It seems that I am finally home after vacations, and recruiting details. Although I like to travel I do like home. For the last couple of weeks my travels have taken me to Troutdale Oregon, Moses Lake, Redmond, and Wenatchee Washington. I was able to see a lot of people and reunit with a couple of friends. But there is no place like home.
Last weekend Kat, Kylee, Gina, Ashlee, Daryl, Bonni, and I all traveled to Wenatchee Washington for the Old-Time Fiddle Contest. We had a wonderful time reuniting with all of our friends from the fiddlers. We even ran into two characters from Othello, and Royal City that we haven't seen in a while. Chuck Porter is from Othello. He is one of those guys that when you meet him he will leave a lasting impression on you. Once he leaves you are his friend for life and he will (most of the time) always remember your name. He is the original gut bucket washtub base player and was always full of encouragement when I first started hanging around the fiddlers. Warren Hanson is a great plectrum banjo player from Royal City. Quite and reserved he has strong opinions that are easily shared and an overall pleasent disposition. It was good to catch up with the duo!
Some of my favorite highlight of the contest was from a friend of ours named Phillip Cress. Phillip is a big guy with a big heart and a sense of humor to match! I'm pretty sure he was at the contest to socialize more then compete. This year he competed in the young adult division with me. Phil is a good fiddler, but this year he was playing for the fans. He played a hoedown named Ragtime Annie that kept going, and going, and going. Just when you thought it would end he came up with another part that he could throw into the tune. Just when the crowd thought that they could not smile enough, or laugh harder he played Dixie for his waltz. Typically Dixie is considered a hoedown, but Phill worked into 3/4 time. I thought it was brilliant! He actually made it into a beautiful waltz. He then played Peacock Rag for his tune of choice. Because Phil has no time constraints he a 4 minute 30 second round and was disqualified from a second round. It was brilliant and wonderful. People are still talking about it. At that moment Phill brought creativity and entertainment back to contest fiddling.
Before the final trophies were awarded Kat, Gina, Daryl, me, and a couple of our friends performed. Kylee brought out her little fiddle and joined us on stage. She upstaged all of us and was singing and talking on the microphone. When it was time to leave the stage Kylee cried and cried. She was very distraught because she wanted to play twinkle twinkle little star!
The contest was a lot of fun. If there is one thing that I think people should put on their bucket list, it is to go to a fiddle contest! So find one near you and go see what it is all about. You will be happy you did!
Until next time!
Joe Gunter
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2 comments:
how do I find out where the fiddle contests are?
You can check out the National Old-time Fiddle Contest website. Just type in Weiser idaho, or fiddle contest and you should be able to find one in your area.
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