Fiddle

A standard modern violin shown from the front and the side
String instrument
Hornbostel–Sachs classification	321.322-71 (Composite chordophone sounded by a bow)
Developed	Early 16th century
Playing range
Related instruments
Violin family (viola, cello) Viol family (includes double bass)
Musicians
List of fiddlers
Builders
Luthiers
More articles
This article is part of the Fiddle & Violin series. Basic physics of the violin Fiddlers History of the violin Luthiers Musical styles Making and maintenance Playing the violin Violin construction Violin family of instruments Violinists

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The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin.^[1] It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music. Fiddle playing, or fiddling, refers to various styles of music.

Common distinctions between violins and fiddles reflect the differences in the instruments used to play classical and folk music. However, it is not uncommon for classically trained violinists to play folk music, and today many fiddle players have some classical training. A lot of traditional (folk) styles are aural traditions, so are taught 'by ear' rather than with written music.

History[link]

The medieval fiddle emerged in 10th-century Europe, deriving from the Byzantine lira (Greek:λύρα, Latin:lira, English:lyre), a bowed string instrument of the Byzantine Empire and ancestor of most European bowed instruments.^[2][3] The first recorded reference to the bowed lira was in the 9th century by the Persian geographer Ibn Khurradadhbih (d. 911); in his lexicographical discussion of instruments he cited the lira (lūrā) as a typical instrument of the Byzantines and equivalent to the rabāb played in the Islamic Empires.^[4] Lira spread widely westward to Europe; in the 11th and 12th centuries European writers use the terms fiddle and lira interchangeably when referring to bowed instruments (Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009).

Over the centuries, Europe continued to have two distinct types of fiddles: one, relatively square-shaped, held in the arms, became known as the lira da braccio (arm viol) family and evolved into the violin; the other, with sloping shoulders and held between the knees, was the lira da gamba (leg viol) group. During the Renaissance the gambas were important and elegant instruments; they eventually lost ground to the louder (and originally less aristocratic) lira da braccio family.^[5] There is a legend about roman emperor Nero playing the fiddle while Rome burned. it is clearly just a legend, nothing resembling a fiddle was known at that time.

Etymology[link]

The etymology of fiddle is uncertain: the Germanic fiddle may derive from the same early Romance word as does violin, or it may be natively Germanic.^[6] The name seems however to be related to Icelandic Fiðla and also Old English fiðele.^[7] A native Germanic ancestor of fiddle may even be the ancestor of the early Romance form of violin.^[8] Historically, fiddle also referred to a predecessor of today's violin. Like the violin, it tended to have four strings, but came in a variety of shapes and sizes. Another family of instruments which contributed to the development of the modern fiddle are the viols, which are held between the legs and played vertically, and have fretted fingerboards.

Construction and setup[link]

In construction, fiddles and violins are essentially identical (with the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle excepted as a special case). The medieval fiddle had rear tuning pegs set in a flat headstock similarly to the Byzantine lyra and unlike the rabāb and rebec.

Bridge[link]

Some (folk) fiddle traditions fit the instrument with a flatter bridge than classical violinists use. The difference between "round" and "flat" is not more than about a quarter or half a millimeter variation in the height of one or two strings, but is sufficient to reduce the range of right-arm motion required for the rapid string-crossings found in some styles, and those who use flatter bridges say it makes playing double stops and shuffles (long short-short long short-short rhythms) easier. It can also make triple stops possible, allowing one to play chords. In old-time music, for example, the top of the bridge is sometimes cut so that it is very slightly flattened; the Hardanger fiddle uses an even flatter bridge, and the bridge of the kontra or bracsa (a three-string viola used in Hungarian and Transylvanian folk music) is flat enough that all three strings can easily be played simultaneously.

Most classical violinists prefer a more rounded curve to the top of the bridge, feeling that this allows them to articulate each note more easily and clearly. Many fiddle players use the same top curve as well; most fiddles are fitted with a standard classical bridge, regardless of the style of music played on the instrument. Since the bridge may be changed, it does not permanently define an instrument as fiddle or violin.

