The Legend of Cuzin' Isaac Page

"CUZIN’ ISAAC"
BLUEGRASS AMBASSADOR
CIRC-1855
by
W. Sterling Keller

Chances are when you attend one of the major, (or even the "not-so-major") festivals you will come across a soft spoken gentleman with a distinctive New England accent wearing his trademark vest and black bowler hat.

"Cuzin' Isaac Page" is somewhat of a fixture at most festivals in the Northeast. Each year he rolls up thousands of miles attending festivals and concerts. He is equally at home in the role of "MC" on stage, or off stage spreading the word about bluegrass music. His distinctive greet canopy is a landmark for fans to stop and chat with an old friend whose passion for bluegrass music makes him one of its best ambassadors.

His knowledge of the music is extensive, to say the least, and he readily welcomes anyone who would like to discuss bluegrass music or just life in general. His warm engaging manner leaves visitors to his corner of the world pleasantly surprised.

Part of his philosophy is that not everyone is a musician in the sense of playing an instrument, and some folks just like to discuss the history, folklore, and the future of bluegrass.

To Cuzin' Isaac, these discussions are the verbal equivalent of the musical "picking sessions" which are a staple, and important, part of festival life.

Usually displayed under his canopy are several copies of his now famous "Bluegrass Festival Guide," which is the definitive source for bluegrass events in the Northeast United States and Canada.

From the guide's humble beginnings in 1985 as the four page "Bluegrass Gazette" to the 1999 "Bluegrass Festival Guide" which contains 120 pages of festivals, concerts, band profiles and record reviews, Cuzin' Isaac has provided fans with a concise and very detailed compilation of information.

The popularity of the guide. can be summed up by the fact that last summer I had the pleasure of finding myself in conversation with one of the "Major" artists in our music, and there lying on a table in the bus was a copy of Cuzin' Isaac's Festival Guide!

BUT! WHO is "Cu~in’ Isaac" and where did he come from?

Most people who have had the pleasure of knowing this gentle man from New England assume, (and most still do believe), that this is just a colorful character who happens to have the name "Isaac Page," who attached a "Cuzin’" in front of the name and wears what some folks think is an eccentric outfit consisting of a tan or plaid vest and black Bowler hat.

NOT SO!!!

I am here today to reveal, (with his permission), the real identity and the story of, the man behind the legend of Cuzin' Isaac Page.

First and foremost, his given name is Donald C. Malcolm. He happens to be a retired high school and university teacher, who has taught courses in English, Social Studies, American History, Geography, and literature. For a period of time he even taught English Composition to Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees at Lowell University in Lowell, Massachusetts.

One of his teaching assignments early on in his teaching career was as a Driver Education instructor, which earned him a nickname from his students and colleagues of________!, (you'll just have to ask him when you see him!!).

He graduated from prestigious Boston University in 1951 expecting to follow a career in public relations. Lets just say that it's been less than a straight line from the classrooms of BU to an ambassador for bluegrass music.

That path has led him through positions as: book salesman, printer, rural mail carrier, night watchman, customer service adjuster, milkman, and finally certification as a public school teacher.

Don and his wife Ruth, (another Boston University graduate), were married in 1956. They moved to the snow belt of upstate New York in 1957 for a three year stay, after which they returned to their beloved New England where Don assumed a position at the local high school in affluent Lexington, Massachusetts. He served there until his retirement in 1981.

This should make obvious to the most casual reader that despite his costume and "down-home" casual demeanor, this is a highly educated and perceptive person who is more than capable of holding his own in almost any academic discussion.

The emergence of "Cuzin Isaac" occurred after Don's retirement in 1981, when, prior to moving to New Hampshire, he worked as a living history interpreter at the Lowell National Historical Park in Lowell, Massachusetts. It was during this period that the character of "Cuzin' Isaac Page" took form.

Yes, Isaac Page was a real person. He was a gatekeeper and toll-taker on the Pawtucket Canal in the 1850's. In that capacity Isaac was tempted by handling large sums of money which eventually proved to be his downfall. It seems that Isaac was "pocketing" a share of the tolls he collected and records showed that he had been in the process of "helping himself' to significant amounts of money from the canal company for about 11 years.

After this discovery, all that is recorded is that the errant toll collector "left his position" with the company. Bearing in mind that this was the 1850's, it is left to our imagination what "leaving his position" meant!!!

Although he may not have been a very good role model at the time, he was a part of the culture and history of that period in New England.

Thus was born the colorful character which the Bluegrass music world knows today as "Cuzin' Isaac".

Don was introduced to bluegrass in 1967 as a result of a concert given by the legendary Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs in Nashua, New Hampshire.

His love of the music grew from that point, but at that time Bluegrass sounds in New England were almost non-existent. His only source was being broadcast from WHRB, a small FM radio station in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which was airing a show with the unlikely title of "Hillbilly at Harvard"!!

Don's extensive broadcasting career began in 1983 when WTIJ, an FM station in Walpole, New Hampshire was looking for a Saturday morning announcer, and he was hired. He proceeded to convince the station management to air a bluegrass music show, (no small feat in the non-bluegrass atmosphere of the Northeast).

Thus was launched a radio career, and a following, which has spanned shows on 8 different stations in New England, including Dartmouth College, and the University of Massachusetts.

At about the same time, Don and his long time friend, Joe Crouch, began an organization called "Holdforth Associates, Ltd." To promote bluegrass, old time music and provide information to fans as to the locations of festivals and concerts.

Their first efforts resulted in a small newsletter, aptly named "The Bluegrass Gazette", and from these beginnings evolved the now widely circulated annual festival guide of today. AS stated earlier in this article, it has come to be a comprehensive source of bluegrass in the Northeast and is spreading year by year to include most of the Eastern United States.

A significant milestone in Don's Bluegrass career occurred in Owensboro, Kentucky in 1986, when the International Bluegrass Music Association presented him with one of the very first merit awards, inaugurated by then Vice-President Mary Doub. The award was presented to five individuals who, "substantially contributed to the furtherance of bluegrass music".

In 1990, Isaac was presented with an appreciation award from "The Friends of Bluegrass Music of Massachusetts".

Cuzin' Isaac remains today a devoted and knowledgeable advocate of bluegrass and old time music.

He has MC'd most of the major festivals in the Northeast and his radio background has served him well in that capacity.

So, next time you spot the green canopy at a festival, stop in and say "howdy". He will appreciate it, and you will come away enriched.

Donald C. Malcolm is a good and decent man who believes deeply in the art form we all support. He is, in this author's appraisal, one of the many quiet, and very effective; ambassadors of bluegrass.