LIBBY FILL | A profile Tamburitzan bucks tradition to keep it alive
Libby Fill has played for presidents, but is most at home in the Mahoning Valley.
By L. CROW
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
It's no secret that small-time Youngstown has produced more than its fair share of big-time talent, especially in the arts, music and theater.
Many of these stars have moved on to the big cities and international renown. But a few have made it to the top and stayed right here.
Libby Fill is one such person, known in the area as a living legend, equally comfortable playing her music in the White House as in a local nursing home. Part of a four-generation family of performers, her life story is just as fascinating as her art.
Fill was born in Campbell, the daughter of Macedonian immigrants. Fill's daughter, Stacie G. Vesolich, has written a book, "Inlaid Pearl," which she said began as a family heirloom. It details Fill's life and her family's immigrant experience.
"We really don't know much about the family before my mother's parents, because they were killed in the war," said Vesolich. "There was always some kind of war going on between these Balkan peoples, and my mother's parents came to America to escape 'ethnic cleansing' in about 1914."
Mother's arrival
"My father got a job at Youngstown Sheet and Tube, so he was here two years before he sent for my mother," added Fill. "And there is a funny story to go with this: My father was very handsome, with dark curly hair. My mother was very petite and pretty. But in the two years they were separated, he went bald and she got fat. He bragged about what a pretty wife he had, and when my mother was on the ship, she bragged to the other women about how handsome he was. When she walked down the 'plank,' to get off the boat, they didn't recognize each other. When they finally did, my mother told my father to walk behind her, because she didn't want the other ladies to see him."
Vesolich's book is filled with stories of comedy and tragedy, but she said it was always the music, faith, and laughter that pulled them through the hard times.
And for Fill, the music began at an early age, fueled by her determination to break out of the mold of what was acceptable at the time.
"My mother had three brothers and three sisters," said Vesolich. "Her parents were musicians, but her father didn't want her to play because she was a girl. So she found a guitar in the trash, and taught herself to play. She was very good, but her father never encouraged her. That didn't stop her, though. She began studying with a teacher from the Serbian Orthodox Church, George Skrbina."
Orchestra
Today, the family is part of a Tamburitzan Orchestra, and the instruments they play sound similar to mandolins. The roles of each of the instruments can be compared to a string orchestra -- the first violin would play the melody, the second violin and viola, melody or harmony, and so on.
Vesolich plays the prim, a melody instrument, and this particular one is her personal treasure. She said it was the last one made by 80-year-old master craftsman Nick Orehovich before he died, and it is all hand-made. Fill plays the bugaria, which is used for chords.
Even though Fill lived through the Great Depression, it was her gift of music that enabled her to survive. "Even when times were bad, there was always a need for music," she said. "We played for dances and social gatherings."
Though Fill's ethnic heritage is Macedonian, she began playing all different styles, from Serbian, Croatian, Slovak, Polish, Greek, Russian and Bulgarian, which was another break from tradition. In the old country, people would have stuck with their own heritage. Today when the group performs, they can do any style people request. "People really love that," said Vesolich. "We can play even Native, Irish and Country tunes. We have it all in our repertoire."
Fill married Joseph George in 1950. "My father was Greek, which was another astonishing break from tradition," said Vesolich. "He died tragically two years later, so my mother was left as a widow to care for a child." But it was during this period that Fill once again broke all the rules, and began an all-female Tamburitzan band, recruiting her daughter, and other relatives, which acquired great renown.
Honors, career
"We were invited to play for two presidents, Nixon and Carter" said Vesolich. "This was another incredible event -- children of immigrants given this great honor." The group is a member of an International Hall of Fame, which has membership in every U.S. state, Canada and Europe.
Many people know Fill as the host of the radio program, "Libby's International Hour," but she really had no intention of being a star when she approached the radio station in 1955.
"I went to WBBW to get a job in advertising," Fill said. "But they wanted me to do a program with music. I didn't feel comfortable speaking English at the time, so I wrote everything down that I was going to say."
She also did the show on WNIO, but retired from both at age 62. As a free community service, Fill has continued the program on WKTL, to preserve the culture. She just now retired from that, so that she can spend more time with her family, which includes her other daughter by her second marriage, Sally Fill, her grandchildren, Stephen and Stephanie, Stephanie's husband, Josh, and their baby, Alexa.