The official site for the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, as well as other fiddle tunes education and performance programs at Centrum, the nonprofit center for the arts located at Fort Worden State Park, in Port Townsend, Washington.
Bobby Hicks is the king of harmony bluegrass fiddling. He is one of a very small handful of fiddlers still alive and actively playing, who worked with the father of bluegrass music, Bill Monroe – you’ve heard Bobby’s fiddling on classic instrumentals like “Wheel Hoss,” “Big Mon,” “Roanoke”. These are tunes with two and sometimes three fiddles, playing in perfect harmony with plenty of grit and groove.
Bobby joined the Bluegrass Boys as a bass player at the age of 21, and switched over to fiddle after Gordon Terry was drafted. He played with Bill Monroe until early 1960, then went on to play with various country music stars including Mel Tillis and Porter Wagoner, then 21 years with Ricky Skaggs.
His honors include five Grammy awards, 3 gold records, 8 IBMA (Int’l Bluegrass Music Assn’) awards, etc. etc. After more than 50 years in the fiddle business, Bobby is still playing great and has also been actively teaching, so if you are interested in learning bluegrass/Texas swing fiddle with lots of double stops, he’s your man!
Alice Gerrard continues to be an inspiration to me, for her intense and melismatic singing, her down-home fiddle and banjo playing, and her deep knowledge of old-time music. For over 50 years she has immersed herself in southern music, making ground-breaking recordings with Hazel Dickens, then working with Mike Seeger, with the Strange Creek Singers, and more recently with Tom (Sauber) and Brad (Leftwich.) Along the way she founded the Old Time Herald, which she also edited for many years.
Alice has a repertoire of unusual old-time tunes learned from various older musicians that she used to visit when she lived near Galax, Virginia. I love to hear her tell about the people she learned from, like Luther Davis and Rosco Parish - in her hands their tunes become talismans of another place and time: the Blue Ridge of a century ago.
I’m pleased to welcome Rick Good to Fiddle Tunes for the very first time! His solid, kick-butt playing on a big resonator banjo – both two-finger and clawhammer style - his good-natured, relaxed approach to singing, his goofy smile, and his height are the things I remember most vividly about him. Rick has been part of the old-time music landscape for about 40 years now, first as part of the legendary Ohio old-time band the Hotmud Family, for the past several decades as a co-director (with his wife Sharon Leahy) of Rhythm In Shoes, a music and dance troupe featuring American traditions, and most recently as a member of the Red Clay Ramblers. Rhythm In Shoes has wound down after 23 years, so Rick and Sharon are finally able to come to Fiddle Tunes!
Rick will be teaching and accompanying Alice Gerrard, and Sharon will be teaching clogging – she was a member of the Green Grass Cloggers before forming Rhythm In Shoes. Check out this Youtube video of Rick from Cllifftop -- the sound gets better as you get into it - Rick plays a gorgeous solo two-finger style piece that to me sounds like a mountain stream bubbling its way through a rocky bed, followed by a great rendition of "Don't Get Weary Children" with frailed banjo and singing.
Welcome to my first post as Centrum's Artistic Director for The Festival of American Fiddle Tunes!
It's a pleasure and an honor to work with Peter McCracken and to be part of the venerable Fiddle Tunes community. I'm especially excited by the prospect of being around the older generation players, as this was such an life-altering experience for me when I was younger. Of course, it is a bit sobering to realize that some of the "older generation" players I learned from were actually younger than I am now!
Among our 2011 faculty are several musicians who have shaped my own musical journey. At least two are among my earliest influences, but some came into my life a bit later. One of these is Bruce Greene, who has guided countless musicians through the strange and lovely world of Kentucky fiddle tunes, which he has gleaned from visits with older musicians and from obscure field recordings. Bruce Greene's renditions of these tunes go deep into the collective subconscious, evoking that shiver of recognition that occasionally comes even when you may not have ever heard that style of music before. Hearing him play changed my life and I would love for others to have that same kind of experience in 2011.
Bruce will be bringing dulcimer player Don Pedi with him. They are neighbors and have been playing music together for many, many years – if you have thought of dulcimer as some kind of airy-fairy instrument, think again! Don is a rhythm machine - he evokes the sound of fiddlesticks, of clawhammer banjo, of dancing feet. The combination of Bruce's deep strong fiddling and Don's rhythmic support is magical as you will hear on this video. They are playing a Kentucky tune called Jeff Sturgeon, which seems appropriate given the availability of excellent seafood in Port Townsend...I don't know about sturgeon but I've definitely had some great halibut there!
