valley, yet the effervescent singer/fiddler is no stranger to blues, Latin music, Eastern European music, jazz and Americana.She started step dancing lessons at the age of three and started violin lessons at six.By the age of 10 she knew that she wanted to do both professionally.Two self-released albums—1992’s Springtime Fiddle and 1995’s Fiddle Talk—appeared before she finished high school. College meant Boston’s Berklee School ofMusic and mastering more styles of fiddle playing. Within a year, the money had run out and Verch would move back to Canada, landing in Saskatoon, Sask., and country singer Tommy Hunter’s band.She became the first woman in history to win both of Canada’s most prestigious fiddle championships, the Grand Masters and Canadian Open; and when Canada hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics, she was asked to represent her country’s music at the opening ceremonies.The April Verch Band—rounded out by bassist and claw hammer banjo playerCody Walters and guitarist Hayes Griffin, who has a Masters in jazz improv from theNew England Conservatory—is an energetic, virtuosic, tradition-celebrating outfit, not to mention one that’s not soon forgotten when they depart the stage. It doesn’t hurt that the thrilling grand finale involves Verch fiddling and step dancing—and often executing two entirely different intricate rhythmic patterns—at once.Grand Forks ALIVE! Entertainment Group is hosting the April Vech Band live in concert at the GEM Theatre on Sunday, Feb. 23.Advance tickets can be purchased at Kocomo’s, Pharmasave, or GEM Theatre.

Grand Forks Gazette