Soundpost[link]

Since some genres of fiddling favor different tone than what most violinists might prefer, soundpost position and tension will vary according to the use of the instrument.^{[citation needed]}

Strings and tuners[link]

Fiddle is more likely to be used than violin if the instrument's strings are steel rather than gut or synthetic, as the sound of steel strings better suits some fiddling styles. Tuning steel strings is easier with fine tuners (small screw mechanisms attached or built into the tailpiece) so fiddlers may favor instruments with fine tuners on all four strings; it is very uncommon to see four fine tuners on full-size instruments played by classical musicians. Strings are subject to regular replacement, fine tuners may be added or removed, and tailpieces may be changed, so, like flattened bridges, they do not make an irreversible difference.

Bows used in fiddling[link]

Most fiddling styles that use the standard violin also use the standard violin bow, the same as classical players; the bow stick may be usually made from wood, but bows made from fiberglass and other materials are becoming more common, as they are much cheaper and less fragile. However, there are a few styles which use other bows. One notable example is the folk music from Hungary and Transylvania used in the táncház tradition. While the violinist uses a standard bow, both the kontra and bass are played with heavy and crude "folk bows", consisting of a stout stick, usually hand-hewn, with the hank of horsehair attached at the tip and tied around the frog. Some players tension the hair by squeezing it when playing.

Scottish fiddlers emulating 18th century playing styles sometimes use a replica of the type of bow used in that period, which is a few inches shorter, and weighs significantly more.^{[citation needed]}

Fiddle playing in ensemble[link]

In performance, a solo fiddler, or one fiddler or two with a group of other instrumentalists, is the norm, though twin fiddling is represented in some North American, Scandinavian, Scottish and Irish styles. Violins, on the other hand, are commonly grouped in sections. These contrasting traditions may be vestiges of historical performance settings: large concert halls in which violins were played required more instruments, before electronic amplification, than did more intimate dance halls and houses fiddles were played in. The difference was likely compounded by the different sounds expected of violin music and fiddle music. Historically, the majority of fiddle music was dance music, while violin music had either grown out of dance music or was something else entirely. Violin music came to value a smoothness which fiddling, with its dance-driven clear beat, did not always follow - in situations that required greater volume, a fiddler (as long as they kept the beat) could push their instrument harder than could a violinist. (Different fiddle traditions had different values, as detailed below; these explanations are meant to present the differences between fiddle music and violin music generally.)

Following the folk revivals of the second half of the 20th century, however, it has become common for less formal situations to find large groups of fiddlers playing together—see for example the Calgary Fiddlers, and Swedish Spelmanslag folk-musician clubs, and the worldwide^[9] phenomenon of Irish sessions.

Scottish fiddle with cello[link]

In the very late 20th century, a few artists have successfully attempted a reconstruction of the Scottish tradition of violin and "big fiddle," or cello. Notable recorded examples include Iain Fraser and Christine Hanson, Amelia Kaminski and Christine Hanson's Bonnie Lasses^[10] and Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas' Fire and Grace.^[11]

[edit] Balkan fiddle with kontra

Hungarian, Slovenian, and Romanian fiddle players are often accompanied by a three-stringed variant of the viola known as the kontra, as well as double bass, with cimbalom and clarinet being less standard yet still common additions to a band.

Fiddle Styles[link]

To a greater extent than classical violin playing, fiddle playing is characterized by a huge variety of ethnic or folk music traditions, each of which has its own distinctive sound.

Europe[link]

Great Britain[link]

• English Folk music fiddling, including
  • The Northumbrian fiddle style, which features "seconding," an improvised harmony part played by a second fiddler.
• Scottish fiddling, including:
  • Shetland fiddling, which includes trowie tunes said to come from peerie folk. The style is characterized by "ringing strings" and syncopated rhythms.
  • A Lowland Scots tradition strongly influenced by baroque violin technique with staccato and scots snap bowing techniques in addition to the use of double stops.
  • A Scottish Borders tradition with a repertoire heavy in hornpipes and with heavy use of double stops.
  • A highland tradition, highly influenced by the ornamentation and myxolydian scale of the Great Highland Bagpipe, as well as smoother bowing than other Scottish fiddle styles and a swinging of the 6/8 jig rhythm.
  • An Orkney tradition with simpler bowing and ornamentation but with tunes featuring accidentals.^[12]
• Welsh Fiddling (Welsh Ffidil; see Ar Log), a recently revived tradition.