I'm happy to answer questions and hear suggestions, so if you have any, you can email me at suzy (at) ericandsuzy.com. We'll be focusing on other faculty and staff members in the weeks to come so please check back here!
Register now to reserve choice dorm spots, or to give a very thoughtful gift, or to treat yourself! Whatever the reason, we look forward to seeing you at Fort Worden in 2011. If you know the drill, you can register online right now, or you can also download, print and return the forms as well.
We'll be rolling out faculty announcments over the next few weeks, and giving you additional program news, so stay tuned for the latest and greatest from Fiddle Tunes.
Celebrate the season with a blaze of great music December 4 at the Chapel at Fort Worden. Fiddler Lisa Ornstein and guitarist Dan Compton are teaming up for a 2:30pm concert featuring original melodies and traditional tunes from French Canada and the Appalachians. Soulful music from the North and South of Way Back East. Fiddle and guitar workshops will precede the concert.
Lisa is both a “tune catcher” and a fiddle virtuoso: “she has power, intonation, and a bowing arm that crackles with energy, yet conveys amazing nuances, a wonderful ear for phrasing, and a sharp musical wit” (Fiddler Magazine). Dan is a masterful, inventive guitarist with a keen and knowing ear for harmony. Since 2008, Lisa and Dan have been delighting audiences with an energized, finely wrought dialogue between fiddle and guitar, one which brings to light rare and beautiful tunes, both old and new. The concert will feature music from their new CD, The Magic Paintbrush.
Today is the first day of November. In a few short weeks, we will begin taking registrations for the 2011 Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, taking place July 3-10, 2011.
We are hard at work with new Artistic Director Suzy Thompson putting together the faculty for the next gathering. Rather than spring it on you all at once, however, we thought you might enjoy a sneak peek.
“Is there not a certain satisfaction in the fact that natural limits are set to the life of an individual, so that at its conclusion it may appear as a work of art?” - Albert Einstein
We have just received word that our dear friend Warren Argo passed away yesterday after suffering a heart attack. The quote you see above appeared on the invitation to Warren’s 50th birthday party, appropriately held at his best friend’s house, Littlefield Farm.
Warren was a huge presence on earth, and certainly a small part of that was felt by the Centrum community. In Seattle in the 70s, as a member of the Gypsy Gyppo String Band, he helped to turn on a whole new generation of urban enthusiasts to square dancing and contra dancing, people who had never been anywhere near a Grange hall or rural community centers.
In 1976, the Gyppos played at the “4th at the Fort,” a mini-festival at Fort Worden dreamed up by Joe Wheeler, which became the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes the next year. Warren was on staff at the event, he became a Centrum board member, a volunteer, and eventually he managed Fiddle Tunes for more than a decade. Often he ran the sound system for the legendary dances held in building 204, and he was part of the awesome crew that stripped two layers of linoleum from the big halls in that building, revealing maple dance floors.
In 34 years, the Fiddle Tunes Festival has never taken place without Warren.
Warren traveled in many circles, and in all of them, this was his feature: he always made you feel good about yourself.
A memorial service will be held at noon, Saturday, October 16, at Littlefield Farm in Arlington, Washington. Other memorial activities include an overnight dance planned for Friday and Saturday, Oct. 22-23 at the South Bay Grange in Olympia.
Memorial contributions to defray expenses may be made at warrenargo.com or by check to: Chuck Pliske, 3808 39th Ave. SW, Seattle, WA 98116. Check should be made payable to: “For the benefit of Warren Argo.”
Over the past three decades, Suzy Thompson has been a leading force in many influential roots music groups, including the California Cajun Orchestra (two award-winning CDs on the Arhoolie label), the Blue Flame String Band (with Kate Brislin and Alan Senauke), Klezmorim (who started the klezmer music revival in the 1970’s), the all-woman Any Old Time String Band (featured on the Grammy-winning Arhoolie box set), and most recently, the Bluegrass Intentions (with banjo ace Bill Evans.) She has also worked with Darol Anger, Laurie Lewis, Beausoleil, Peter Rowan, Maria Muldaur, Jody Stecher, Del Rey, Geoff Muldaur, Alice Gerrard, D.L. Menard, Jane Voss, Rinde Eckert, the Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band, Sukay, and Frankie Armstrong, among others.
In 2003, she released her first solo CD, No Mockingbird which features blues songs and old-time fiddle rags. Her follow up CD on the Arhoolie label, Stop & Listen, came out in 2005.
Thompson currently records and performs in a duet with her husband and longtime musical partner, reknowned flatpicker Eric Thompson, with the Aux Cajunals (a Cajun/blues band, in which she plays Cajun accordion as well as fiddle and guitar), and with the Thompson String Ticklers.
