Experience Fiddle Tunes
Artistic Directors
The Onlies
The Onlies are a longstanding collective of friends defining a powerful new generation of string band music. Comprised of multi-instrumentalists Sami Braman, Riley Calcagno, Leo Shannon, Vivian Leva, and Nokosee Fields on banjo, fiddle, guitar, and bass, the band moves effortlessly between ripping dance tunes, delicate waltzes, and strong, vocal-driven songs—woven together with rich two- and four-part harmonies.
Equally at home headlining a festival stage for a crowd of dancers or holding an intimate theater audience in rapt attention, The Onlies bring traditional music vividly to life for the modern ear.
Their fourth studio album, You Climb the Mountain (2025), marks 20 years as a band. True to its name, the record is a volcanic journey, featuring fiddles, banjos, guitars, bass, autoharp, harmonium, electric guitar, and expansive vocal harmonies across 15 generous tracks, including a special cameo from bluegrass legend Alice Gerrard.
The Onlies have earned first place at the Appalachian String Band Festival in Clifftop, West Virginia. As staples of the fiddle camp community, they have taught and performed extensively across the United States and internationally.
They have supported and collaborated with notable artists such as Bruce Molsky, Elvis Costello, Darol Anger, and Watchhouse, and have appeared at major festivals including Pickathon, the Berkeley Old Time Music Convention, and Father’s Day Festival.
Artist Faculty
50th Anniversary Artist Faculty features... Bertram and Madeline Levy - Los Originarios del Plan: Leonel Mendoza, Rafael Farías, Fernando Amezcua, and Elías Francisco Cárdenas - Suzy, Eric, and Allegra Thompson - Rhiannon Giddens, Justin Robinson, Jason Sypher, Justin Harrington - Dirk and Amelia Powell - Liz Hanley, Jefferson Hamer, and Eamon O’Leary - Jake Shulman-Ment, Alicia Svigals, and Pete Rushefsky - Jo, Jane, and John Vidrine - Carter, Maisie, and Helen Newell, Eric Dayan - James and Vivian Leva, Riley Baugus - Rafe and Clelia Stefanini - Nokosee Fields - Arkaitz Miner, Teresa Jareño, David and Caitlin Romtvedt - Gerry and Jesse Milnes - Jim and Jamie Fox - Irene Herrmann and Kaethe Hostetter - Fru Skagerrak: Elise Wessel Hildrum, Maja Kjær Jacobsen, and Anna Linblad - The Lost Keys: Tricia Spencer, Howard Rains, Isaiah Sibi, Orion Spencer-Speirer, Ru Yother
Riley Baugus
Riley Baugus, banjo, fiddle
James Leva, fiddle
Riley Baugus, a North Carolina native who lives in Walkertown, began singing and playing music at an early age. Raised in a household where recordings of old-time music were often played, he developed a love and appreciation for traditional southern Appalachian music. He and his family attended a Regular Baptist church, where unaccompanied hymn singing was a long-standing tradition.…
Nokosee Fields
Over the last few years, musician, artist, and collaborator Nokosee Fields has proven himself to be one of the most provocative, significant, and capable voices in the North American traditional music scene. A quest for balance shapes his work, whether he’s reconciling the weight of tradition with his creative impulses; challenging the demands and vacuity of colonialist, capitalist structures and systems with the richness of his experience and upbringing as a member of the Osage, Creek and Cherokee Nations; or simply anchoring the beat in the rhythmic push and pull of the multiple bands in which he works.…
The Fox Family
Jim and Jamie Fox
Jamie Fox, fiddle
Jim Fox, guitar
Jamie Fox is an Aaniiih tribal member of the Fort Belknap Reservation in eastern Montana. At the age of 5 she got her first fiddle, for Christmas, which started a life-long love of the Metis Native American style of fiddling.…
Rhiannon Giddens & Friends
Rhiannon Giddens, fiddle, banjo and vocals
Justin Robinson, fiddle and vocals
Jason Sypher, bass
Justin Harrington, banjo
Rhiannon Giddens has made a singular, iconic career out of stretching her brand of folk music, with its miles-deep historical roots and contemporary sensibilities, into just about every field imaginable.…
Liz Hanley & Friends
Liz Hanley, fiddle
Jefferson Hamer, guitar
Eamon O’Leary, bouzouki
Liz Hanley is a Brooklyn based singer and fiddle player across many genres. Growing up in Boston in an Irish Hungarian American family, Liz learned traditional fiddle tunes from her father Andy Hanley, songs and stories from her grandparents Martin Hanley, Rita McNamara and Ray Nagy and family friends Brian and Lindsay O’Donovan.…
Kaethe Hostetter & Irene Herrmann
Irene Herrmann and Kaethe Hostetter
Irene Herrmann, mandolin
Kaethe Hostetter, violin
Irene Herrmann has played music all her life, but only after she graduated from music school did she discover the world of non-classical music and started dividing her time between classical piano and cello and traditional music.…
James Leva
James Leva, fiddle
Riley Baugus, banjo, fiddle
James Leva is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter whose music is deeply rooted in Appalachian tradition. He learned much of his fiddle, banjo and vocal repertoire from great traditional masters such as Tommy Jarrell and Doug Wallin. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s he performed with seminal traditionally focused groups that were exploring the boundaries of Appalachian music.…
Bertram & Madeline Levy
Bertram started this festival in 1977, and it’s only fitting that he should be at the 50th gathering. He has recorded with an astonishing variety of musicians – Alan Jabbour, Tommy Thompson, James Reed, Frank Ferrel, Peter Ostroushko, and Kirk Sutphin, among others – as well as making the influential solo album, That Old Gut Feeling.…
Laurie Lewis