Ireland[link]

• Irish Folk music fiddling including:
  • Donegal fiddling from the northwest in Ulster, which features mazurkas and a Scottish-influenced repertoire including strathspey and highland fling dances. Fiddlers tend to play fast and make heavy use of staccato bowing and may from time to time "play the bass," meaning a second fiddler may play a melody an octave below where a first fiddler is playing it.
  • Sligo fiddling from northern Connacht, which like Donegal fiddling tends to be fast, but with a bouncier feel to the bowing.
  • Galway fiddling southern Connacht, which is slower than Sligo or Donegal traditions, with a heavier emphasis on ornamentation. Additionally, tunes are occasionally played in Eb or Bb to match the tonality of flat pipes.
  • Clare fiddling from northern Munster, which tends to be played near the slower Galway tempo yet with a greater emphasis on the melody itself rather than ornamentaiton.
  • Sliabh Luachra fiddling from the southwest in Munster, characterized by a unique repertoire of polkas and slides, as well as the use of double stops and drones as well as playing the melody in two octaves as in Donegal.^[13]

Scandinavia[link]

• Swedish fiddling (including Låtfiol playing; see also Spelmanslag and Gammaldans), including traditions from:
  • Jamtland
  • Dalarna
• Norwegian fiddling (including Hardanger fiddling; see also Bygdedans and Gammaldans), including traditions from:
  • Røros and Nord-Noreg styles, both using the standard fiddle.
  • Finnskogen, using the standard fiddle, but featuring some flatted notes influenced by Finnish folk music.
  • Voss and Telemark styles, both using the hardanger fiddle.
  • Setesdal, which uses both standard and hardanger fiddles.
• Finnish fiddling, including the regional styles of:
  • Kaustinen
  • Ostrobothnia, heavily influenced by Swedish fiddling.

Continental Europe[link]

• Austrian fiddling
• French fiddling, including an old tradition from Corrèze and a revived one from Brittany
• Hungarian folk music traditions
• Italian fiddling^[14]
• Klezmer fiddling^[15]
• Polish fiddling
• Mainland Portuguese and Azorean fiddling
• Romanian fiddling^[16]

Americas[link]

North America[link]

American fiddling, a broad category including traditional and moderns styles.

Traditional

• Blues fiddling
• Cajun and Zydeco fiddling
• Old-time fiddling, including:
  • Fiddling from Appalachia, the most well-known style today, featuring heavy use of droning and double-stops as well as syncopated bowing patterns.
  • Midwestern fiddling, highly influenced by Scandinavian music.
  • Ozarks fiddling, faster and crisper bowing than Appalachia.
  • Texas fiddling, with influences from Mexican fiddling and an emphasis on competitive playing.
  • New England fiddling, with strong influences from Quebecois and British repertoires.
  • Northwest fiddling, with influences from both Ozark and Midwestern fiddle styles, though with a strong emphasis on competitive playing like Texas fiddling.
• Tohono O'Odham fiddling, a Native American style heavily influenced by Mexican fiddling^[17] and featuring irregular counts and harmonies in thirds, fourths, and sixths.^[18]

Modern

• Bluegrass fiddling
• Country fiddling
• Western swing style fiddling^[19]

Canadian fiddling, including

Newfoundland fiddle player Patrick Moran

• Cape Breton fiddling, with a distinct Scottish influence
• French Canadian fiddling including "crooked tunes," that is, tunes with irregular beat patterns.
• Métis fiddling, of central and western Canada featuring strong French Canadian influence, but with even more "crooked" tunes.^[20]
• Newfoundland and Labrador fiddling
• Maritimes, Acadian or Downeast style of fiddling which has many similarities to Cape Breton fiddling
• English-Canadian fiddling or Anglo-Canadian fiddling

Latin America[link]

• Forró, a type of music from Brazil, including the rabeca fiddle tradition
• Mexican fiddling, including mariachi, huapango, son huasteco and son calentano
• Peruvian violin

Other Areas[link]

• African fiddle
• Australian folk music traditions
• Morna fiddling from Cape Verde

Relations[link]

Variants[link]

• Hardanger fiddle
• Stroh violin or phonofiddle, known in Romanian as Vioara cu goarnă.

