New Post

It has been demanded that I make a new post, and believe me I have been trying to. But the internet in the keith house is not so stellar (It might just be my aging computer), not to mention I keep forgetting to ask the Davidsons (where I am staying) the key to their wireless. Also (and I am not complaining) but I have been fiddling NONSTOP. I am almost fiddled out. But honestly being almost fiddled is very different from being fiddled out. I just don' think that is possible.

There was a great contra dance last night. I wish Sarah could have been there.

I will try to upload some content later today but I have to get to class!!!

As a side note, I am fairly confident that after 3 days here I am twice the fiddler I was when I came in.

Down the Road

I'm just about to head on down 441 to the folk school and I am so thrilled! I've made a new fiddle mix for the drive and I don't think that I have forgotten anything.......wait no--certainly need socks.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Alan's fiddling, here is a video of him playing one of my all time favorite tunes--Billy in the Lowland (not to be confused with billy in the lowground) He learnt' the tune from Virginia Fiddler Henry Reed

Rosin the Bow

Tomorrow I travel down to the very tip of western North Carolina for Advanced Fiddle Week with Alan Jabbour at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown NC. This will be the first time I have ever taken a "class" on the traditional Appalachian music, and man am I THRILLED. Anyone that has spent a good bit of time with me knows how much I love this music. I almost can't listen to anything else. I need my fiddle fix almost every day or I go nuts. In fact, I find excuses to cary one around almost everywhere I go! There is just something about Southern Appalachian fiddle and old mountain music that gets to the very core of my being. I don't know if it's in my blood, or my upbringing, or both--but I cannot get enough of it. I've spent most of my life hopping from one interest to the next, but I have been solidly transfixed upon this music for over two years now. That might not sound like a long time, but I lose focus so quickly, and I have the attention span of a fruit fly--but this is different.