INCOMING: Fiddle Geekery / OH & WV Shows

online workshop oct 22 • duo dates in november • i went to europe • and more!

Oct 12, 2023

What ho!

Howdy from East Nashville! It’s good to be back. The weather is gorgeous, musical plans are cooking, leaves are changing, and there’s a LOT to catch up on in this here newsletter.

Fiddlegeek Stuff

Let’s get the business out of the way, shall we?

I’m offering an online fiddle workshop on Oct. 22 at 2pm Central. The tune we’ll focus on is “Johnny Come Along” from the playing of Clyde Davenport (in standard tuning). Listen to Clyde playing it here. As with all my workshops, you don’t have to “attend” in realtime (you can watch/rewatch later on)—but those of you who DO make it to the live event have my heartfelt gratitude. Your questions, comments, and humor make it so fun!

If you’re interested in the workshop but won’t be checking it out till later on, you’re welcome to send me questions beforehand.

*click thru to get the scoop on how the workshop works*

ALSO…

I made yet another sticker. It’s cute ’n’ cheery. And, like the others, it’s a limited run!

KKRG Shows

I’m so happy to let you know that Kieran Kane & I will be out on the road for a few shows in November!

Saint Louis & Chicago friends: we’re coming in January! More on that soon.

Joachim Cooder Adventures

A few weeks back I got to join Joachim Cooder on his European tour (for which his backing band was cult favorite Mark Fain and myself). Our caper took us to the legendary Tønder Music Festival in Denmark, the joyous Shrewsbury Festival in England, and a variety of great spots in Ireland(s). It had been YEARS since I’d been on what I’d call a “real” tour, and though it was pretty much as exhausting as I was bracing for it to be, it was also a very sweet hang (both musically and personally) and the traveling went kinda surprisingly well? Like: we managed to avoid getting tangled up in the air traffic control issues, I didn’t have to fight with anyone to carry my instruments on the (many) flights, and we made it to every show on time. Hooray!

Highlights for me included brief run-ins with dear old pals in unexpected corners of the world, finally hearing Sierra Ferrell live, tagging along with Mark Fain to his favorite pipe shop in Dublin, meeting internet friend Fiachna Ó Braonáin in real life and having him sit in with us… and of course simply getting to play Joachim’s delightful music every night for some truly beautiful audiences.

Here are a few images to give you a taste of the whirlwind — more photos and videos can be found over on Instagram.

Cool Stuff

A book: The Children / David Halberstam • This is a Nashville-focused civil rights history that resonates with our present moment for oh so many reasons. It’s touching and appalling and heartening. (I’m grateful to Connie Heard for recommending this one to me.)

An album: Imaginary People / Viv & Riley • I know I’m not the only person in the world of old-time music who has a sense of familial pride in these two. Their new album is way cool.

A newsletter: News from ACE • My oft-mentioned dear friend Sarah Bryan is now the Executive Director of the Association for Cultural Equity. I’m thrilled for her and for ACE, and can’t wait to see what happens now that Sarah and Nathan Salsburg are working for the same organization. If you want to keep up, donate, or just geek out about the Alan Lomax Collection, subscribe.

In Closing

There’s oh so much more I could say, but maybe I’ll put it in a blog post. For now, I’ll just thank you for reading all of this and being interested in what I’m doing and thinking. Your attention is a gift, and I appreciate it.

Wishing you peace —

xo rayna

PS: Have you subscribed to KKRG News yet?

PPS: Being back in Nashville means I’m scheduling one-on-one online fiddle lessons again.

PPPS: Here’s a happy tune from Brad Leftwich & Linda Higginbotham.