SeeCalifornia.com

One of our favorite subjects at SeeCalifornia.com is music. We attempt each year to showcase hundreds of free concerts in parks & plazas, as well as mega-music festivals where fees can range from $10 to $1,000 or more. We share this passion with music fans throughout the state who contact us about their performances, festivals and concerts, or ask for info about others.  So when author Craig MacDonald brought a true story that he’s written to our attention it really put things into perspective.

California’s Amazing Gold Rush Musicians

by Craig MacDonald

“The violin shrieked, the guitar was out of tune, the abominable triangle gave forth about as sweet music as a tin pan but the capacity crowd responded with thunderous applause.” – An 1851 observation by Grass Valley’s Luther Schaeffer

Music of any type (or skill level) was in such demand in the Gold Rush that miners often would pay whatever it took to hear musicians perform.

“Anyone who could torture horsehair and catgut into consecutive sounds made more for his labor than from mining,” noted a Marysville scribe.

“A musician could earn two ounces of gold ($32) by scraping a squeaky fiddle for two hours every evening or by puffing into an asthmatic flute,” wrote French emigrant Albert Bernard de Russailh.

Read MacDonald’s funny and fun story about California concerts and musical acts from WAY BACK!!!