Near Relations[link]

• Cello
• Double bass
• Kontra
• Rebec
• Rabeca
• Viola

Distant Relations[link]

• Byzantine lyra, the medieval bowed instrument of the Byzantine Empire
• Cretan Lyra
• Crwth
• Gadulka
• Gudok
• Gusle
• Hurdy gurdy also known as the wheel fiddle
• Lijerica
• Nyckelharpa

See also[link]

• List of All-Ireland Champions
• List of fiddlers
• Hardanger fiddle
• Kontra
• Låtfiol
• Rabeca
• Rock violin
• Vioara cu goarnă

References[link]

This article uses bare URLs for citations. Please consider adding full citations so that the article remains verifiable. Several templates and the Reflinks tool are available to assist in formatting. (Reflinks documentation) (November 2011)

Bibliography[link]

• The Fiddle Book, by Marion Thede, (1970), Oak Publications. ISBN 0-8256-0145-2.
• The Fiddler's Fakebook, by David Brody, (1983), Oak Publications. US ISBN 0-8256-0238-6; UK ISBN 0-7119-0309-3.
• Oldtime Fiddling Across America, by David Reiner and Peter Anick (1989), Mel Bay Publications. ISBN 0-87166-766-5. Has transcriptions (standard notation) and analysis of tunes from multiple regional and ethnic styles.
• The Portland Collection, by Susan Songer, (1997), ISBN 0-9657476-0-3 (Vol. 2 ISBN 0-9657476-1-1)

External links[link]

Look up Violin in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Fiddle

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Fiddle.

Wikiversity has learning materials about Fiddle

• Faroese fiddle
• Fiddle and Alternative Strings Forum
• Fiddle Fork
• Fiddle Hangout
• Kimberley Fraser's Fiddle Blog - Cape Breton Fiddler Kimberley Fraser discusses issues relevant to traditional fiddle music.
• Voyager Records' catalog,organized by region, has clips of many North American styles.
• A French Violin fiddle method website - video, text, and forum with explanation (with tablatures).
• The Fiddler's Companion, an encyclopedia of historical notes on tunes from British, Celtic, and American traditions.
• Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Fiddling
• Traditional Irish fiddle Players

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This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (February 2010)

Natalie MacMaster
Natalie MacMaster performing in Centralville, Massachusetts, 2007
Background information
Birth name	Natalie Ann MacMaster
Born	(1972-06-13) June 13, 1972 (age 40)
Genres	Cape Breton fiddle music
Occupations	Musician
Instruments	Violin, Backing vocals
Years active	1989–present
Labels	Rounder Records,
Associated acts	Buddy MacMaster Donnell Leahy
Website	www.nataliemacmaster.com

Natalie MacMaster, CM (born June 13, 1972) is an award-winning fiddler from the rural community of Troy in Inverness County, Nova Scotia, Canada who plays Cape Breton fiddle music.

MacMaster has toured with the Chieftains, Faith Hill, Carlos Santana and Alison Krauss, and has recorded with Yo-Yo Ma. She has appeared at the Celtic Colours festival in Cape Breton, Celtic Connections in Scotland, and MerleFest in the United States.

Background[link]

MacMaster performs at Edmonds Center For The Arts, North of Seattle, WA 10-23-2010

MacMaster is the daughter of Alex and Minnie (Beaton) MacMaster, and the niece of Cape Breton fiddler Buddy MacMaster. She is the sister of Kevin and David MacMaster. She is the cousin of two other Cape Breton fiddlers, Ashley MacIsaac and Andrea Beaton. She was born on June 13, 1972. In 2002, she married fiddler Donnell Leahy of the Leahy family band, and moved to Lakefield, Ontario. In 2011 she moved to Douro, where she built a new house. In December 2005, she gave birth to a daughter, Mary Frances Rose. Her second child, a son, Michael Joseph Alexander, was born in June 2007. In 2007, MacMaster learned she was related to Jack White.^[1] Her third child, a daughter, Clare Marie, was born in February 2009. Her fourth child, another daughter, Julia Elizabeth, was born in January 2011.

