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.
Posted on March 14th, 2008
St. Louis square dance fiddler extraordinaire Vesta Johnson made an appearance at this year’s University of Chicago Folk Festival.
Posted on March 13th, 2008
First Sunday afternoon each month, Boonesboro • 1-4:30 p.m.
Fiddle session at the store, hosted by Lynn and Mike Wells. Contact Elisha Wells at (660) 537-3903 to be sure they are meeting.
Posted on March 13th, 2008
Saturday mornings 9 a.m.-11 a.m., April through mid November.
Corner W. Ash and Clinkscales, adjacent to West Junior High School and the ARC.
Live music, often featuring fiddle music. Free. Website
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.