A journey to the main public venue for the most vigorous American folk
music tradition Southern Fiddlers and Fiddle Contests explores the
phenomenon of American fiddle contests, which now have replaced dances
as the main public event where American fiddlers get together. Chris
Goertzen studies this change and what it means for audiences, musicians,
traditions, and the future of southern fiddle music. Goertzen traces
fiddling and fiddle contests from mid-eighteenth-century Scotland to the
modern United States. He takes the reader on journeys to the important
large contests, such as those in Hallettville, Texas; Galax, Virginia;
Weiser, Idaho; and also to smaller ones, including his favorite in
Athens, Alabama. He focuses on what happens on stage and such off stage
activities as camping, jamming, and socializing, which many fiddlers
consider much more important than the competition. Through multiple
interviews, Goertzen also reveals the fiddlers' lives as told in their
own words. The reader learns how and in what environments these fiddlers
started playing, where they perform today, how they teach, what they
think of contests, and what values they believe fiddling supports.
Southern Fiddlers and Fiddle Contests shows how such contests have
become living embodiments of American nostalgia. Chris Goertzen is
associate professor of music history and world music at University of
Southern Mississippi. He is the author of Fiddling for Norway: Revival
and Identity and coeditor of the volume on Europe in the Garland
Encyclopedia of World Music.