MacMaster began playing the fiddle at the age of nine, and made her performing debut the same year at a square dance in Glencoe Mills, Nova Scotia. When she was sixteen she released her first album, Four on the Floor, and a second album, Road to the Isle, followed in 1991. Both of these self-produced albums were initially released only on cassette, but Rounder Records omitted a few tracks and re-released as A Compilation in 1998.

In recent years she has expanded her musical repertoire, mixing her Cape Breton roots with music from Scotland and Ireland, as well as American bluegrass.

She has received a number of Canadian music awards, including several "Artist of the Year" awards from the East Coast Music Association, two Juno awards for best instrumental album, and "Fiddler of the Year" from the Canadian Country Music Association. MacMaster was also awarded an honorary doctorate from Niagara University in New York in 2006. In 2006, she was made a member of the Order of Canada.^[2]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

Music videos[link]

Other appearances[link]

MacMaster at Merlefest, 2004

• Traditional Music From Cape Breton Island, Nimbus NI5383, 1993 (two tracks)
• Celtic Colours — The Road Home, 1997 (one track)
• Celtic Colours — The Second Wave, 1998 (one track)
• Celtic Colours — Forgotten Roots, 1999 (one track)
• Roots Music: An American Journey, Rounder 0501, 2001 (one track)
• Songs for the Savoy, 2001 (one track)
• Celtic Colours — The Colours of Cape Breton, 2002 (one track)
• Celtic Colours — Volume VII, 2003 (one track)
• Yo-Yo Ma & Friends: Songs of Joy and Peace; Songs:A Christmas Jig/Mouth of the Tobique Reel; 2008 (Sony BMG)
• Thomas Dolby: Amerikana EP, Songs:Toad Lickers and 17 Hills, 2010 (Lost Toy People, Inc)

References[link]

1. ^ http://www.soulshine.ca/news/newsarticle.php?nid=4549
2. ^ "Governor General to invest 41 recipients into the Order of Canada". The Governor General of Canada web site. May 2, 2007. http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=12442. Retrieved April 1, 2010. 

External links[link]

• Natalie MacMaster official website
• TED Talks: Natalie MacMaster fiddles in reel time at TED in 2002
• TED Talks: Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy play the Cape Breton fiddle at TED in 2003

Charlie Daniels
Daniels in concert at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California.
Background information
Birth name	Charles Edward Daniels
Also known as	Charlie Daniels
Born	(1936-10-28) October 28, 1936 (age 75)
Origin	Leland, North Carolina, US
Genres	Country, rock, southern rock, outlaw country, country rock
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, fiddle, bass
Years active	1950s–present
Labels	Buddah, Epic, Liberty
Associated acts	Marshall Tucker Band The Charlie Daniels Band
Website	www.charliedaniels.com

Charles Edward "Charlie" Daniels (born on October 28, 1936) is an American musician known for his contributions to country and southern rock music. He is perhaps best known for his number one country hit "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", and multiple other songs he has written and performed. Daniels has been active as a singer since the early 1950s. He was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on January 24, 2008.^[1]

Career[link]

Daniels is a singer, guitarist, and fiddler, who began writing and performing in the 1950s. In 1964, Daniels co-wrote "It Hurts Me" (a song which Elvis Presley recorded) with Joy Byers. He worked as a Nashville session musician, often for producer Bob Johnston, including playing electric bass on three Bob Dylan albums during 1969 and 1970, and on recordings by Leonard Cohen. Daniels recorded his first solo album, Charlie Daniels, in 1971 (see 1971 in country music). He produced the 1969 album by The Youngbloods, Elephant Mountain and played the violin on "Darkness, Darkness".

His first hit, the novelty song "Uneasy Rider", was from his 1973 second album, Honey in the Rock, and reached No.9 on the Billboard Hot 100.

During this period, Daniels played fiddle on many of The Marshall Tucker Band's early albums: "A New Life", "Where We All Belong", "Searchin' For a Rainbow", "Long Hard Ride" and "Carolina Dreams". Daniels can be heard on the live portion of the "Where We All Belong" album, recorded in Milwaukee, WI on July 11, 1974.

