By NATHANIEL DUNAWAY
 Entertainment Editor

Led by acclaimed Canadian fiddler and step dancer April Verch, the April Verch Band will perform at Western next week as part of their Pacific Northwest Tour.

Specializing in traditional folk fiddle music and supported by a combination of bass, banjo, mandolin, and guitar, the band has traveled all over the world to perform for audiences in China, Wales, and Germany, just to name a few.

Verch, who grew up in the Ottawa Valley in Ontario, Canada, told the Journal that she started step dancing (a dance style focusing primarily on the feet, tap and Irish river-dance are two examples) when she was three, and began playing the fiddle when she was six.

“I decided early on that I wanted to make a career out of it,” Verch said. “I loved performing and sharing music.”

After a year at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, Verch became the first woman to win both of Canada’s two top fiddle championships. She also performed in the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

The Ottawa Valley style of step dancing, according to Verch, is a “melting pot” of dance styles.

“[When] people see it, it usually looks like something they’ve never seen, but they always recognize an element of it.”

The finale of Verch’s performances typically involves the performer playing the fiddle and step-dancing at the same time.

“If you’re not a fiddle fan,” Verch said, “you shouldn’t be afraid to come out and you shouldn’t think it’s going to be the same thing all night. There will probably be something that will grab you.”

The April Verch Band will be performing on campus at the Smith Music Hall Feb. 6th and 7th at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25.