Fred Hylands in Vaudeville

For researchers, scouring newspaper archives is an essential, yet at times tedious, process. Hours spent reading through century-old papers may yield only a small nugget of needed information. After several years of researching the life of Fred Hylands in this manner, I can cast light on his all-but forgotten career in vaudeville. As I studied Mr. Hylands, who he associated with proved just as fascinating as many accompaniments he provided for thousands of recordings. Fred Hylands worked for the Columbia phonograph company from 1897 to about the middle of 1903, but he was never prominent as a phonograph accompanist. The way that most people might have known him was through his many second-rate vaudeville acts. Hylands started performing before age 10, and was primarily working in vaudeville beginning around 1893. His earliest acts on the variety stage are unknown, but according to what we know of his activities in 1896, he was likely a characteristic accompanist to generic performers in minor theaters. He wasn’t successful as a composer until almost 1900. It’s worth noting his collaboration with Stephen B. Cassin. In 1899 he wrote one song with Cassin, called “I’se the Lady Friend of Mister Rastus Jackson,” a typical piece of early ragtime. Cassin was to rise to fame as a popular writer of entirely African-American productions like Sons of Ham (1900) and Abyssinia (1906).