For nearly four decades, Laurie Lewis has gathered fans and honors for her powerful and emotive voice and her versatile, dynamic songwriting. And she is an inspiration and a ground-breaker – across genres, across geography and across gender barriers. Laurie has shown us how a woman can blend into any part of the classic bluegrass singing trio, and she showed us how a great voice could move fluidly between bluegrass and other types of music.…
The Lost Keys
The Lost Keys
Tricia Spencer, fiddle
Howard Rains, fiddle, guitar
Isaiah Sibi, fiddle, guitar
Orion Spencer-Speirer, banjo uke
Ru Yother, bass
The Spencer & Rains family of Douglas County, Kansas have been playing music for many generations on both sides of the family.…
The Milnes Family
Jesse Milnes, fiddle
Gerry Milnes, fiddle, banjo
Gerry Milnes has been collecting and playing old-time music and writing about traditional musicians in West Virginia for over fifty years. He’s a multi-instrumentalist, folklorist, filmmaker, and writer, focusing not only on the music but also where it comes from and the values and stories that go along with it.…
Arkaitz Miner & Friends
Arkaitz Miner, violin
Teresa Jareño, alboka, dance
Caitlin Romtvedt, violin
David Romtvedt, accordion
Arkaitz Miner is a violinist, mandolinist, and guitarist with a background in traditional, European classical, and contemporary music. His musical sensibility derives from the close relationship he has with the traditional music of the Basque Country. …
The Newell Family
Carter Newell, fiddle
Maisie Newell, fiddle
Helen Newell, fiddle
Eric Dayan, guitar
Three generations of fiddlers means lots of fun! Carter Newell’s been fiddling for 50 years and farming oysters for almost as long. He is a marine biology PHD, a shellfish and coastal ecosystems researcher, and co-owner of the Pemaquid Oyster Company.…
Los Originarios del Plan
Leonel “La Chona” Mendoza, harp
Rafael “Caña” Farías, violín
Fernando “Perico” Amezcua, violín
Elías Francisco “Pancho” Cárdenas, vihuela
Today’s arpa grande musical tradition is both old and new. The sound of the large harp (arpa grande), regional guitars, two violins, and full-throated, high-pitched vocals goes back to the late 19th century in the hot, agricultural lowlands and foothills of the states of Michoacán and Jalisco, the riverplain known to locals as El Plan.…
Dirk and Amelia Powell
Dirk and Amelia Powell are a father and daughter duo with strong roots in the bayous of Louisiana and the mountains of Kentucky. Amelia’s grandfather, Dewey Balfa, was known as a premier Cajun fiddler and cultural ambassador. She grew up experiencing the deep center of that tradition while simultaneously exploring the old-time music of her Appalachian heritage with her father, Dirk, who learned banjo, fiddle, and guitar from his own grandfather, J.C.…
Jake Shulman-Ment & Friends
Jake Shulman-Ment, violin
Alicia Svigals, violin
Pete Rushefsky, tsimbl
Jake Shulman-Ment is a leading voice in contemporary klezmer – a violinist and composer who bridges centuries of tradition with bold, boundary-pushing performance. Known for his fierce improvisations, rich tone, and unflinching virtuosity, Jake’s performances move effortlessly from haunting laments to foot-stomping celebrations.…
Fru Skagerrak
Fru Skagerrak
Elise Wessel Hildrum, fiddle
Maja Kjær Jacobsen, fiddle
Anna Linblad, fiddle
The music of Fru Skagerrak takes you on a journey through Scandinavian traditions, languages and musical expressions. Fru Skagerrak – ”Lady Skagerrak” – are three master musicians, one from each Scandinavian country: Maja Kjær Jacobsen from Denmark, Elise Wessel Hildrum from Norway and Anna Lindblad from Sweden.…
The Stefanini Family
Rafe Stefanini, fiddle, banjo
Clelia Stefanini, fiddle
Rafe Stefanini has been at the forefront of the revival of traditional music from the rural south for over thirty years. His work on fiddle, banjo, guitar and song is represented in over 20 CDs, both as headliner and as guest. He has been a member of such influential bands as the Wildcats, Big Hoedown, The Rockinghams and Jumpsteady Boys (with Bruce Molsky, Joe Newberry and Mike Compton).…
Alicia Svigals & Friends
Jake Shulman-Ment, violin
Alicia Svigals, violin
Pete Rushefsky, tsimbl
Jake Shulman-Ment is a leading voice in contemporary klezmer – a violinist and composer who bridges centuries of tradition with bold, boundary-pushing performance. Known for his fierce improvisations, rich tone, and unflinching virtuosity, Jake’s performances move effortlessly from haunting laments to foot-stomping celebrations.…
Suzy, Eric & Allegra Thompson
Eric & Suzy have devoted their lives to the pursuit of weird and obscure old-time American music – warped fiddle tunes in odd tunings, cinematic ballads, country blues songs that contain mysterious metaphors, early Cajun music with incomprehensible French lyrics and backwards chords. Using fiddle, mandolin, guitars, Cajun accordion, banjo (and the occasional odd instrument such as the ten-stringed cuatro) they bring these early 20th century sounds right into the present day.…
The Vidrine Family
Jo Vidrine, guitar and accordion
Jane Vidrine, guitar, fiddle, voice
John Vidrine, accordion
John Vidrine is from Mamou, Louisiana, where Cajun music is a lifestyle. He’s played accordion, fiddle and guitar since he was very young and was influenced by legendary figures from the area including Nathan Abshire, Dewey Balfa, and Marc Savoy.…
TUTORIAL STAFF
The Tutorial Staff will be posted in January
Workshop
FIDDLE TUNES 2026
Check-in starts at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 28, followed by dinner in the Commons. After dinner there will be an extensive orientation where we’ll introduce everyone who is teaching during the week.There are two categories of staff – the faculty and the tutors.
