Champion Fiddler, Inspired Performer
Redeemed is a beautiful old waltz. In recent years, it’s become a fairly common waltz in the open division at fiddle contests. It is my understanding that it’s a hymn. I haven’t done the research yet, but there is one thing I do know – It’s a very pretty melody. Oh, and it’s in Eb, [...]
I think that Ed Carnes may have been the first person I heard play General Longstreet’s Reel. When I see Ed at Fiddle contests, he is one of the few people that will surprise me with an obscure tune that I don’t know, and maybe haven’t even heard of. General Longstreet’s is also one of [...]
Grey Eagle is a great breakdown, but I haven’t always liked it. Really it wasn’t the tune I disliked, it was how a lot of the people who I had heard played it. It just seems like a breakdown that has been frequently played with lots of trills, and kind of flowery, which isn’t the [...]
This was my first time participating in the Mini Masters Little Fiddle Contests, which is an unofficial (but important) part of the National Oldtime Fiddle Contest in Weiser, Idaho. The Mini Masters happens late in the week, and is an opportunity for the fiddlers to blow off a little steam after an intense week of [...]
I don’t remember where I first heard Durang’s Hornpipe, but it has long been a fiddle contest breakdown staple. And, I remember when Cody Stadelmaier learned a kickin’ version of Durang’s Hornpipe for Dick and Lisa Barrett and came back to the Colorado and Wyoming fiddle contests to clean my clock with it. After that, [...]
The first time that I’m aware of hearing Pacific Slope was in 2010 when I judged the Western Open Fiddle Contest. Danita Gardner partnered with Star McMullen in the Twin Division and Pacific Slope was one of the tunes they chose. I thought it was a pretty cool tune, especially twinned, but didn’t think about [...]
Rosebud of Avenmore is a really pretty waltz that I have heard people play in fiddle contests since I was a kid. I have to be honest and say that I have heard it many times, but I may not have played it all the way through before tonight. It was listed as someone’s favorite [...]
In honor of the prettiest waltz thread, I recorded Ook Pik Waltz today. My first memory of Ook Pik was of Trisha Peterson (formerly Isenberger) beating me in a fiddle contest playing this pretty waltz. I didn’t like it so much then. I must say today that it is a pretty waltz, while I still [...]
Who would have known that there are 6 distinct tunes called Cumberland Gap? Not me, at least not until just now. The tune I play by this name, I learned from an Orville Burns recording, and it’s really fun to play. It goes back and forth between G and E minor, and it’s really GROWLY. [...]
Cottonpatch Rag is one of my old-school contest fiddle tunes. I originally learned it from Tony Ludiker, and there are parts in there from me, Terry Ludiker, Roberta Rast, and others. And, I didn’t even put That’s one of the cool things about fiddling, is that learning a tune is just the beginning. Even if [...]
