New Discoveries and a big thank you!

(this was some day learning about Fred and Etta Hylands!) 

Oh what a day I've had! And I am still mesmerized by the amount of information that was shared and given to me. It was all extraordinary! Some wonderful ladies helped me out to-day, and they weren't just any ladies, they were the descendants of Fred Hylands. Not direct, but descending from Fred's notorious sister Etta.

 I was just doing as I usually do on the computer this morning, until I saw the first e-mail, which was from a lovely young lady by the name of Ali, who stated that she was the great-great-great-grand niece of Fred Hylands. How I just exploded when I read that e-mail! I was shaking with excitement, and got into a long conversation with these two sisters who both descend directly from Etta Hylands. It would seem that the tradition of piano playing is still prominent in the family that once bore the Hylands name, which is wonderful from the perspective of a musician. I would wonder the same thing about the Ossman's, even if they're not necessarily interested in playing the banjo, just music of any kind. 

It is also a pleasure to know the family of the Quinn's, and those people are absolutely on top of everything about Dan Quinn, and all of his family history, as that new CD that Archeophone put out on Dan Quinn very much prove that fact. 

I still cannot really fathom that such a popular recording star as Fred Hylands could go forgotten for so many years, as the ladies I spoke with to-day hadn't even a notion of Fred's extensive and rather long recording career. That says quite a lot. I was already aware of how obscure Hylands is to record collectors, and those who are record people who follow this blog, probably never had heard of him until they found any one of my posts on Hylands, or just anything I wrote about on early studio pianists. It's unfortunate really, because he worked much more in the studios than any of the singers he accompanied(other than Len Spencer), and working at Columbia took a terrible toll on his already aching body. All the record companies wanted him, even the most obscure Berliner pirate salesmen, who made their own records, and even companies that lasted a few months. Record managers must have fought over him, but he could only be in one studio for a day, so the next day he might have been at a different studio. Anyhow, you've all heard all of this on previous posts. 

**I just had to thank the two wonderful ladies who e-mailed me several times throughout  the day to-day! Thank you thank you thank you! **