Category: Bluegrass Fiddle

Categories
Bluegrass Fiddle

Farewell to Fiddler Magazine, I Guess

Back in 2012, I wanted to help my friend, fiddler Becky Buller, promote her solo career. I had become aware of Fiddler magazine about a year earlier, grabbing a copy from the rack at Elderly Instruments in Lansing, Michigan. I emailed the editor Mary Larsen if she would be interested in an article on Becky, along with inlcuding my writing resume. Mary got back to me with a request, and it was the start of a decade-long positive relationship with the publication.

I was extremely pleased that the Becky Buller article became the cover story for that issue, and had proceeded to provide an article nearly every quarterly issue since then. While primarily interviewing bluegrass fiddlers, I also produced articles on klezmer, Quebecois, and country music fiddlers, as well as numerous album reviews and survey articles on teaching, instruments, and even handling COVID.

Back in 2022, Mary decided to retire from the editor/publisher end of the publication, and the magazine was purchased by a freelance writer named Narielle Living. The contributing writers of Fiddler were happy that the magazine would continue. Narielle had a strong publishing background, and made the overall look of the magazine receive a more modern appearance. She also had a good business sense when it came to magazine publishing. Unfortunately, Fiddler was meeting the same fate as many other print publications, in that, paper costs and postage were making boutique magazines non profitable, so the decision was made to go online only in 2023.

For some more mainstream publications with a wider scope of readers, online-only magazines can prove survivable, maybe even decently profitable. However, Fiddler was not one of those fortunate ones. The majority readership of Fiddler seemed to prefer print format, particularly since there was tablature for fiddle tunes printed, and it was easy to just put the magazine onto a music stand to practice. Moreover, there is something about print that makes it more comfortable and welcoming to read anywhere at any time, rather than pulling out the laptop, tablet, or iPhone.

It seemed that only one or two online issues of Fiddler were published. I continued to send in my interview and review articles to Narielle. However, by early 2024, I was not seeing any notice in my email inbox that a new issue was being uploaded online. She had updated the magazine website (www.fiddlermag.com/) with cleaner graphics, but nothing to announce the new issue date. Available merchandise consists of different stickers, but no available back issues.

I have attempted to contact Narielle at least a dozen times to get some information on the magazine’s current and future status, but have not received any reply. I have even contacted Mary to see if she has heard anything, but she gets the same non-response. A number of online chatboards dealing with the violin and fiddle have numerous postings about the magazine’s existence, and all answers lead to dead ends.

This is a sad state indeed. I can understand if there is a need to discontinue the publication for any one of a number of reasons, but not providing a statement as to its closure to the contributors and readers is not good. For me, it was an easy outlet for my freelance writing. While the pay vs. time spent interviewing and writing was not that great, it was rewarding to get to know many fiddlers in different genres, as well as keep my writing chops fresh. For readers, this was one of the truly few resources for roots-music fiddlers to learn about the many aspects of fiddling. While there are other magazines that cover roots music in general, and even one or two publications that center on the violin, none covered the subject of fiddling like Fiddler.

This may have been my last opportunity for freelance writing, in particular in the music scene. Fiddler was the perfect outlet for my writing. I will have to re-evaluate my time and commitment to part-time writing, if I should decide to continue. Freelance writing is truly a dog-eat-dog world. Moreover, with print magazines disappearing one by one, online publishing does not provide a steady income, if any income at all. Taking a look at the writing of some online publications, the editorial work is horrendous, and articles look like they were written by a 5th grader.

I so much hate to see Fiddler go, and I keep hoping and praying that this hiatus is temporary, and someone will see how valuable this publication has been to so many fiddlers, both beginners and old-timers, and help to bring it back to life.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Fiddle Old-Time Fiddle

Two Great Young Fiddlers

Occasionally, the YouTube algorithm pays off. In recent days, I have come across two young fiddlers that impressed me with their talent. It makes my heart swell that there are some young people out there that are really taking an interest in music, particularly roots music like old-time fiddling. It brings up my spirits after the disappointing turnout at the Fiddle Contest I was at a few weeks ago (https://luegra.design.blog/2024/10/12/2024-michigan-old-time-fiddlers-contest-sad-turnout/).

