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Strings, wood, tension and connections

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When I first held a violin in my hands, I was amazed by the shiny wood. How the strings connected to the tailpiece and the pegs running across the bridge and the fingerboard with a tension creating a vibration when plucked or bowed to create a sound.

When I opened the back of my piano, I was also fascinated by the intricate workings of the internal mechanisms which prompted the internal hammers to hit the strings and make the sounds when fingers hit the keys.

In both of these cases and most every other instrument that ever touched my hands, the similar nature of the creations used the tension of a tightened string to precipitate the opportunity of a musical sound to be created. That tension has lined the foot path upon which my shoes have traveled through my life.

The amazing miracle of that tension, has allowed me to make some amazing and not so amazing sounds with my fingers.

Those sounds have brought so many unique individuals into my life. Stars who we all know by name, some we once knew but are now fading as the new generations of stars fill people’s ears. Musicians who have created sounds that warm our hearts, spark our memories and uplift our thoughts, have stood within a few feet of me sharing their gifts beside me or me with them.

I could have never thought that possible when I first picked up that ¾ size violin and tucked it under my chin, picked up the bow and scratched a sound that could peel paint out of it.

That tension, those strings and the wood which as craftsman brought together, has given me an opportunity to chase my dreams of standing on stage and sharing what is within my heart and head.

It has made me friends, who similarly hold an instrument and entertain. The strings, the wood, the tension, the miles traveled and the long, long talks to fill that travel make brothers and sisters that will never leave you or forsake you.

They are there in sickness, in happiness, and in sorrow. It may be a helping hand, a performance, a call or so much more, but my music family is such a gift in my life. Sometimes, we may not see one another in years, but we can pick our conversation up where we left off. If we play together, we can once again find our groove usually pretty quickly. It’s actually almost second nature to us.

I could fill this column with dropped celebrity and star names who God brought into my life, but that’s not the focus of what I am sharing with you. If you are really interested, check out the bios on my website or Wikipedia.

My point here is in the case of musicians, unlike most folks, tension is a good thing, and how we connect with other like-talented folks. If I had not found that tension, my life would have been much poorer in the spirit and gifts of other folks. They have uplifted my walk down that foot path of life.

If you have the desire to play, it’s never too late, or perhaps you have a youth with those aspirations. Encourage their desires by leading them into and instrument that they can play throughout their lives and enjoy alone or with a small group of musicians.

The tension has been a bridge to a life I could never imagine. It might do the same for you or yours.

Take down the fiddle and bow

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I was sitting on the linoleum floor looking up at the fiddlers as they sat around in the den of the Everett’s house playing tune after tune. Musicians flow in and out and spectating listeners line the seats around the walls. I was pre-teen and trying to pick up licks they were doing as I watched their fingers move and the their bows go up and down.

Unlike my youth learning experience, today, youth doing the same have the amazing ability to simply take their phone and find a video of a fiddler playing the tune they want. But there is nothing like being in a room hearing and seeing another fiddler play.

That is what many of the youth who competed at the 53rd Grand Master Fiddler Championship had the chance to do as many of the greatest fiddle competitors gathered outside Nashville at the Turner Theater in Franklin as the contest took place Labor Day weekend.

I walked down the hallway between the stage and the warm-up rooms and youthful fiddlers leaned against the walls watching the older competitors warming up with their accompanists getting ready to walk on stage and be judged for America’s top Grand Master Fiddler.

I was blessed to return to serve as celebrity host, a role I been honored to conduct since 2007. I was a teen the first time I came to this contest brought by my childhood mentor Eugene Akers getting to see the great fiddlers.

As I looked in the eyes of the youth while walking down the hallway, I could see their excitement. In their anticipation, I knew their fears as they waited for their chance to convince the judges they had improved in their efforts.

Many of the former youth are now competing in the adult open category. Seeing the young adults excelling is such a blessing.

When I was starting out the youthful fiddlers who were ahead and plowing the way for us kids were Mark O’Connor, Jimmy Mattingly, the late Randy Howard and others. This year’s event was special in that Mark was there sharing a special hour of music with his wife Maggie. Jimmy was there being honored with the Dr. Perry F. Harris Award. Another early competitor Monte Gaylord of Oklahoma came back and competed after many years, shining in his performance.

This year’s event was squeezed into one day, filled with about 40 fiddlers sharing a breakdown, a waltz and a tune of choice. Two Canadians and one fiddler from the Netherlands also tried their luck. One that seemed to be a favorite this year was Kenny Baker’s “Festival Waltz” as fiddlers of all ages shared it. Another often played tune was “Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down.” A tune I played as a Blue Grass Boy with Bill Monroe – “Road to Columbus” also seemed to be more prevalent this year.

From my vantage point at the podium, I will have to say, there were more existing Grand Master Fiddlers competing against each other or simply present at this event than I ever recall in my years of participating. The audience certainly heard the best of the best.

The 2024 Grand Master Fiddler of the open category is Ridge Roberts of Granbury, Texas, and in the youth category is Tristan Paskvan of Southlake, Texas. Todd Varble won the accompanist award. Marty Elmore received the Charlie Bush Traditional Fiddler Award. Naomi Dornfeld received the Matthew Thomas Lin Scholarship Award. Learn more about the Grand Master Fiddler Championship at grandmasterfiddler.com or follow them on Facebook.

