Fiddlers Howard Marshall of Fulton (left) and Richard Shewmaker (right) of Columbia won first place in the Senior and Junior division, respectively, at the old-time fiddlers contest in Troy, Missouri, May 3, 2009. The trophies awarded at this contest were unique and very special — miniature violins made by a local artisan. (Photo by John Shewmaker)

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 repertoire 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.

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.
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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. Continue reading →

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.
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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).
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St. Louis square dance fiddler extraordinaire Vesta Johnson made an appearance at this year’s University of Chicago Folk Festival.

John White, one of Missouri’s premiere square dance fiddlers, has recorded a new CD packed with 28 dance tunes ranging from hoe-downs to schottisches. John comes from a musical family in north-central Missouri and learned to play by playing for regular dances. Consequently, he has a fiddle style all his own that is built upon his great sense of rhythm and drive. Square dancers and fiddle enthusiasts drive from all around to dance a square or just to hear John play.

Released in 2007 by Voyager Recordings of Seattle, this CD features John playing standards like "Dry and Dusty," "Arkansas Traveler," "Soldier’s Joy" and the "Peek-A-Boo Waltz," and some more unusual tunes like "White Man," "New Five Cent Piece," "Nine Miles" and "Natchez Under the Hill" (not the "Natchez" that is from the "Turkey in the Straw" family). John is joined on this CD by musicians Kenny Applebee, David Cavins, Amber Gaddy, Kathy Gordon, Howard Marshall, Jim Ruth and Musial Wolfe.

Dear friends of Missouri fiddling,

It is with regret that I inform you that the lifelong devotee of Missouri fiddling and fiddlers, Charlie Stallcup, died on Wednesday, December 19, 2007 at a Hannibal hospital. Frank Ferrell, Charlie’s son-in-law, called me to report this news.

Services will be held next Saturday, December 29, at the James O’Donnell Funeral Home, at 302 S. 5th Street in downtown Hannibal (tel. (573) 221-8188). Visitation will be at 10 a.m., with the memorial service at 11 a.m., and with burial to follow. A brief notice appeared in the Hannibal Courier-Post, Dec. 20, 2007.
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The old-time banjo player, fiddler and guitarist, Alva Lee Hendren (Mrs. Kenneth Hendren) of rural Madison, Missouri, died March 6, 2007 at the age of 77. Alva Lee was born in Moberly (Randolph County) in 1929 and was part of a well-known musical family. Her father was Luther Wilson, a coal miner in the Moberly-Huntsville area, who who taught Alva Lee a two-finger, up-picking style of playing five-string banjo. Wilson had learned banjo from Columbus Raider, and this banjo style, providing excellent accompaniment for fiddling, reached back to the Civil War in central Missouri.
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