The first is Fiddlin’ Hayley King. I only found her a few days ago, so I haven’t seen a lot of her videos, and I notice that her YT page does not have a lot of them. However, I was impressed with her original tune, “Little White Pumpkin,” which she performs on both fiddle and clawhammer banjo. From the looks of it, she also plays mandolin and guitar, and has a sweet voice. There’s not much information about her on the internet besides the YT page and a Facebook page, but a 2019 article on her states that she secured a full ride scholarship from Morehead (Kentucky) State University at age 16 (https://www.blythewoodonline.com/2019/01/king-fiddles-her-way-to-college/). She is definitely someone who will snag some interest in the bluegrass and old-time fiddle crowd shortly. I do see her being picked up be a bluegrass band real soon.

Next is Hollace Oakes. At 14 years old, she is impressing everyone that comes across her. Another multi-instrumentalist (fiddle, mandolin, piano, guitar) as well as flatfoot/clogging expert, she has competed for the last few years at the famous Galax Old-Time Fiddle Convention for the past few years, winning the blue ribbon in 2023. This past August, she performed the National Anthem on fiddle at the Convention. She is often seen performing with clawhammer banjoist Margo McSweeny, and has won praises and jammed with Carley Arrowood. I have a feeling that within five years, this young lady will be appearing on a lot of bluegrass stages, probably even the Grand Ole Opry stage.

It does my heart good. Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Fiddle Bluegrass Music

Bobby Hicks RIP

Yesterday, we lost one of the great and influential bluegrass fiddlers. Bobby Hicks passed away early Friday morning from complications of a heart attack earlier in the week at the age of 91. I do not think that there is a bluegrass fiddler alive today that does not know who he was, let alone view him as a big influence.

Hicks was born in North Carolina in 1933, and first learned guitar and mandolin. He later picked up the fiddle, and won his first fiddle contest at age 12. He would first play with Jim Eanes band, and did a short stint playing bass for Bill Monroe until Monroe saw how good he was on the fiddle and moved him to that position full time.

After a two-year service in the Army, Hicks returned to the Blue Grass Boys and moved to Nashville. With them he recorded Monroe classics “Big Mon,” “Scotland,” and “Wheel Hoss.” He often recorded twin and triple fiddles with the band alongside Vassar Clemens, Kenny Baker, and Charlie Cline. He later joined Port Wagoner’s band, but soon moved to Las Vegas where he was getting paid much better. It is there that he created his homemade five-string fiddle.

After seven years in Vegas, he returned to NC to care for his ailing mother. While home, he played with some local bands and held private lessons. In 1981, Ricky Skaggs asked Hicks to join his touring band. At the same time, he participated in the first five albums of the legendary Bluegrass Album Band, which included Tony Rice, Doyle Lawson, J.D. Crowe and Todd Phillips.

He retired from Skaggs’ band and touring in 2004 at the age of 71. He continued playing locally in NC and giving occasional lessons. He was inducted into the Fiddlers Hall of Fame in 2002, the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2017, and was also a member of the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. He has 10 Grammy Awards to his credit, and performed for over 50 years on the Grand Ole Opry.

Monroe once dubbed Hicks “the truest fiddler he had ever heard.” I had the honor of meeting Mr. Hicks back around 2011 at the IBMA World of Bluegrass Conference when it was in Nashville. In the Exhibit Hall, he was trying out a number of fiddles at a luthier’s booth. Strangely, there was not that big of a crowd standing around watching this legend test-drive the fiddles. He actually asked me what I thought of one of them once he was finished playing. We chatted for a few minutes, I explained that I was not a fiddler but enjoyed fine playing. I felt honored that he would ask someone he didn’t know an opinion of an instrument.

The masters of bluegrass are disappearing at a sadly fast rate, and with Bobby Hicks now gone, there is not many left for our younger artists to show respect to. He will be sorely missed int eh bluegrass community for not only his talent, but his knowledge that he passed on to many others.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Fiddle

Female Bluegrass Fiddlers

Google and the American Songwriter website must always have me in their cross hairs. Every day when I go online, there is an AS article recommendation. I have stated in previous blogs how I don’t value its content too much due to trying to be too politically correct and implementing the whole DEI thing way too much.