103 Years and counting – an American treasure Violet Hensley

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I just got off the phone doing something that only a handful of folks get to do in life. I wished “Happy Birthday” to a friend – Violet Hensley – who was celebrating her 103rd birthday.
There are moments just such as these which bring people together. Common experiences such as championship wins of athletes or sporting teams, pivotal events which shape our nation or the world, iconic performances or awards by those who inspire us through performance.
I spent a couple years of my life helping Violet bring together her life story for the book “Whittlin’ and Fiddlin’ My Own Way: The Violet Hensley Story” a few years ago.
She has entertained countless millions both live and on television through appearances on American standards such as “The Beverly Hillbillies,” “Captain Kangaroo,” “To Tell the Truth,” “Regis and Kathie Lee” and countless other shows through decades of performing. She even reached her dream of playing the Grand Ole Opry, a show that came on the air when she was 9 years old and was initially heard on a battery powered radio in the rural Arkansas farm area of Alamo where she grew up. She has appeared three times since her 99th birthday.
She is one of America’s first nationally known female fiddlers and fiddler makers who had inspired generations of girls and boys on every imaginable children’s show from coast to coast to know they could play American music and even learn to build a fiddle if they desired. Someone who became the image of one of America’s most iconic theme parks and thus an American folk legend.
Much like Dolly Parton for Dollywood and Mickey Mouse for Disneyland – Violet Hensley’s smile, laughter, wit and uplifting spirit, helped shape the family memories and experiences that fueled Midwestern American culture. As she continues the path before her, this season she is working at Fall Festival in Branson at Silver Dollar City where folks have seen her for 53 seasons. They are still giving love back to her for a lifetime of entertaining, teaching, and encouraging and thanking her for all the struggles and hardships that went along with it and fueled her life experience.
Last year, the Arkansas Living Treasure was inducted into the National Fiddler Hall of Fame. Thank you, Violet, for touching America and the world with your talents, your strong-willed work ethic and never-faltering faith! To learn more about her visit VioletHensley.com or like “Whittlin’ and Fiddlin’ My Own Way” on Facebook. There is much to learn about life from someone who lived 103 years, who raised a large family while living as a farmer/migrant farm worker, and all the time keeping the tradition of Ozark music alive and thriving.

Country Fiddlin’ at the Ford

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Every time I step through the doors of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tenn., I am struck with the immense size of the museum and all its facilities. Knowing our genre’s starting point, having such a place to remember, honor, foster and preserve, what has been accomplished is amazing.

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America’s Morning Show co-host Kelly Ford and Randall Franks host the Grand Master Fiddler Championship.

I stood outside the Ford Theater listening to the notes of “Sally Johnson” fill the air and looked at lines on Labor Day weekend waiting to buy their ticket and it took me back to the days of seeing the lines of country music fans waiting for a show at the former Opryland amusement park.

When I was a boy, that was the center of activity when people visited Music City; one of the big annual attractions that brought people from around the world was the Grand Master Fiddler Championship, now in its 45th year, the show is held at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in its Henry Ford Theater.

While as a youth, I competed; as a Grand Ole Opry guest star, I performed, today, I am the celebrity host of the Grand Master Fiddler Championship stepping in the shoes of Roy Acuff, Porter Wagoner and Grant Turner. This year I welcomed the help of Grammy winner Jim Lauderdale, journalist Craig Havighurst and from America’s Morning Show’s CMA winner Kelly Ford who assisted me with the emcee duties.

This year’s crop of fiddlers spanned fiddlers from coast to coast from early elementary school to retirement age performing tunes from “Red Wing” to “Bridget’s Waltz.” What was consistent throughout the two-day event, was the level of proficiency shared by each competitor reflected a desire to bring home the nation’s highest fiddling honor and a chance to perform on the Grand Ole Opry.

The crowd was moved with every pull of the bow sometimes bringing the cheers to a rousing pitch.

After 14 hours of competition, Grand Ole Opry stars Riders in the Sky were on hand to entertain and help crown the 2016 Grand Master Fiddler Champion Maddie Denton from Murfreesboro, Tenn.

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From left, GMFC Board Member Ed Carnes, Woody Paul of Riders in the Sky, Maddie, GMFC Board Member Howard Harris and GMFC Celebrity Host Randall Franks.

I am especially proud because Maddie won the 2016 Randall Franks Trophy at the 1890s Day Jamboree Old Time Fiddler Convention winning an opportunity to compete in the finals this year.

Organizers Howard Harris and Ed Carnes also crowned a Youth Grand Master Ivy Phillips and a Traditional Grand Master Brian Christianson.

The organization presented the Dr. Perry Harris Award to Woody Paul of the Riders in the Sky. The Grand Master Fiddler Championship. Inc. presents the honor to individuals who have had a lasting impact on the fiddling art form. The award is named for the late Grand Master Fiddler Championship founder Perry Felton Harris, M.D., D.D.S, Colonel U.S.A.F., who convinced the Grand Ole Opry’s E.W. “Bud” Wendell that the organization needed a fiddle contest.

The Charlie Bush Award was presented to Eli Bishop honoring the traditional fiddle performance which would most reflect the tastes of former late contest volunteer and board member.

I encourage you to join us in Music City next year and enjoy the fiddling fun. The Grand Master Fiddler Championship, Inc. is a Tennessee non-profit and a U.S. IRS 501(c)(3) charitable corporation, formed to educate about and perpetuate fiddling as an art form and cultural treasure. For more info, visit www.grandmasterfiddler.com.

A fiddle and the fireplace

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Some say it was a coal mine cave-in. Others say it was the fever, but whatever the reason my Grandpa Harve found himself orphaned in a time when, if children were lucky, some relative or caring neighbor took them in.

I don’t know much about his childhood, although I am told his tales of life on the Tennessee River rivaled those of Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn.”

When my dad was a boy, Harve gathered the children around the fireplace and before bed told a story of an orphaned boy named A.J. (his real initials), filled with intrigue of riverboat gamblers and the dangers of riding the rapids on a handmade raft.
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