White Point teenager amazes fiddlers with expertise

His next festival was open to all fiddlers of all ages and experience from the Maritime Provinces, and was held on the Akerley College campus in Dartmouth. Each competitor in the nine and under category was required to play three pieces, a waltz, a jig and a reel.

He was awarded second place in the nine and under category and received the Ted MacPherson Memorial Trophy for achieving the highest accumulative score in the age eight and under class. In this, his first competition Jacob stated that he was not a bit nervous. As a result of his performance, the festival marked its first time award trophies to a first time child competitor. "Jacob made history," said Charlotte (Chy) Huskins, Jacob's proud mother.

She added that Jacob has displayed much natural ability as a young musician, of lessons by his first teacher, Harold Langille and his current instructor, Gordon Stobbe, of Seaforth, Halifax County.

Young Huskins seems to have inherited his late grandfather's, Elliott Knox, gift, who was also an active fiddler. "His grandfather gave him the incentive," noted his father, Ted Huskins.

Jacob Huskin's 5/8 fiddle is a small one, suitable in size for a child his age. It was not long before Jacob outgrew his first fiddle and he will grow into the one given to him by his first teacher, Harold Langille, Ted Huskins added.

In 2005, Jacob released his debut full length CD, which he called Honouring Tradition. Currently, he is working on his second CD, and it should be in the stores at an early date. His first CD deserved and got instant recognition. While any connection to the West Coast of Canada is a long stretch, Reggie Huskins, the great Rupert, BC sportscaster just happens to be his uncle. The independently released CD has been doing well.

Most of the songs are traditional Irish-Like favourites, with a few waltzes thrown in. Jacob dedicated the first disk to his grandfather, Elliott Vincent, who inspired him to play the fiddle at the early age of four.

Huskins had some assistance for the CD, from his teacher Gordon Stobbe, who played guitar as background. Young Huskins prefers to take the summers off.

He explains, "We have a summer home on Ponhook Lake in Greenfield, Queens County, so, I don't play that much in the summers."

Even so, Jacob is convinced that playing the fiddle will be the mainstay in his life, as he gets older.

Jacob Huskins, a wonderful youngster, with a marvelous talent, a big white cat, named Mabel, (who he has written about) and two wonderful parents — what more can a teenager ask for?