This article popped up a few days ago: https://americansongwriter.com/5-female-fiddle-players-breaking-barriers/

Again, the magazine/website is trying so hard to be “catching the wave” of the whole DEI movement. I highly doubt that they would ever publish an article on five MALE fiddlers pushing the barriers. They listed these five females: Eileen Ivers, Brittany Haas, Sara Watkins, Alison Krauss, and Lucia Micarelli. A good list to be sure, but there are a few women fiddlers that probably should be on here, such as Natalie McMaster and Annie Staninec. I always question why AS chooses such oddball numbers instead of sticking with a Top 10. Perhaps the writers are just too damned lazy to do more than 15 minutes of research.

However, the article did get me to thinking about women and bluegrass music. The fiddle position in bluegrass bands seems to have a great amount of females. Two of my favorite fiddle players (who just happen to be good friends as well) are female – Brittany Haas and Bronwyn Keith-Hynes. Off the cuff, I can name a lot more gal fiddlers along with those already mentioned: Becky Buller, Laurie Lewis, Kimber Ludicker, Rayna Gellert, Maddie Denton, Ivy Phillips, Kitty Amaral, Deanie Richardson, and Mary Rachel Nalley-Norris to start. That doesn’t include other roots-based female fiddlers such as April Verch, Sophie Lavoie, Jenee Fleenor, Lena Jonsson, Stephanie Cadman, and Miranda Mulholland among others.

This made me think about why so many women are playing fiddle in bluegrass bands. First off, I remember when, in elementary school, the early music program had us choosing what instrument we wanted to learn. Boys always seemed to go for saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and drums/percussion, while girls went for flutes, clarinets, and violins. A boy playing a violin was thought to be a sissy, and looking through high school yearbooks, the photos of the orchestra seemed to mirror that choice, with perhaps one or two male cello or bass players.

I was guilty of that thought for all of my school years, and only knew one male violinist and one cellist. I never even thought of playing fiddle until I started playing in acoustic and bluegrass bands. Being already in my late 30s, it was a steep hill to climb to learn a new instrument. I first thought that because I was playing guitar and bass, along with a little mandolin, the move to learning the fiddle would be easy. BAH! I can’t count the number of times that I wish I could turn back the hands of time to my 4th grade class and say that I wanted to learn the violin. Sissy names be damned!

Back in the early days of bluegrass, if there was a female in the band, they were usually regulated to playing the upright bass. Thanks to acts such as Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard and The Coon Creek Girls, bluegrass began to recognize women as a driving force in the format. Of course, Alison Krauss helped put women on the bluegrass map fiercely in the mid-1980s, and the format has been encouraging for ladies ever since.

Bluegrass has never really “pigeon holed” female performers like other formats. While you may see a lot of statements such as “the female Elvis” or “the female Jimi Hendrix,” women performing in bluegrass, especially fiddlers, have made a name for themselves without having the press resorting to gender comparisons since the 1980s. Musicians should only be judged on their work, not on their gender, race, or creed.

Here’s a clip from a long time back by Belle Starr, with Stephanie Cadman and Miranda Mulholland. I really miss this trio, they should have hit it big. We’ll follow it up with my friend Brittany Haas (with Chris Thile).

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Fiddle Bluegrass Music Lutherie

Tidbits #5: Hillbilly Thomists, Brittany Haas, Iris Carr

I have talked about The Hillbilly Thomists before on this blog almost two years ago (https://luegra.design.blog/2020/12/04/the-hillbilly-thomists-more-bluegrass-meets-cathoilicism/). I just picked up the band’s latest CD, Holy Ghost Power. If you are into The Earl Brothers/Mumford & Sons/Avett Brothers style of bluegrass, you definitely need to pick this disc up! While every song has religious overtones, it is not the strict gospel songs that one hears in church. The best cut IMHO is “Good Tree.” The mood that this song sets will move your heart.

What surprised me to see in a pleasurable way was finding a YouTube video of the band performing live on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville! If they weren’t wearing their Franciscan robes, you would think that they were another quality bluegrass band. Besides good musicians and excellent harmonizing vocalists, they have a great stage personal, and communicate will with the audience. This performance was in conjunction with a convention of the Knights of Columbus being held in Nashville. I guess that the only bigger stage for a band like this would be the Vatican!

Brittany Haas is probably my favorite living fiddle player. I am so amazed by her work with Hawktail, as well as numerous other projects. While her forte is bluegrass, she can easily spin into old-time, country, Celtic, Texas swing, and the blues. Her playing never lets me down, and I am so proud of her accomplishments over the past few years. I want to let everyone know that she is putting out a new video instruction series through ArtistWorks called “Old-Time & Bluegrass Fiddle with Brittany Haas.” This promises to be a rewarding educational series for beginner and intermediate fiddlers from the best in the business. It comes out in December, and the ArtistWorks YouTube channel has a sneak preview. Great lessons from a great lady!