FACULTY: During the week most faculty will teach three or four classes, lead an afternoon band lab, play for an evening dance, and play in one in-house performance and one public performance. Classes and band labs are open to all. In a band lab, you’ll be a part of a group learning to play in that faculty member’s style. You’ll learn what makes that style sound like it does – slurs, slides, bowing, ornaments, tempo, etc. Each band lab will play for a dance on Friday night, and in the band lab concert on Saturday morning.
There is also a Beginners’ Band Lab, which is a band lab for beginning-level musicians, and a Teen Band Lab for younger folks.
TUTORS: Tutorials are offered four times during the week. Tutorials are designed to address the needs of beginning and beginning/intermediate players who wish more individualized instruction on their instrument; they will focus on technique. Intermediate level tutorials include technique and tend to focus on style. In many cases, the intermediate tutorials will be in the musical styles presented by the faculty. Tutorial sessions are open to all.
You will also find tutors hosting jam sessions with a spirit of graceful encouragement, playing for dances, and generally being a welcoming and helpful presence throughout the week.
General Schedule
9:30 - 10:45 a.m.: choice of classes
11:15 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.: choice of classes
Lunch and siesta
3:00 p.m.: band labs and tutorials
4:30 p.m.: wildcard workshops
Evenings: showcase concerts and dances
Schedule
FIDDLE TUNES WORKSHOP SCHEDULE 2026
Sunday June 284:00 p.m.: Check-in begins at the Centrum office.
6:00 p.m.: Dinner in the Commons.
7:30 p.m.: Welcome session in McCurdy Pavilion
Detailed schedule coming soon.
Beginners
FIDDLE TUNES FOR BEGINNERS
What might a beginning musician expect at Fiddle Tunes? The gathering welcomes people of all abilities, but it’s not uncommon for beginning musicians to feel frustrated at Fiddle Tunes. Here’s what to expect.The morning classes are dedicated to workshops led by the faculty (and the tutors as well). These players were invited to the festival as representatives of a certain style of music, one that they learned from their family and neighbors. Some are experienced teachers, many are not. In an effort to present them appropriately, they receive no guidelines from Centrum as to what level they should teach – it’s their choice. Most teach at an intermediate and above level.
Even though most of these classes are not geared towards beginners, we think it’s critically important that you attend these sessions. The people on staff are active tradition-bearers, and they share more than their music. You might not open your case at these sessions. Rather, you’ll be in listening mode, soaking your head in a certain style, hearing to stories, understanding the context in which this person’s music is played “back home.”
In the afternoon you have a few choices. You can join the Beginners Band Lab – all beginning-level players of any instrument are invited. You’ll get an idea about how exciting it is to play with other people. The Beginners Band will play in the Band Lab concert on Saturday morning.
You can also choose to take a tutorial. Beginning-level tutorials are designed to address the needs of beginning and beginning/intermediate players who wish for more individualized instruction on their instrument; they will focus on technique. Intermediate level tutorials include technique and tend to focus on style. In many cases, the intermediate tutorials will be in the musical styles presented by the faculty.
We hope this information is helpful to you in deciding whether the workshop might be a good fit. Being among so many players can be overwhelming, but it helps to know what to expect. If you have any more questions, feel free to call Peter McCracken at 360-385-3102, x127, or peter@centrum (dot) org.
Kids & Teens
FIDDLE TUNES KIDS & TEENS
Fiddle Tunes is proudly an inter-generational gathering, welcoming musicians of all ages to participate.The Kids Track is a morning-only program geared towards people from the ages of five to twelve, running from 9am to noon, Monday through Friday, with a Saturday performance.
9 a.m. –10:30 a.m.: Fiddling for Kids.
Young participants are broken into groups based on ability, starting at the VERY beginning (“here’s how to hold a bow”). Every effort is made to integrate the more advanced groups with the styles of music of the faculty at Fiddle Tunes.
10:30 a.m.–12 p.m.: Play Party Games or Kids Band Lab
Kids have two choices in this time slot: either play party games, or join the Kids Band Lab. The Kids Band is directly aligned to one of the faculty members’ styles, and will play for a dance and in the band lab concert at the end of the week. All instruments are welcome in the Kids Band Lab.Participants who are registered in the Kids Track receive free admission to all performances, public and private, and are welcome at the evening dances as well.
The Kids Track is only available to children of registered participants, or to kids with a local zip code (98368, 98339, 98358, 98365, 98325). There is a limit of 50 Kids Track slots. Parents considering registering their child in the Kids Track should be prepared to check in their child between 8:45am and 9am, and check out their child at noon.
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The Teen Track is designed for players age 13-18. All abilities are welcome. This track is intended for players who want to learn with their peers, or for players too advanced for the Kids Track. Teen Track tuition includes admission to everything – workshops, in-house concerts, dances, etc., and great seats at all public performances.
Teen Track participants must be accompanied by a registered adult with the following exception: if you are local and your teen won’t be staying at Fort Worden, you may come in to the Centrum office and sign a waiver.