In 1974, Daniels organized the first in a series of Volunteer Jam concerts based in or around Nashville, Tennessee, often playing with members of Barefoot Jerry. Except for a three-year gap in the late 1980s, these jams have continued ever since.

Charlie Daniels at Waterfront Park, Louisville, Kentucky April 29, 2009

In 1975, he had a top 30 hit as leader of the Charlie Daniels Band with the Southern rock self-identification anthem "The South's Gonna Do It Again". "Long Haired Country Boy" was a minor hit in that year. Daniels played fiddle on Hank Williams, Jr.'s 1975 album Hank Williams, Jr. and Friends.

Daniels won the Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance in 1979 for "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", which reached #3 on the Hot 100 in September 1979. The following year, "Devil" became a major crossover success on rock radio stations after its inclusion on the soundtrack for the hit movie Urban Cowboy. Daniels appeared in the movie. The song is by far Daniels' greatest success, still receiving regular airplay on U.S. classic rock and country stations, and is well-known even among audiences who eschew country music in general. A hard rock/heavy metal cover version of the song was included in the video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock as the final guitar battle against the last boss (Lou, the devil). Daniels has openly stated his opposition to the metal cover and the devil winning occasionally in the game.^[2]

Subsequent Daniels pop hits included "In America" (#11 in 1980), "The Legend of Wooley Swamp" (#31 in 1980), and "Still in Saigon" (#22 in 1982). In 1980, Daniels participated in the country music concept album, The Legend of Jesse James.

In the late 1980s and 1990s, several of Daniels' albums and singles were hits on the Country charts and the music continues to receive airplay on country stations today. Daniels released several Gospel and Christian records. In 1999 he made a guest vocal appearance on his song "All Night Long" with Montgomery Gentry (Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry) for their debut album, "Tattoos and Scars," which was a commercial success.

Daniels' distinctive speaking voice was used in Frank Wildhorn's 1999 musical, The Civil War. He is featured in the Prologue and "In Great Deeds."

In 2000, he composed and performed the score for the feature film Across the Line starring Brad Johnson. He guest starred as himself in an episode of King of the Hill titled “The Bluegrass is Always Greener”, which aired on February 24,2002. In 2005, he made a cameo appearance along with Larry the Cable Guy, Kid Rock, and Hank Williams, Jr. in Gretchen Wilson's music video for the song "All Jacked Up". In 2006, he appeared with Little Richard, Bootsy Collins, and other musicians as the backup band for Williams' opening sequence to Monday Night Football.

On October 18, 2005, Daniels was honored as a BMI Icon at the 53rd annual BMI Country Awards. Throughout his career, Daniels' songwriting has garnered 6 BMI Country Awards; the first award was won in 1976 for "The South's Gonna Do It Again".^[3]

In November 2007, Daniels was invited by Martina McBride to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry.^[4] He was inducted by Marty Stuart and Connie Smith during the January 19, 2008, edition of the Opry at the Ryman Auditorium.^[5]

Daniels now resides in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, where the city has named a park after him. Daniels continues to tour regularly. Daniels appeared in commercials for UPS in 2001 with other celebrities convincing NASCAR driver Dale Jarrett to race the UPS Truck.

William Joel "Taz" DiGregorio, Daniels' keyboardist, died in a car accident in Cheatham County, Tennessee, on 12 October 2011.

Daniels is currently featured playing fiddle in a television commercial for GEICO auto insurance.^[6]

Political statements[link]

Charlie Daniels performing at U.S. Naval Station Great Lakes, September 11, 2003

"The South's Gonna Do It" had a mild message of Southern cultural identity within the Southern rock movement. Daniels was an early supporter of Jimmy Carter's presidential bid and performed at his January 1977 inauguration.

