Vesta Johnson
Linn County, MO
Vesta Johnson is a powerhouse square dance fiddler who currently lives in St. Louis.
Still spry at eighty-something, Vesta Johnson is a rare example from her generation: a female fiddler. Vesta was born into a musical family in Linn County in north central Missouri. Unlike many of her female contemporaries, she received both encouragement and practical help in learning to play fiddle. By the age of 9, she’d begun to play for neighborhood dances and socials. After her marriage, she put the fiddle down to raise her children. In the 1960s, however, the fiddle came out of the closet after she heard of a contest-her first. She remains active in fiddling and encouraging younger fiddlers in St. Louis and around the state.