The general schedule looks like this (detailed schedule will be sent to registrants):
Monday - Friday:
9:15 a.m.–10:15 a.m. – Tutorials: technical instruction on fiddle, banjo, guitar
10:45 a.m.–12 p.m. – Fiddling for Teens (exclusive to the teen track)
Lunch
1:15 p.m.–2:30 p.m. – Choice of workshops (experience other styles!)
3:00 p.m.–4:30 p.m. – Teen Band Lab (exclusive to the teen track; does not meet on Friday)
4:45 p.m.–5:45 p.m. – Wild card workshops (optional)
Friday, July 4
1:30 p.m. – Public performance in McCurdy Pavilion
Saturday, July 5
9:30 a.m. – Band Lab Concert (including Teen Band) in Wheeler Theater
1:30 p.m. – Public Performance in McCurdy Pavilion
Costs
2026
The Fiddle Tunes tuition structure relies on the honor system, allowing you to choose the tuition fee that best suits your finances. As a result we are not requiring scholarship applications. If you need financial assistance, please choose the Fiddle Nut or Scholarship rate.Fiddle Fanatic - $875
Choose Fiddle Fanatic if you are in a good place financially and wish to help support the Youth/Scholarship rate.
Fiddle Aficionado - $675
The standard rate for 2026.
Fiddle Nut - $550
If you can't currently afford the Aficionado price but would still like to be a part of our community.
Scholarship - $350
Scholarship is for individuals requiring financial support
Teen Track - $150
We curated a track especially for teens and it has been a big success. This program runs all day, each day and includes entry to all public performances.
Kids Track (mornings only) - $60
This popular track is for kids, kids, kids! Classes and fun-making held 9:00-12:00, Monday - Friday with a Saturday morning performance. Parents or guardians, plan to check your student/s in and out each day.
Adult Guardian
This is a no-cost registration type for a parent or adult guardian (21 or older) who does not play music but wishes to provide opportunities for their kids. Youth at Centrum under the age of 18 are required to attend with a registered adult (unless they live locally). The Guardian option makes this possible and affordable. Guardians do not participate in the workshop, rather, they supervise and support their U18 participant.
Room and Board Options
Most participants stay in private dormitory rooms at Fort Worden. There are a limited number of double rooms, i.e., rooms with two beds. If you’d like a double, please request one, and list another registered participant who has signed up for room and board in order to share that room. It is first come, first served.
Private Room only: $400
All meals: $480
Lunch and Dinner: $360
Lunches only (6): $155
All meals are served at the Fort Worden Commons. The first meal is dinner on June 28; the last meal is breakfast on July 5.
Our new food service provider is locally based Planted. Planted offers nourishing plant-based meals and ingredients that are locally sourced from the Olympic Peninsula. For more info on Planted, visit plantedporttownsend.com.
Lucas Hicks Shining Light Front Porch Fellowship
Honoring the Legacy of Lucas Hicks
Centrum and the greater family of Lucas Hicks are proud to offer the Lucas Hicks Shining Light Front Porch Fellowship.
Composer, teacher, and multi-instrumentalist Lucas Hicks left a hefty legacy when he passed in October of 2017, and his family and friends have created, in his honor and at his request, a fellowship to be awarded to a person who might embody the spirit and character of Lucas Hicks’ approach to music and to community. The Front Porch Fellowship grew out of the notion of folk music as a shared experience—passing along tunes, songs, and stories person-to-person, or as Lucas would say, knee-to-knee, and in a spirit of revelry. At the end of the day, folk music is about sitting around on each other’s porches, sharing music until the sun comes up.
The Front Porch Fellowship is awarded annually to a curious musician who embodies some of the most essential attributes of Lucas Hicks’s musical ethos. The fellowship is available to anyone from anywhere, of any age, playing any instrument.
Essential criteria are that the recipient is passionate about traditional music; is eager to learn, and to share; and is fond of people.
In return, the Fellow agrees:
- to seek out and learn one tune a day during the week, “knee to knee” from someone outside of scheduled classes;
- the Fellow will learn three new jokes;
- the Fellow will pass on one tune to another player;
- and the Fellow will record these things in the Shining Light Bible.
The Fellow receives tuition, room, and board at Fiddle Tunes.
To apply, all you need to do is describe why you think you are deserving of this fellowship. Send this in an email to peter@centrum.org, with "Lucas Hicks" in the subject line. Deadline to apply is February 2, 2026.
BETSY BROWN MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
BETSY BROWN MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
Betsy Brown started fiddling late in life. She had been amazed at the musicians Who populated the house parties where she lived in Austin. They sat in the back yard, knee to knee, fiddle and banjo, focused on the tune at hand. When she said she wanted to learn the fiddle one of them told her that she was already too old. Sadly, she believed him and put that dream aside. She was 29.
Betsy started contra dancing while in medical school and continued as she moved to Seattle for Residency. Summer would take her to the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes where she’d dance the night away. One afternoon she got to see David Cahn’s “Baby Band” play at the Band Lab concerts. These were adults who had never played before standing on stage and ripping on three tunes. She made up her mind to learn to fiddle and that decision changed her life.
Fiddle Tunes became an annual pilgrimage to the heart of the music. She learned the rhythmic twisty styles she loved from her favorite old geezers. Bob Douglas, Joe Thompson, JP Fraley, and Lee Stripling were friends and mentors. The community of old-time music became an integral part of her life with house concerts and travel to meet new friends throughout the country and beyond. One night a bearded banjo player named Jamie danced into her heart and they shared the next 22 ½ years of music and community.