"In America" was a reaction to the 1979–1981 Iran Hostage Crisis; it described a patriotic, united America where "we'll all stick together and you can take that to the bank / That's the cowboys and the hippies and the rebels and the yanks." The song experienced a revival following the September 11 attacks, when it was floated around the internet as "F*** Bin Laden." In contrast, "Still in Saigon" (written by Dan Daley) was an effective portrayal of the plight of the American Vietnam veteran ten years after the war; it was part of an early 1980s wave of attention to the subject, presaging treatments such as Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." and "Shut Out the Light", Billy Joel's "Goodnight Saigon", Huey Lewis and the News' "Walking on a Thin Line", Paul Hardcastle's "19" and somewhat later Steve Earle's "Copperhead Road".

In 1989, Daniels' country hit "Simple Man" was interpreted by some as advocating vigilantism. Lyrics such as "Just take them rascals [rapists, killers, child abusers] out in the swamp / Put 'em on their knees and tie 'em to a stump / Let the rattlers and the bugs and the alligators do the rest," got Daniels considerable media attention and talk show visits.

In 2003, Daniels published an Open Letter to the Hollywood Bunch in defense of President George W. Bush's Iraq policy. His 2003 book Ain't No Rag: Freedom, Family, and the Flag contains this letter as well as many other personal statements. During the 2004 presidential campaign, Daniels said that having never served in the military himself, he did not have the right to criticize John Kerry's service record.^[7] His band's official website contains a "soapbox" page,^[8] where Daniels has made statements such as the following: "In the future Darwinism will be looked upon as we now look upon the flat earth theory," and "I am more afraid of you and your ilk than I am of the terrorists," regarding U.S. Senator Harry Reid. On March 27, 2009, Daniels criticized the Obama Administration for "changing the name of the War on Terror to the "Overseas Contingency Operation" and referring to terrorism as "man-caused disasters"".^[9]

Personal life[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2011)

Daniels was born October 28, 1936, in Wilmington, North Carolina, and raised on a musical diet that included Pentecostal gospel, local bluegrass bands and the rhythm & blues and country music from Nashville's 50,000-watt radio stations WLAC and WSM. Daniels grew up in the small town of Gulf located in Chatham County, North Carolina. His childhood home still stands in Gulf but is currently in a state of disrepair. He graduated from high school in 1955. Already skilled on guitar, fiddle, banjo, and mandolin, Daniels formed a rock 'n' roll band and hit the road.^[10]

Daniels enjoys hunting, fishing, skydiving, and other outdoor activities. He is a member and supporter of the National Rifle Association (NRA). Daniels married his wife, Hazel, in 1963. Together, they have one son, Charlie Daniels, Jr., as well as three grandchildren.^[11] On January 15, 2010, Daniels was rushed to the hospital after suffering a stroke while snowmobiling in Colorado. He recovered and was released 2 days later.

Discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Charlie Daniels

• Official Website
• Charlie Daniels interview www.AwaitngTheFlood.com
• Charlie Daniels interview www.CountryMusicPride.com
• Charlie Daniels at bmi.com

James Benton Flippen (July 18, 1920 – June 28, 2011) was an old-time fiddler from Mount Airy, North Carolina. He was one of the last surviving members of a generation of performers born in the early 20th century playing in the Round Peak style centering on Surry County, North Carolina. His contemporaries included Tommy Jarrell, Fred Cockerham, Kyle Creed, and Earnest East.

Flippen learned to play old-time music early in life from his father, uncles, and brothers.^[1] He has composed several original tunes^[1] and performed with the Camp Creek Boys.^[2] Of late he had been performing with Benton Flippen and the Smokey Valley Boys.

Flippen was a recipient of the 1990 North Carolina Folk Heritage Award.

Early life and career[link]

Flippen was raised on a farm in Surry County, North Carolina, where he first played the banjo during his childhood. His father was an accomplished old time banjo picker, as were his uncles and brothers. During his youth he visited his fiddling uncle John Flippen, quickly turned to playing the fiddle and started playing with the area's noted bands and musicians, among them the Green Valley Boys led by Glenn McPeak, with Esker Hutchins and Leak Caudill. Esker became an important influence on Flippen's fiddling style, which included a heavy bow shuffle and bluesy notation.

