NICK Wyke is currently forgoing the less clement delights of West Devon for the sunshine of Spain.
The talented fiddler departed from these grey shores in November and intends to return in the Spring. Shortly before he left Nick launched a new CD at the Baring-Gould Folk Festival.
Called ?The High Tors? it focuses on the traditional fiddle music of Dartmoor taken from the tune book of the late 19th century fiddler William Andrews of Sheepstor.
Nick, who has been playing fiddle since the age of six, is eager to promote the fiddle music of the West Country.
Phoning on his mobile from beneath the bright blue sky of a Mediterranean afternoon he admits going to Spain ?to escape the winter? ? and get in some serious practising as well.
So he has been busking and brushing up on his playing as well as savouring the styles of the local musicians he meets along the way.
?They seem to enjoy my music over here. There is a big thing for Celtic music in Spain.?
Nick says Irish and Scottish traditional music reaches a bigger audience than the English equivalent.
But while he can play in those styles he prefers to adhere to his own roots.
?In this world it is best to be real. I am English. I could take up Irish music and do OK but I don?t want to because I?m not Irish.?
He reasons there is little point playing music from a country which already has such talented musical ambassadors already.
?I?d like to help increase the knowledge and enjoyment of English traditional music because the music of Ireland and Scotland is known world-wide. All many people know of English traditional music is Morris Dancing.?
Nick says there are some great English tunes ? but they are not played enough for people to become aware of them.
?It is strong in the North of England because it has been revived.
?I think there was an attitude in England that looked down on that kind of music and it died out for a while. It happened in Ireland but not so much.?
Nick is excited about the prospect of unearthing some more traditional material in Devon.
?Reviving material from the William Andrews tune book will hopefully lead to further musical discoveries.
?It is nice to pick up something that means something to me locally. The fiddle tradition in the West Country is broken down but to help revive it is something I want to do.?
The major difference between English and Irish fiddle playing is, says Nick, the styling.
?The Irish tradition is very different. The Donegal style would be the closest to the South West style of using your bowing a lot. The Sligo and Clare style is very flowing. But a lot of the English playing is very spiky.?
He says much of the English playing revolves around dancing. So, marking time for the dancers was most important and the spiky playing emphasised the rhythm.
?To let people know more about the traditional music of England it needs a few more people to play it. It is important to write new tunes. People should take stuff on and develop it.
?It is good to create new stuff. You don?t want it to be a museum piece. Traditional music must be brought back to life.
?It can be rearranged and rewritten because when it is preserved in a manuscript book it will not be lost. There will always be people that enjoy playing what?s there.?