Also be sure to check out two new videos on Darol Anger’s YouTube channel where he is duetting with Brittany. Here’s one of them.

A luthier that I have been following for a while is Iris Carr from England. She writes a blog about some of her more exacting repairs to violins, violas, and cellos (https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/112171145). I absolutely love to see her expert work, which is so professional that I often call her “Dr. Carr” in the comments section of her posts. Iris has recently started an online course for repairs and restorations of stringed instruments. From what I have seen of her previous repair work, a beginning luthier will learn a lot from this lady.

New Online Course available now!
Iris Carr Restorations

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Americana Music Bluegrass Fiddle Bluegrass Music

Byron Berline RIP

Last week right after I posted my blog, I learned about the death of Byron Berline, one of my favorite fiddlers. Having the status of being a Blue Grass Boy is enough reward for any bluegrass musician, but Byron went so much further with and without the fiddle in his life, that he would become a hero to many.

Byron was from Kansas, but spent most of his life in Oklahoma, where he picked up a Texsas Swing style to his fiddle playing. He went to the University of Oklahoma to receive a teaching degree in Physical Education, but soon joined Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys. He co-wrote the jam standard “Gold Rush” with Monroe, but was then drafted into the Army in 1967. After his two-year stint in the military, he went all-out with his fiddle playing.

Besides being a member of the Flying Burrito Brothers and Stephen Stills’ Manassas for a short time, he also recorded the famous fiddle solo on the Rolling Stones’ “Country Honk” from the Let It Bleed album. Along with a number of fiddle contest wins, he also helped form the bands Sundance, Country Gazette, and California, working with such luminary musicians as Dan Crary, Alan Munde, and Vince Gill. He also worked with Emmylou Harris, The Eagles, Elton John and The Doobie Brothers among many others.

He appeared on a number of documentaries, as well as some commercial ventures. He was a musician in the film The Rose with Bette Midler, and had a minor role in one episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, in which he plays a member of the Enterprise that performs with an 18th century string quartet.

In 1995, Byron opened up a musical instrument store in Guthrie, Oklahoma called The Fiddle Stop, where popular jam sessions would happen constantly. While on vacation in Mexico in 2019, the shop was destroyed by fire, taking with it many of his prized violins. He would open a second shop across the street. However, on July 10 of this year, Byron passed away from complications of a stroke.

If one was to talk about the penultimate musician, Byron would be in that small group. He did everything that he wanted to do as a musician, all the time with that big grin on his face. He played traditional and progressive bluegrass music, but was not afraid to touch other genres such as country, rock, ragtime and Cajun. He performed with so many of the biggest names in the music industry. Add to that his getting to appear on a Star Trek episode, something every Trekkie dreams of.

Mostly, he was a legend with bluegrass fans. Not just for his amazing fiddle work, but Byron will be remembered for his continual pushing of the envelope with the format of bluegrass songs, while still holding the traditional structure close to his heart. Listening to his work, one can hear his one foot in the old-time style, while the other foot is splashing away in some psychedelic pond. A great example of this is his performance with California as they perform the newgrass composition “California Traveler.”

With Byron’s passing, I do hope that he realized how much of an impact he had on musicians, especially bluegrass fiddlers. Rest easy, sir.

Chew on it and comment.

Categories
Bluegrass Fiddle Bluegrass Music

My Favorite Beginner Fiddle Books

When I started writing for Fiddler back in 2012, after two or three articles, I figured that I better actually learn a bit about the fiddle so that I knew what questions to ask and not be confused when an artist or luthier mentioned some strange term. I played guitar, bass, and mandolin at the time, dabbled a wee bit on dobro, and looked at a banjo that I owned more than touched it.

I purchased a student model with soft case off of eBay for about $42.00, and from the stories that I later heard, I lucked out. The 4/4 model was no Strad, but the nut was properly cut, the bridge was satisfactory (I purchased a better one about a year later), and it was definitely playable. While it was able enough to kick out a jig or reel, I sure the heck was not! I picked up some books and videos, then tried my best to hack through a few old-time tunes. I was able to play about a dozen songs without too much squawks, but due to matters beyond my control, I let the fiddle practice slip away a little while after my bridge replacement.

