Well, hello there!
The first few weeks of 2023 have been sweet and peaceful here in my little East Nashville bubble. I’ve been reading some great books, playing tunes with friends, watching old movies, spending time in the kitchen, and generally trying to get my head on straight for the year ahead. I hope the new year has brought some good cheer your way, too.
And now…
Fiddle Workshop
My next online fiddle workshop will be this Sunday, Feb 5, at 1pm Central. I had a request to teach “Gilda Roy” from John Salyer (standard tuning, key of C), and I thought that would be a fun challenge. It’s a beautiful, slightly squirrelly tune. Give it a listen!
As always, attendance in realtime isn’t necessary — your ticket gives you access to the archived feed — but it’s so fun to have folks from all over the place gathering to geek out together, so I’ll encourage you to come join in the festivities.
An aside: “Gilda Roy” has got to be part of the family of tunes related to the Scottish outlaw Gilderoy, right?? (If someone has written a dissertation on this, please send it my way.)
Other Fiddlegeek News
I recently did a live fiddle Q&A. It ended up being very wide-ranging (from what kind of rosin I use to how I feel about bowing patterns), and if you’re curious (and can deal with a LOT of me talking) you can check out the archived feed on my YouTube channel.
Interested in some one-on-one fiddle coaching? Click here to read more.
You can find archived workshops — and new #fiddlegeek stickers! — over at my Ko-fi page.
Touring
I’m looking forward to some upcoming gigs with my delightful pal Joachim Cooder. I’ll be accompanying him for three shows in California in February (two of which are opening for Hawktail-!!), then a few more in March in Canada. All of those dates are now posted on my schedule. Joachim is in the process of finishing up a new album that’s SO beautiful, I can hardly wait for everyone to hear it! Stay tuned…
Virtual Reality
How’s your relationship with the internet going? I’m in a constant state of evaluating my online life. I have ADHD, which makes me particularly susceptible to the siren song of The Perpetual Scroll, so I really gotta stay vigilant. (Of course that means I sometimes end up going down internet rabbit holes about how to avoid going down internet rabbit holes. Ah, modernity!)
I quit Twitter back in December. While I have plenty of thoughts I could share about how complicated that decision actually was (I am in the camp of people who believe that platform should be a public utility), ultimately it was easy for me to walk away. If you’re on the fence, maybe this bit of proselytizing will give you a nudge.
For now, I intend to start putting more of my online energies toward YouTube. It seems to be the least onerous of the big platforms, and active creators can (eventually) receive a share of ad revenue. So I invite you to join me in my YouTube adventures! I’ve already got tune videos, playlists, and even some interviews on my channel, but there’s plenty more to come. Holler if you have any big ideas for me.
Book Recommendations
I am so lucky to have brilliant, generous friends who send me wonderful books to read! I’ll share my good fortune by passing along a couple recommendations:
Naomi “Omie” Wise: Her Life, Death and Legend by Hal Pugh & Eleanor Minnock-Pugh • Thanks to Sarah Bryan for sending along this great new work by her friends/colleagues. It’s a very thorough — and empathetic — exploration of the true story behind the well-known murder ballad “Omie Wise.” It also paints a pretty astonishing picture of rural North Carolina circa 1800! Wild characters abound. Go get yourself a copy.
Suits Me: The Double Life of Billy Tipton by Diane Wood Middlebrook • Thanks to Ry Cooder for this one. Not a new book, but new to me, and really compelling. While the meat of the story is ostensibly the complicated gender identity of the musician Billy Tipton, it’s also just a great American musician biography.
Other Cool Stuff
Alice Gerrard is making things, and you can support her work!
I bought some rubber stamps from this Etsy shop, and I adore them.
KK & I recently stumbled across this trippy old movie. The scenery is astonishing!
Okeedoke…
If you’ve read all the way to here, I’m giving you a big ol’ virtual high five and beaming lots of gratitude at you for giving me a little slice of your time and attention. Thank you!
Take good care & keep in touch —
xo rayna