By the mid-sixties, the dance and concert circuit, especially of the Cape Breton fiddler, was on the increase. The fiddlers were now more mobile and new networks among fiddlers and through the wider community to celebrate the music had expanded. Regular appearances in communities throughout rural and urban Cape Breton by select fiddlers in addition to increased visits to cities like Toronto, Boston, and Detroit were popular. Reunions with Cape Breton fiddlers and other native Cape Breton's interested in the music and now living in these cities became a regular practice. The fiddlers were taking part often in specially arranged concerts and dances at various venues. Radio programming continued to play the music of many of the earlier recordings. Meanwhile, efforts emerged to attract fiddlers to record exclusively for certain stations like CJFX, Antigonish or WBOM Boston. Some of the appearances of fiddlers were to become the main draw at summer concerts like Broad Cove, Glendale, and Big Pond throughout the sixties and early seventies, many of which were recorded by CJFX, for the purpose of playing the music over the winter months throughout rural Cape Breton. CJCB (Sydney) radio continued to follow the tradition of a "featured fiddler" initiated with Tina Campbell's appearance on "Cotter's Saturday Nite" in the 1940's. Subsequently, CJCB radio and to some extent, CJCB T.V. through the 1950's until the late 1960's introduced Bill Lamey, Winston "Scotty" Fitzgerald, Joe MacLean, and Dan Joe MacInnis, among others, to a wider audience.
Of great significance at this time was the arrival of the "personal" tape recorders. The "reel to reel" format was now more prevalent but the more user-friendly cassette recorder format would follow, and allow thousands of people to personally record the music of their favorite fiddlers at concerts, dances, and house sessions using a very simple application of the equipment. Many fiddlers viewed the use of these recorders as an intrusion and certainly caused some to be extra cautious when performing for fear that an error or misinterpretation of the music might not give due justice, at a particular moment, to the fiddler's ability. Therefore, in certain circumstances, the fiddlers would often express their dismay over the use of these recorders and ask not to be recorded or even find some excuse not to play. In other circumstances, however, there would be little that the fiddler could do to change the situation. For example, concert and dance venues often actually prepared the facilities so that the hundreds of spectators with recorders could record that special performance by the fiddlers. Regardless of the venues, the recording techniques and conditions usually preempted any possibility of a fiddler being able to be recorded in a manner in which his or her music would be later presented to their satisfaction.
The performing routine of the Cape Breton fiddler in the mid-sixties, as in earlier years, was more or less a "serious hobby". Most were part of the general labor workforce among the steelworkers, miners, fishermen and other similar occupations. Maintaining a busy playing schedule was an addition to their full-time work. Perhaps a busy performing itinerary at concerts and dances gave many of the popular fiddlers a great deal of satisfaction and consumed much of their time. But the negative experiences surrounding the use of personal recorders, and the negative return and perhaps even abuse of the fiddlers' music and tradition by the commercial recording industry, developed among many fiddlers who had recorded earlier a dislike and even mistrust of the recording industry. This attitude was soon entrenched, and the fiddlers acquired less of an interest to enter recording studios. The idea of introducing new recordings became less of a pre-occupation among the fiddlers. The result of the earlier recording efforts was, in retrospect, a bad experience for the fiddlers. Without written contracts (with mutual benefits) there were no royalties and little or no financial return to speak of for artists. In time, the fiddlers developed a "sour" taste for the process and began to distance themselves from any commercial recordings. This attitude continued for about a ten-year period (1965-1975).