On Friday, the Old Songs Festival returns to the Altamont Fairgrounds for what promises to be a veritable hootenanny — three days of singing, picking, fiddling, and dancing for the whole family.

Saturday will bring the unique stylings of the April Verch Band. Verch is one of Canada's most accomplished roots musicians. In addition to performing in the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, Verch was the first woman to win top honors in both the Canadian Grand Master and the Canadian Open Fiddle Championships. In addition to playing a mean fiddle, Verch has a high, clear soprano voice and is a highly skilled step dancer. In fact, Verch often sings, plays, and dances at the same time.

"I started dancing at age 3 because my sister was doing it," Verch says. "I had to do everything my sister did. The kind of dancing I do is called Ottawa Valley Step Dancing and it's really unique. There are elements of clogging, tap, and soft shoe dancing."

April began studying violin at the age of 6, and her musical education included stints at the O'Connor Method Camp and a year at the Berklee College of Music before she embarked on a professional career in the early '90s. To date, she has recorded 10 albums, the most recent of which is "The Newpart".

"The difference between Canadian and American folk traditions has a lot to do with the ethnicities of people who settled the particular regions," she says. "Obviously, Canada is a big country, so the traditions vary from place to place. I come from the Ottawa Valley in Ontario, which is very unique. The people who first settled that region came to work in the lumber camps. There was a real variety: Irish, Scottish, French, and Polish. They all brought their own musical traditions and over time they combined to form a style of music that's found nowhere else in Canada. It's a pretty even mix. I feel fortunate having been exposed to it."