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Whether we admit it or not, almost all of us have had that moment of listening to an oldtime fiddler – it's almost always the fiddler – and cringing. "Oh good Lord Almighty, that...

Most every moment playing oldtime is lost to eternity, and that, perhaps, is a great part of its joy. As we sit with friends old and new, we dig into the now, riding the...

“I feel like calling Willard Hodgin the McGonagall of old-time music,” music historian Tony Russell writes. “William Topaz McGonagall of Dundee, Scotland (if you are not familiar with him), was one of the most...

I am standing in the backyard of my house with a bag of trash. I look up at the house and it is glowing, with music and laughter escaping from every window. I think...

In 2017 David Bragger and Susan Platz released the first oldtime album featuring dual fiddle on all tracks: King's Lament. Bragger is well known as a methodical teacher and highly rhythmic fiddle player, not...

There is something inherently magical about being invited into someone’s parlor only to be inundated with sound, spectacle and joy. One may walk in, grab a hot drink and sit nearby inadvertently tapping a...

“I use gourds, coffee cans, beer cans, cigar boxes, gas cans, cookie tins, frying pans, copper pipe, and anything else I can find that will make a sound for my instruments,” said instrument maker...

2020 and 2021 have given us little to look forward to. If I were to pick one word that best encapsulates the past year, "exciting" would not be the one (in fairness, neither would "boring"). One...

It's hard to get any more standard than Cripple Creek! Many people avoid chestnuts like these once they've gotten a few more tunes under their belt, but that's a shame. Here Craig Judelman (with...