PORT ANGELES — Paddy Fitzgerald, patriarch of the acclaimed touring band Everything Fitz, was at home answering the phone.
His children are gallivanting around North America, dancing and playing music about 70 nights a year.
Everything Fitz is coming to the North Olympic Peninsula for a concert the night before the autumnal equinox: The six performers will take the stage at the Port Angeles High School Performing Arts Center, 304 E. Park Ave., at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Tickets to this Juan de Fuca Foundation concert range from $10 to $25 at www.JFFA.org.
Fitzgerald, however, has to work his other job, at Hydro One, the electric utility back home in Markham, Ontario.
So does his son Pat, 25, who works for an orthotics designer.
Paddy will join the tour’s spring leg, though. Till then, he’s singing the praises of Everything Fitz, the Canadian fiddle and step-dancing champions whose repertoire ranges from jigs and reels to gospel and swing.
“You will see a fantastic show,” Fitzgerald said, while acknowledging that he’s not entirely objective.
“These kids are very versatile. They play a variety of music . . . and they also step-dance. That’s always the showstopper,” he added.
Fitzgerald’s daughters Julie, 24, and Kerry, 22, and his son Tom, 20, are touring with their mother Pam.
Each child has been dancing and playing since age 6.
They grew up immersed in the step-dance and fiddle scene of Ontario’s Ottawa Valley, winning competitions and performing at schools and fairs.
Everything Fitz were among the performers at the Northwest Booking Conference in Eugene, Ore., two years ago.
That’s where Juan de Fuca Foundation Executive Director Dan Maguire first saw them.
‘Jaw drop’
“They are sure to make your jaw drop,” Maguire said.
Fitzgerald noted that the family has two extra performers on the road: Nate Douglas, who sings and plays guitars, and James Law on fiddle and percussion.
His kids, meantime, also play mandolins; the Stevie Wonder song “Isn’t She Lovely” is one of their favorites on that instrument.
The Canadians also unleash a vivid “Orange Blossom Special” and renditions of “The Tennessee Waltz,” “Danny Boy,” “St. Anne’s Reel” and “Alabama Jubilee,” according to their website, www.Everything Fitz.ca.
“The Fitzgerald family are standout musicians in our Canadian music industry, but more importantly in the longstanding Ontario fiddle and [step] dance traditions,” said Natalie MacMaster, the famed fiddler from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.
“Together they are a beautiful blend of gorgeous fiddle music and top-rate, absolutely exhilarating dance.”
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.