This scholarship is in recognition of the fact that it’s never too late to follow your dream. Life doesn’t always offer the time or resources to take up an instrument. We hope this award can give a bit of each and the support to continue. With a little luck and effort, it will change your life too.
“If I ever wanted to get even with someone, I’d give them a fiddle and 3 lessons.” - Frankie McWhorter
Have you ever been told by someone else, or the voice in your head, that you couldn’t play music? Or that you couldn’t sing? Then the Betsy Brown Memorial Scholarship might be for you. It’s open for all string band instruments, and the applicant needs to be 21 years of age or older.
The scholarship includes:
- Full tuition, room, and board to Fiddle Tunes.
- Use of a good instrument for 1 year.
- To the best of our ability, personal resources to connect with musicians at your level, in your geographic region.
If you apply, you promise the following:
- A commitment to practice every week of the year. Even when life gets in the way.
- To return the instrument after 1 year.
To apply, please answer the following questions.
- Are you currently part of a music or dance community?
- How often did you play music in the last 18 months?
- Do you aspire to play a specific kind of music?
- What instrument would you like to learn?
- Why do you want to do this?
Please email your answers with “Betsy Brown” in the subject line to peter@centrum dot org. Deadline is March 15, 2026.
FAQ
FIDDLE TUNES FAQ
If you are interested in volunteering, or a work trade position, please contact Peter McCracken at peter@centrum (dot) org.Cancellation policy:
All but $50 is refundable if cancellation is made on or before May 31, 2026.
Fiddle Tunes Travel Tips
Book flights to arrive June 28 by 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time and depart no earlier than noon on July 5. Port Townsend is two hours from Sea/Tac on a good day.
If you’re interested in transportation from SeaTac Airport to Fort Worden, choose the shuttle option for when you register. The shuttle costs: $130 round-trip or $65 one-way.
Fiddle Tunes shuttle schedule:
Arrive – Sunday, June 28, 2026, pick-up at SeaTac airport, 2:30pm, Pacific Time.
Depart – Sunday, July 5, 2026, depart Centrum at Port Townsend, 9am, Pacific Time.
If you have any further questions, please contact Peter McCracken at 360-385-3102, x127, or peter@centrum (dot) org.
Performances
Workshop tuition includes admission to everything including the public performances . Schedule coming soon!
Past Artist Faculty
Fiddle Tunes 2024 FacultyOver the years, Centrum's Fiddle Tunes has welcomed a diverse and talented roster of faculty, representing a rich variety of fiddle traditions from around the world. From masters of Appalachian old-time and bluegrass to Celtic, Cajun, Québécois, and beyond, these esteemed musicians have inspired countless participants with their artistry and dedication to their craft. This directory celebrates the incredible faculty who have shaped Fiddle Tunes, offering a glimpse into the legacy of teaching and collaboration that continues to make the program a cornerstone of Centrum’s mission. Explore the musicians who have brought their unique traditions and talents to this vibrant community!
Swanky Kitchen Band
Cayman Islands
fiddle, guitar, grater, cooking
Swanky Kitchen Band is on an essential quest to revive the traditional music of the Cayman Islands. Set amidst the crystal blue waters of the Caribbean Sea, the three tiny islands are home to kitchen dance music, an infectiously danceable fiddle-driven style. The kitchen dance sound, created through a crossroads of European and African influences, might have disappeared save for the efforts of Swanky Kitchen Band, the last of the Caymanian Kitchen Bands.…
Paul Brown
with Terri McMurray and Chester McMillian
North Carolina
fiddle, banjo, guitar
Paul Brown is an award–winning fiddler and banjoist who offers unique insights into evolving fiddle styles of southwest Virginia and northwest North Carolina
As a young man who’d learned his first songs from his mother’s Virginia repertoire, heimmersed himself in the old, nearly Celtic-sounding fiddle styles of Virginia artists Luther Davis, Parley Parsons and others, plus the stunningly rich Round Peak community tradition of players including Tommy Jarrell, Kyle Creed, Earnest East and Fred Cockerham.…
Carrie Wells Carter
Kentucky
Carrie Wells Carter was born and raised in Red Bush, Kentucky, immersed in traditional Appalachian music and art. Learning fiddle from her father, Jamie Wells, from the age of 7, she also spent a good deal of time in her youth learning from her uncle, Robbie Wells, and brother, Jesse Wells. She currently lives in Whitesburg, Kentucky, with her husband, Matthew, and two daughters.…
Jim and Joyce Cauthen
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. …
Cláudio Rabeca Band
Cláudio Rabeca is a fiddle player, composer, singer, teacher, music producer and luthier from the Northeast of Brasil. For more than 20 years he has fiddled, sang, and played percussion with multiple Brasilian groups, including 11 years with the forró group Quarteto Olinda. After he dedicated himself fully to the fiddle, he found that the instrument informed his creative process and is the basis for his singing.…
Eloise & Co.
Vermont
Eloise & Co. features the combined creative force of two of the country’s most sought-after traditional musicians, fiddler Becky Tracy and piano accordionist Rachel Bell. These two, sometimes playing as a duo and other times joined by various guest guitar and piano players, crank out concert and dance music with unbridled energy and soaring beauty.…
Allison De Groot
Faculty, Allison De Groot Band
Banjo virtuoso Allison de Groot is known for her great clawhammer technique, exquisite tone, timing, and taste. She has deep roots in the old time tradition and yet she’s fearless when it comes to breaking new ground. In addition to playing with Molsky’s Mountain Drifters, she is also member of the super group the Goodbye Girls, and tours often with the Tatiana Hargreaves.