Fast forward to about a year ago. I haven’t been living in my own house due to caregiving my elderly mother. Little by little, I found that I had time on my hands, though not enough to drive back to my house to make use. So among the items I brought over to mom’s place was the fiddle and books. I also started following some YouTube videos for instruction, and found one gent who calls himself Fiddlehed (www.fiddlehed.com) that was quite entertaining with his instruction. One suggestion he made a few months ago stuck with me – pick up your fiddle every day, even if it is just for a minute or two to drag the bow across an open string. That regimen stuck with me, as before I would play for an hour or so once a week. Now, I found myself doing 20 minutes or so every day, and it is part of my daily schedule just as morning exercise or evening dinner is. Plus, it has made me love playing the fiddle!

I pulled out the old lesson books and started from scratch. Lots of rust in many spots, but a few bright spots as well. I want to talk about the four instruction books that I have used for my lessons, which I recommend (in no particular order). I got them years ago when they came with play-along CDs. I believe all are still available, but you have to download the audio tracks from the websites on three of them.

My First Fiddle Picking Songs by Steve Kaufman and Conny Ottway (www.melbay.com) – Very easy to follow. It does not take too long until you start diving into easy songs. The accompanying CD has all of the songs played at a slow speed. Unfortunately, while there are short instructions on the musical notes and where they appear on the fingerboard and music staff, once the songs start appearing, you have to know where to finger as well as the notes on the staff. Also, there is no guitar chord markings on the songs for someone to follow along.

The American Fiddle Method Volumes 1 and 2 by Brian Wicklund (www.melbay.com) – This is probably my favorite of the lot! Wicklund has a good sense of humor, supplementing the lessons with cartoon drawings and witty thoughts. Like the other basic books, it covers the parts of the fiddle and how to position the hands. His instruction mirrors Mark O’Connor’s teaching philosophy, where you jump right into a popular fiddle tune that makes people dance (“Boil ‘em Cabbage Down”). With each new song comes a new technique, and all of the songs are fun (you can conjure up only minimal smiles for perfecting “Twinkle, Twinkle” taught through the Suzuki method). He also covers slides, drones and double stops, which is what makes this style of fiddling unique. Volume 2 continues with even more old-time and bluegrass fiddle tunes for intermediate players. There are also videos available for both books.

Fiddle Primer for Beginners by Jim Tolles (www.cvls.com) – This one is probably the most basic of the books listed. A lot more coverage of the rudiments on bowing and hand positions. It also moves slower, so if you are complete beginner that has no musical experience whatsoever, this may prove to be a good starter. There is also a companion video, and a very similar book (about 90% in content) entitled Violin Primer for Beginners by Tolles as well.

Bluegrass Jamming on Fiddle by Wayne Erbsen (www.nativeground.com) – This is a lot less of a beginner instructional book and more of a fiddle tune compendium and a simple way to play them (it even states in the introduction that this book is for those who have their feet wet, or at least “moist”) . Erbsen is laid back in his presentation, and gives some great information on bluegrass history. The music staff and tablature are a bit confusing compared to other books, so it takes some time to figure out. However, the songs are more bluegrass jam-centric than the other books, and he includes chord charts for the popular fiddle tunes. Erbsen is old school, so he still includes a CD with the book. He does have a beginner book called Old-Time Fiddle for the Complete Ignoramus.

The first three books listed have a lot of the same songs (“Soldier’s Joy,” “Old Joe Clark,” “Cripple Creek”), but it is interesting to see the variants of them. As I have all three books, I like to pull ideas from each one (i.e., whichever looks easiest) and work out my own version. What all of them do have in common is that they shy away from teaching via the Suzuki method, which may be fine for a three-year old but is monotonous to an older student.

I have enjoyed getting back to the fiddle, and still keep in touch with a few former co-workers that were also beginner fiddlers. In many ways, I could kick myself for thinking that the violin was a sissy instrument back in grade school, taking up saxophone instead and failing miserably. Perhaps by the time I was a teen, along with playing in high school orchestra, I would have been skilled at “Jerusalem Ridge” and found a great bluegrass band to work with.

Here’s “Forked Deer,” performed by Brian Wicklund. The music staff and notations appear in The American Fiddler Method Volume 2.

Chew on it and comment.

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