Alabama
fiddle and guitar

In the early 1980’s Jim and Joyce Cauthen began seeking out fiddlers in Alabama who had learned to play from their mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, and neighbors in the years prior to the rise of bluegrass and contest fiddling. They especially encouraged these fiddlers to play family tunes that were no longer being played in their communities; this resulted in the  unearthing of several real treasures.  The book With Fiddle and Well-Rosined Bow: The History of Old-Time Fiddling in Alabama and the LP/CD Possum Up a Gum Stump: Home, Field and Commercial Recordings of Alabama Fiddlers grew out of their visits to fiddlers across the State.

The Cauthens have enjoyed sharing those tunes and stories about the source fiddlers with other old-time musicians in jams, workshops, and performances. Recordings by their bands Red Mountain White Trash (now with the more politically correct but less interesting name Red Mountain Yellowhammers) and Flying Jenny have given Alabama tunes like “Step Around, Johnny,” “Sam Hill,” and “Roaring River” a wider audience.

They are now in the very slow process of digitizing all the cassettes recorded on visits for future on-line access. Recently all reel-to-reel recordings they made while producing Possum Up A Gum Stump were placed on the website of the Alabama Department of Museums and History and can be found in the digital collections portion of that catalog.

At the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes the Cauthens will introduce some of their favorite fiddlers: Everis Campbell, Ralph Whited, Henry Lee Hudson, and Sam McCracken, and Fiddling Tom Freeman of Bug Tussle, the subject of Joyce’s latest book which will be published in 2026. They hope people will want to learn a form of strawbeating taught to them by one of Jim’s great uncles, and will bring “straws” for that purpose.  In band labs they intend to teach a wider range of tunes and give tips about playing for squares and contras accrued over 40 years of playing for dances.