Belen Escobedo
and Ramon Gutierrez
Texas
fiddle, bajo sexto
(written by Dan Margolies) – It’s not only hard to describe Belen Escobedo’s gardens, it’s hard even to comprehend what you are seeing. Flowers, trees, vegetables, vines, and who-knows-exactly-what of local and Texas native plants grow everywhere, in, over, and through things in two yards. Plants assert themselves alongside terraces, awnings, containers of all descriptions, bird baths, signs, statuary, old rusted things, compelling little tableaux of children’s toys, collectibles, antiques.…
Foghorn String Band
The Foghorn Stringband is the present day gold standard for real-deal hard-hitting genuine old-time American string band music, with nine albums, thousands of shows, over 15 years of touring under their belts, and an entirely new generation of roots musicians following their lead.
Preston Frank
with Kevin Wimmer
Louisiana
button accordion, fiddle
Preston Frank’s musical journey was deeply rooted in the intimate setting of his family’s home, where the rich sounds of Zydeco and Creole music filled the air. His early exposure to music, a tradition passed down through generations, came through his father and uncles, who were all musicians, forming the warm and traditional bedrock of his initial inspiration.…
Ellika Frisell
Sweden
with Rafael Sida, percussion
Ellika Frisell was born 1953 and brought up in Stockholm. She later moved to Delsbo, a small village in the North of Sweden, where she cultivated vegetables and worked in a factory. It was during that time, in the middle of the 70´s, that Ellika began playing the fiddle and became village fiddler and dance musician.…
Alice Gerrard
North Carolina
Simply put, Alice Gerrard is a talent of legendary status. In a career spanning some 50 years, she has known, learned from, and performed with many of the old-time and bluegrass greats and has in turn earned worldwide respect for her own important contributions to the music. Alice is particularly known for her groundbreaking collaboration with Appalachian singer Hazel Dickens during the 1960s and ’70s.…
Rick Good
Faculty
One of the founders of the famous string band, The Hotmud Family, Rick Good is an accomplished guitarist, banjo player, singer and songwriter. A performer of traditional and original music, Good’s career has spanned nearly four decades.
Tatiana Hargreaves
Faculty
Over the past decade, Tatiana Hargreaves has been on the forefront of an up and coming generation of old time, bluegrass and new acoustic musicians. From placing first at the Clifftop Appalachian Fiddle Contest, to her bluegrass fiddling on Laurie Lewis’ GRAMMY-nominated album The Hazel And Alice Sessions, Hargreaves shows a musical fluency that flows between old time and bluegrass worlds with ease.
John Haywood
Kentucky
banjo and fiddle
John Haywood is a banjo-playing tattoo and folk artist in Whitesburg, Kentucky. He owns and operates the Parlor Room Tattoo and Art Gallery – a tattoo shop that draws visitors from all over the world to Letcher County into the far southeastern corner of Kentucky. “Many come for a tattoo, and some to experience a little bit of our culture,” Haywood says of his shop.…
The Tennessee Hillbuddies
Tennessee
fiddle, banjo, guitar, singing
The Tennessee Hillbuddies like their stringband music in the traditional style: rhythmic, rowdy, and all but refined. They are about good music and good times, and their performances are known for causing hats to fly. The band is comprised of Henry Barnes, Conner Vlietstra, and Trevor Holder.
Henry Barnes, originally from Washington Courthouse, OH, is now residing in Carter County, TN.…
Judy Hyman
New York State
with Jeff Claus, guitar and banjo uke
From Ithaca, NY, land of lakes, gorges, waterfalls and colleges, Judy is a co-founding member of the alt-trad band, The Horse Flies, who toured extensively throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe (including appearances on eTown, Prairie Home Companion, All Things Considered, World Café, and Mountain Stage), and recorded many albums, including releases on MCA and Rounder Records.…
Rhys Jones
Virginia
fiddle
Rhys Jones has been playing traditional Appalachian, French-Canadian and Irish fiddle music for 30 years. Born in Chicago, he began his fiddling at age 7 in the fertile environment of the Chicago Barn Dance Company. Soon after, his family moved to southern West Virginia where he learned from the older generation of fiddlers, including Ernie Carpenter, Melvin Wine, Glen Smith and Wilson Douglas.…
Caleb Klauder
Faculty
Raised on Orcas Island, WA, then on to college and the 30 years to follow in Oregon, and then back to Washington again, Caleb is a true north-westerner. Yet
his maternal family roots lay in East Tennessee. These deep family roots contribute to his music through old memories, bringing you the strong singing and spirited attitude that gives his music a cutting and sweet edge. Caleb has written many songs, some that are performed by others and some that are becoming standards at jam sessions in the bluegrass scenes across the US, Canada, and in Europe.
Tom Krueger
New York
Social dance (with Caitlin Romtvedt)
Tom Krueger (aka TK) is a filmmaker and fiddler living in New York’s Hudson Valley. Currently the executive director of Tempo Kingston Performing Arts Center. His love for all styles of music and dance runs deep, evident by the fact that he’s often one of the last stragglers out on the dance floor.
