Posted on May 3rd, 2009
We’re sorry to report that Elvin Campbell, a long-time guitarist for Dwight Lamb and Cyril Stinnett, passed away on Sunday, March 15, 2009, in Fremont, Nebraska. He was 84.
Though Elvin was a fiddler himself, he preferred the role of guitarist and found his niche as Dwight Lamb’s preferred guitarist throughout his contest days in the 60s and 70s. He supported Dwight and Cyril Stinnett on their trips to the National Fiddler’s Contest in Weiser, Idaho in the mid 1960s. Elvin supplemented Dwight’s playing with a spare and elegant style of his own. Playing in the Missouri Valley repetoire requires a flexible, well-rounded guitarist who can play comfortably in many keys, change keys smoothly, and generally make it all sound easy, and Elvin qualifies on all counts.
Be sure to visit Elvin’s page to hear some of his top-notch guitar playing.
Posted on October 14th, 2008
Now That’s a Good Tune: Masters of Missouri Fiddling was originally issued in 1989 as a set of two LP records and a 64-page book by the Missouri Cultural Heritage Center at the University of Missouri, Columbia. This newly revised edition was produced by Howard Marshall, Vivian Williams, and Phil Williams and includes 2 CDs packed with recordings of 13 Missouri fiddlers and a 98-page book. The fiddlers whose stories are featured in the book, and whose fiddling is heard on the CDs, are R. P. Christeson, Bill Eddy, Lyman Enloe, Gene Goforth, Carol Hascall, Vesta Johnson, Dean Johnston, Pete McMahan, Cyril Stinnett, Howe Teague, Charlie Walden, Bob Walsh, and Nile Wilson. The book also includes over 40 photographs and illustrations, and transcriptions for some of the tunes. This is a “must have” set for anyone interested in traditional fiddling in America and is available from Voyager Recordings.
(Read more…)
Posted on July 1st, 2008
Saturday, August 2
Annual fiddle contest held as part of festival music, cake, and ice cream making contest. The audience that braved the heat of an early August day was treated to superb fiddling on the shady lawn of the Fayette courthouse square. (Read more…)
Posted on May 5th, 2008
A number of fiddlers and accompanists performed at Shade Tree Fiddlers State as part of the annual Art in the Park festival at Stephens Lake Park in Columbia on June 7 and 8. Some 10,000 visitors came to the fair to see the artworks of dozens of artists working in various media – and to take in some good music. The Shade Tree stage was organized by Howard Marshall, and cosponsored by the Missouri Traditional Fiddle and Dance Network. The venue included hour-long sets by a range of fiddlers young and old, playing styles such as bluegrass, old-time, Cajun, and western swing.
(Read more…)
Posted on March 28th, 2008
Legendary Missouri fiddler Nile Wilson passed away Friday, March 21. He was 95.
I wish to inform everyone of the death on March 21 of north Missouri fiddler Nile Wilson of Bucklin at the age of 95. A great loss of one of the legendary elders, and a good friend.
Nile was among those who played in the WOS radio fiddle contests and live broadcasts in the late 1920s (Jefferson City). Nile played a number of “tie hacker tunes,” many of which he learned from his fiddling grandfather Isaac Wilson, who walked to north Missouri from Indiana after the Civil War as a young Union Army veteran. Isaac Wilson worked in the tie hacker camps, hewing white oak railroad ties for the railroad being built across north Missouri. These camps included a number of itinerant Irish and Scotch-Irish fiddle players (Civil War veterans), in the same part of Missouri where Francis O’Neill taught school for a year and collected several fiddle tunes at local dances (before going to Chicago and becoming famous; see article in Missouri Historical Review, October 2005).
(Read more…)
Posted on March 16th, 2008
So they’re not exactly traditional square dances, but if you enjoy dancing, you might give the Mid-Missouri Traditional Dancers’ contra dances a shot. Dances are held starting at 7 p.m. on the first, third and fifth Fridays of the month, September through June at the First Christian Church (Tenth St. & Walnut in Columbia). They always dance to live music, such as John White and his Nine Mile Band. Admission is $6.
We’re sorry to report that Elvin Campbell, a long-time guitarist for Dwight Lamb and Cyril Stinnett, passed away on Sunday, March 15, 2009, in Fremont, Nebraska. He was 84.
