Jim Fidler (born in the 1960s in

Aliquippa, Pennsylvania Aliquippa is a city in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 9,238 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located northwest of Pittsburgh and is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan ar ...

) is a singer, producer, and musician living in St. John's,

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

Biography

In the 1960s, Jim and his mother relocated to Newfoundland where he grew up in the diverse Rabbittown section of St. John's. As a youth, Fidler spent a great deal of time along Conception Bay, where he developed an appreciation for Newfoundland's music and culture. Fidler's family found that, as a child, he frequently picked up instruments and mastered them with ease. Blind since age 9, he continued to develop his talents. By the age of 10, he had formed his own band with friends. He attended school in Halifax, where he continued his musical studies and eventually earned a degree in classical piano and music theory at the

Maritime Conservatory of Music The Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts (the Conservatory) is a Canadian performing arts school in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that offers courses in higher education in music, dance, and theatre. It is the largest and the oldest (1887) of such orga ...

in Halifax. Fidler plays many of the instruments used on his albums including accordion, guitar, whistle, bodhran, and keyboards. The styles of music that he plays range from

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

to bluegrass,

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

n. He formed a successful reggae group called Pressure Drop in the late 1980s and was their drummer and songwriter. Between Pressure Drop and his first solo CD, Fidler arranged some songs on

Great Big Sea Great Big Sea was a Canadian folk rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year Irish, Scott ...

's debut CD. In addition to his solo albums, his project Gypsy won awards for Roots/Traditional Album of the Year and Independent Album of the Year in 1996. In 1998 and again in 2000 Jim was featured in the Toronto production of ''The Needfire''. Fidler has collaborated with Great Big Sea, Paddy Keenan, Celtic Connection, the Masterless Men, Atlantic Union and others. Fidler continues to live in St. John's, Newfoundland with his wife, Lillian, a graphic designer, and their cat, Gypsy. Fidler is Christina Aguilera's first cousin.

Discography

*''Gypsy'' (1995) *''Friendly Fire'' (1999) *''Musaik: In This World'' (2003) *''Midnight Rover'' (2005) *''Up That River'' (2011)

References

External links

* Jim Fidle
Official site
* Heritage Newfoundland and Labrador - Jim Fidle

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fidler, Jim American reggae musicians Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts alumni Musicians from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Musicians from Pittsburgh Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Blind reggae musicians American blind singers American blind accordionists American blind drummers American blind keyboardists American record producers Singers from Newfoundland and Labrador