Nathan Gourley and Laura Feddersen
Massachusetts
fiddle, guitar
Laura and Nathan are two of America’s most highly regarded young players of traditional Irish music. Their playing is steeped in lifelong study of the Irish tradition, and is at same time colored by their American roots. They have developed a unique style of twin fiddling, sometimes playing in taut unison, sometimes exploring chordal harmonies and rhythmic and melodic variations.…
Osiris Ramsés Caballero León
Veracruz, Mexico
with Canto a Mi Tierra: Bernabe Hernandez Orozco on quinta huapanguera guitar, and Fernando Hernandez Orozco on jarana huasteca.
Featuring Osíris Ramsés Caballero León – fiddle. Son Huasteco is a traditional Mexican musical style originating in the six states of Northeastern Mexico, typically performed by a trio of violin, jarana huasteca and quinta huapanguera.…
Laurie Lewis
For nearly four decades, Laurie Lewis has gathered fans and honors for her powerful and emotive voice and her versatile, dynamic songwriting. And she is an inspiration and a ground-breaker – across genres, across geography and across gender barriers. Laurie has shown us how a woman can blend into any part of the classic bluegrass singing trio, and she showed us how a great voice could move fluidly between bluegrass and other types of music.…
Troy MacGillivray
Nova Scotia
fiddle, piano, dance
Troy MacGillivray is from Lanark, a small community on the north-eastern shore of Nova Scotia. Troy’s commitment to music has spanned 30 years and includes both practical and academic accomplishments, most recently an M.A. in Ethnomusicology from the University of Limerick in Ireland. From as young as six years old, Troy impressed audiences with his step dancing and soon after, fiddle and piano skills.…
Tony Mates
Washington
Tony plays fiddle, guitar and bass, sings and calls dances, and has been a part of Fiddle Tunes for quite a long time. An enthusiastic performer, he loves to encourage others in their passion for music and dance. His choice of music reflects a love of dance music and lively, accessible tunes. For his performances, Tony will be joined by members of his band, Peckin’ Out Dough, including David Cahn, Catherine Alexander, Brigid Blume and Carmen Ficarra.…
Katie McNally
Maine
Katie McNally grew up playing Scottish and Cape Breton music near Boston, Massachusetts and currently tours with her own projects, Pine Tree Flyers and the Katie McNally Trio. A member of the cross-genre fiddle supergroup, Childsplay, Katie has also toured with Karan Casey, John Whelan, and Galician bagpiper Carlos Núñez.
Equally at home on the concert stage or in the dance hall, she has appeared at Celtic Colours, Celtic Connections, Newport Folk Festival, and The Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, as well as countless folk venues throughout North America and Europe.…
Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh
Ireland
with Manus Lunny, bouzouki and guitar
Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh’s name is synonymous with what’s good in the music and culture of her native County Donegal, Ireland. Born in the Gaeltacht area of Gaoth Dobhair, where Gaelic was her main language, she learned her songs and tunes from her family and neighbors.…
Bruce Molsky
New York State
Grammy-nominated Bruce Molsky transports audiences to another time and place, with his authentic and personal interpretations of rarities from the Southern Appalachian songbook and other musical traditions from around the globe. Best known for his work on the fiddle, Bruce’s banjo, guitar and his distinctive, powerful vocals also resonate with listeners.…
Sarah Kate Morgan
Tennessee
mountain dulcimer
Born of Appalachian soil in Sharps Chapel, Tennessee, Sarah Kate Morgan sings, plays, and writes like she’s been in these hills since the dawn of time. She’s had plenty of varied influences, beginning with hearing a classical music CD belonging to her family and going on to discover old time music through a dulcimer built by her grandfather.…
Jim Nelson
Faculty
Jim Nelson is a veteran of the old-time music scene, having honed his guitar skills through many years of playing with senior dance fiddlers, especially Bob Holt of Ava, Missouri and Lotus Dickey of Paoli, Indiana, and by keeping a close eye on some of the older guitar players. He has been playing with Geoff Seitz for the past 40 years, and along with Geoff and Curt Buckhannon.
Lisa Ornstein
Washington
with Sabin Jacques, button accordion, and Rachel Aucoin, piano
Fiddle virtuoso Lisa Ornstein is an outstanding interpreter of the traditional music of French Canada and Appalachia, blending compelling and inventive playing with impeccable tune choice. Befriended by North Carolina fiddle legend Tommy Jarrell while she was in her teens, Lisa quickly became an accomplished fiddler in the Round Peak style.…
Jerron Paxton
Guitar
Born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, Paxton’s music is steeped in the rich cultural heritage of the Great Migration. His family’s journey from Shreveport, Louisiana, to the Athens neighborhood of South LA in the 1950s laid the foundation for his appreciation of Southern Black culture. As an only child, he spent much of his upbringing absorbing the culture his family had taken with them to California from the South.…
Neal Pearlman
Multi-instrumentalist, producer, step dancer and host of the TradCafe podcast, Neil Pearlman is a vital and distinctive voice in contemporary folk music. Described as “a tremendous pianist” on BBC Radio Scotland and “a force to be reckoned with” by WGBH’s Brian O’Donovan, Neil is best known for his groundbreaking approach to the piano in Celtic music.…
Phil and Russ Tanner
Gid Tanner was a farmer in Dacula, Georgia, and played the fiddle on the side. By 1926, he and other musicians such as Clayton McMichen on fiddle and Riley Puckett on guitar, created a group called Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers
Ed Poullard
Texas
with Cedric Watson, button accordion
Ed Poullard is regarded as the most significant Creole fiddler of his generation, and he has brought his unique and captivating style of music across the world. Born in Eunice, LA in 1952, the Poullard family relocated to east Texas in search of better work when Ed was still a baby.…
Luke Price
Oregon
Luke Price is a multi-instrumentalist performer, composer, and studio musician based in Portland, Oregon. He has his roots in American fiddling and swing traditions, which have influenced his rhythm, taste, and style as they have spread into Soul, Jazz, Pop, and Americana. Luke brings a unique voice to any music he plays, whether he’s on the fiddle, electric guitar, or singing.…
Mairi Rankin
Nova Scotia
fiddle
Born in Mabou, Mairi Rankin is a fiddler and step dancer who has been influenced by some of the best Cape Breton traditional musicians and instructors on the island. She has developed her own unique style by being immersed in this rich musical culture, pulling from her native Cape Breton and her strong Scottish roots from North Uist.…
Liette Remon
Faculty
Liette grew up in the Gaspesie region of Quebec in a small municipality called Petit-Pabos. Music happened only at home, when her father’s fiddler friends would drop by, and at family get-togethers, once or twice a week, where music (along with a glass of gin and food) was the focus. They’d mainly sing popular songs, with traditional songs and fiddle tunes mixed in among them.