In the late 1960s he was asked to fiddle with the Camp Creek Boys, after Fred Cockerham's departure. From the 1970s on, Flippen belonged to the Smokey Valley Boys, an outfit that preserved Flippen's unique musical abilities on recordings. The band also earned awards at numerous fiddling competitions, before disbanding in 1985. In 1990, the North Carolina Folk Heritage Awards honored Flippen, who was recognized for a unique style of string fingering. Flippen was also renowned for his original compositions, which include "Benton's Dream," "Fiddler's Reel," "Sally in the Turnip Patch," and "Smokey Valley Breakdown."

During his career, Flippen took first place numerous times in the fiddle and band contests at the Old Fiddler's Convention in Galax, Virginia; Union Grove/Fiddler's Grove (having won Fiddler of the Festival three times); the Mount Airy Fiddlers Convention, and many others. He also played at the Newport Folk Festival, the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee, the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, the Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress, the Appalachian String Band Music Festival in Clifftop, Fayette County, West Virginia, and many more highly esteemed venues. In 2008, at the age of 88, he headlined the Berkeley Old Time Music Convention in California.

In the late 1990s Flippen reorganized his Smokey Valley Boys with new and previous members. The latest lineup of his band often included Frank Bode singing and playing guitar, William Flippen (Benton's grandson) on guitar, Kevin Fore playing banjo, Verlin Clifton on mandolin, and Andy Edmonds playing banjo and guitar.

Style and technique[link]

Flippen gained popularity among the old-time music community for his unique approach to fiddling. Having rather large hands, he discovered the best way to get around the neck was to slide his index and middle fingers, rather than fingering up and down the scale with all four fingers as most people do — including his mentor, Esker Hutchins. On some tunes, he slid up the neck with one finger as he nearly simultaneously slid down with another. Where most fiddlers make a "D" chord on the neck with the index and ring finger, Flippen did it with index and middle finger. His bowing was described as smooth and heavily shuffled, having been perfected over many years of playing for square dances. As Paul Brown describes in the liner notes to Old Time, New Times, "It cries the blues, shouts a spiritual message, resounds with the celebration of a square dance or house party. It's full of syncopation and stretch, yet solidly down-to-earth."

Flippen also had a unique two-finger banjo style. He said he found it difficult to play clawhammer banjo, and though he liked hearing it, the three-finger bluegrass style wasn't quite for him, so he came up with his own heavily syncopated two-finger picking style that combined drive and charm.

Discography[link]

• 1972 — The Smokey Valley Boys (Heritage)
• 1993 — Benton Flippen: Old Time, New Times (Rounder)
• 1997 — Smokey Valley Boys (Easterwood Recordings)
• 2004 — Beware of Dog (Heritage)
• 2005 — Fiddler's Dream (Music Maker)
• 2008 — An Evening at WPAQ, 1984 (5-String Productions)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Benton Flippen MySpace page
• Benton Flippen page
• Benton Flippen in World Music: The Rough Guide

Video[link]

• August 17, 2005 performance at the Library of Congress
• Youtube page featuring videos of Benton Flippen

Bruce C. Molsky (born 1955, New York City) is an American fiddler, banjo player, guitarist, and singer. He primarily performs old-time music of the Appalachian region.

Molsky was born in 1955 at New York Infirmary in Manhattan, and grew up in The Bronx. His father, Milton, a mechanical engineer, was a first-generation American descendant of Jewish immigrants from Poland.

As a young man, Molsky first became interested in blues music, but eventually became absorbed in old-time music while studying engineering at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, beginning in 1972. His playing was influenced by the fiddling of Tommy Jarrell, whom Molsky visited in North Carolina in 1976. He recorded with Bob Carlin in 1990.

Molsky has released several records on Rounder Records under his own name. He recorded with Beverly Smith and Rafe Stefanini as Bruce Molsky and Big Hoedown, in 1997. He has also appeared in instructional videos teaching old time fiddle, both solo and with Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer.

Besides his solo recordings he has also played with the bands Fiddlers 4 and Mozaik and played in many concerts and festivals. He collaborated in 2008 with Norwegian hardingfele player and composer Annbjørg Lien on her CD Waltz With Me and subsequent concerts. He also appears as a guest artist on Andy Statman's 2011 double-CD, "Old Brooklyn" (Shefa Records).

Molsky and his wife Audrey reside in Washington, D.C..

External links[link]

• Bruce Molsky official site

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