Thompson discovered the music of Bessie Smith, Sippie Wallace, Memphis Minnie, Victoria Spivey, and other classic blues moaners in the winter of 1975, when a friend of a friend of a friend stored his LP collection in her room. She began learning and performing some of this early blues material, accompanying herself on the guitar. The next year, she formed the Any Old Time String Band, an all-woman quintet with a repertoire that included classic blues, oldtime country music, and Cajun music.
In 1976, her interest in Cajun music was sparked by seeing the Balfa Brothers perform. She traveled to southwest Louisiana, receiving an NEA Fellowship in 1980 to apprentice with Master Cajun Musician, Dewey Balfa; she also studied with Cajun fiddle legends Dennis McGee, Cheese Read and Wade Fruge. The 1980s saw Suzy touring and recording with the Blue Flame Stringband and the Backwoods Band, appearing on the Prairie Home Companion radio show, and touring throughout the U.S. and in Europe.
In 1983, she formed the California Cajun Orchestra, featuring Louisiana-born accordionist Danny Poullard. The CCO's debut album, on Arhoolie, was awarded the prestigious Prix Dehors De Nous by the Louisiana French Music Association; their follow-up CD won a NAIRD Indie for “Best Cajun-Zydeco Album of the Year.” Suzy has performed with many of Louisiana's finest Cajun musicians, including D.L. Menard, Beausoleil, Michael Doucet, Dewey Balfa, and Marc and Ann Savoy. She appears in Les Blank's film on Cajun and Zydeco music, J'ai Ete Au Bal.
Thompson's vast repertoire of quirky old-time country tunes and songs was learned from rare field recordings and old 78s, and she is particularly adept at the ragtime and blues-influenced playing of hillbilly musicians of the 1920's and 30's, such as the East Texas Serenaders, Fiddlin' Arthur Smith, Doc Roberts, and others of that ilk. Thompson’s passion for old-time music caused her to start the Berkeley Old Time Music Convention , which has become a four-day celebration attended by oldtime musicians who travel to Berkeley from all over the country.
In 1994, Thompson represented the U.S. on a Masters of the Folk Violin Tour in Scotland and England. In addition to performing, she has been an instructor at many festivals and music camps, including Centrum’s Festival of American Fiddle Tunes and Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival, Augusta Heritage Cajun-Creole and Old Time Weeks, Californa Bluegrass Association Music Camp, Port Townsend Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, California Coast Music Camp, Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, and Lark In the Morning.
Join KEXP's Greg Vandy in the Roadhouse this Wednesday night
(6-9pm) for an in-studio performance from Caleb Klauder's Country Band,
with very special guests Jesse Lege and Joel Savoy. KEXP invited Caleb
into the studio to share some of the songs off his brand-new album,
Western Country. Backed by a full country band (including Sammy
Lind, also on Fiddle Tunes Faculty) Caleb played "Worn Out Shoes" and
"Hole In My Heart", two greats songs off the album. He also talked with
host Greg Vandy about his influences growing up in the Northwest music
scene.
Joining Caleb as special guests, Jesse Lége brought his powerhouse
Cajun singing and deep knowledge of traditional Cajun French. Along with
fiddler Joel Savoy, and with Caleb's full country band, the two Cajun
musicians brought the house down. Greg also had a fascinating interview
with Joel about the current state of Louisiana's folk music and folk
culture.
Tune in online at www.kexp.org.
The Roadhouse lasts from 6-9, and they'll be on around 6:30 or so.
Of course, Jesse and Joel will be part of this Friday's big Cajun and Creole Dance Party on Friday - so this is a great opportunity to check them out before buying tickets to the Friday show. Tickets are
available online,
or by calling 800-746-1982.
Friday July 9 La Fête de la
Louisiane: A Cajun & Creole Dance Party Littlefield
Green | 7:30 pm | $15
Creole
La La: Nolton Simien and David Greely and Friends
Little
Band of Silver: (Cajun Superstar jam with Steve Riley, Sam
Broussard, Jesse Lége, Joel Savoy, Dirk and Christine Powell.)
Seattle musician and Fiddle Tunes regular Devon Leger has written a very interesting piece in Victory Music about the emergence of a new generation of participants and faculty at the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes. For all of you in the I-5 area, Devon offers this nugget:
"The Festival is now more successful than ever, but few people in Seattle
realize that the Festival also offers public concerts.
These concerts feature master musicians and are relatively cheap. So if
you’ve never heard of the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, check out
their concert page and plan a fun outing to the Peninsula. These artists
are often impossible to catch outside of the Festival!"