Ann Savoy
Faculty
Ann Savoy is a musician, an author, a record producer, and a photographer. Her most recent endeavor is the acclaimed newly released “Adieu False Heart”, a CD of duets with the legendary Linda Ronstadt. As a musician she, has played guitar, fiddle, and accordion and traveled throughout the world with her husband accordionist Marc Savoy and fiddler Michael Doucet in the Savoy Doucet Cajun Band, with her all-woman band The Magnolia Sisters. and with Marc and their talented sons in the Savoy Family Band.
Joel Savoy
Artistic Director
Son of Cajun music icons Marc and Ann, Joel Savoy is best described as an instigator. He has been at the forefront of the Louisiana music revival of the last 20 years and as a result he has become a highly visible figure in the American roots music community, placing him onstage alongside folks like John Fogerty, Linda Ronstadt, Steve Earle, and T-Bone Burnett.…
Wilson Savoy
Faculty
Wilson was born into a musical family in Eunice, Louisiana, and grew up surrounded by Cajun music among other styles. As a teenager, under the spell of Jerry Lee Lewis and Ray Charles, Wilson fell in love with rock n’ roll and blues piano, and taught himself to play. A little later, he picked up one of his dad’s accordions, and later still, Cajun fiddle.
Geoff Seitz
Faculty
Geoff Seitz has been playing music since age eight and has been playing fiddle for over 45 years. Throughout his years of fiddling, Geoff sought out traditional master fiddlers and learned tunes in the old time style. Although Geoff has spent many hours with the Missouri Valley and Ozark fiddlers, he also learned from Appalachian fiddlers as well as fiddlers
Katie Shore
Faculty
Like many fiddlers, Katie was inspired at a young age by her grandfather. At six years old she told her parents she wanted to “play music you can clap your hands and stomp your feet to”. Hailing from Ft. Worth “Cowtown”, Tx, Katie grew up playing in a world of strong fiddle traditions, attending fiddle contests, music camps such as Mark O’Connor’s and Johnny Gimble’s, and with some classical training, was part of the Ft Worth Youth Orchestra
Daniel Steinberg
Faculty
Daniel has been a musical performer and teacher for over 45 years, with a particular fascination with the traditional music and dance from diverse cultures around the world. He plays piano and flute with the contra dance band Hillbillies from Mars and with New England fiddler Rodney Miller, and has performed with many luminaries of the fiddle music scene, as well as several Latin American and African ensembles.
Wes Westmoreland
Texas
Wes Westmoreland III was born into a family whose musical history goes back many decades. His granddad, H. D. Westmoreland Sr., an accomplished fiddler, began teaching Wes to play at age nine. The fiddle tunes Wes had heard all his life came easy to him and he began to play in contests all over the state of Texas.…
Alasdair White
Faculty
Alasdair White is an exceptional exponent of west coast Scottish music and is widely regarded as one of the foremost Scottish fiddler players of his generation. He was born and brought up on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, a chain of islands of singular importance to Gaelic Scotland’s musical heritage and is perhaps best known as having been a member of Scotland’s seminal Battlefield Band for over 16 years.
Earl White
Virginia
with Mark Olitsky – banjo, Adrienne Davis – guitar, and Joseph DeJarnette – bass.
Fiddling Earl White has been a mainstay in the old-time, folk and dance community for more than 45 years. An original and founding member of the famed Green Grass Cloggers, he is one of few Black Americans preserving and playing Appalachian old time string band music, which was an intricate part of Black communities and formed the foundation of American music of today. …
Reeb Willms
Faculty
Reeb Willms has been singing and playing guitar since 2001 and is widely regarded as one of the best rhythm guitar players in old time music. She hails from the windswept Central Washington farmlands of Douglas County, and was heavily influenced as a child by her musical father and uncles, who performed locally as the Willms Brothers. Her warm, tender vocals and driving rhythms are a living testament to this musical tradition, which she brought to the stage in her early 20s.
George Wilson
Faculty
George has performed and recorded with the popular “Fennig’s All-Star String Band”, featuring Bill Spence on hammered dulcimer, since 1975. He has performed and recorded with the “Whippersnappers” (Wilson, Peter Davis and Frank Orsini) since 1976.
Linzay Young
Faculty
Fiddle, Louisiana. Linzay is a versatile fiddler, soulful singer and a talented songwriter. A founding member of the notorious Red Stick Ramblers of Louisiana, he is a true link in the chain of Cajun Music and Culture whether he’s wielding a fiddle bow, playing his accordion or cooking in a blackpot.
