Page 62 - Blues Festival Guide Magazine 2019

Lionel Young, winner of two International Blues Challenges: as a solo-duo artist in
2008 and with his band in 2011. Photo by BluesPhotosbyDonMcGhee
quartet that included Muddy Waters in the 1940s. “Both Bo
Diddley and Big Bill Broonzy played fiddle before they played
guitar. Lonnie Johnson played violin and, of course, there was
Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown – he did stuff I couldn’t do. He has
all the rhythm and he could put it on any instrument.” Indeed,
Brown, who played multiple instruments and blended various
genres of music, is regarded as one of the most influential
musicians to advance the use of the fiddle in blues music.
As the blues went from being acoustic to electric in the
1940s, and as waves of African Americans migrated north in
attempts to leave a history of oppressive rural Southern roots in
the past, the use of the fiddle in Black blues music dwindled.
Young, though, foresees a possible revival. Young, who plays
fiddle about 75 percent of his time on stage (guitar the other
25 percent), plays several violins, including a five-string electric
violin. “There’s a resurgence because now there are electric
instruments that are violins. In a generation or two, you will see
a lot more violin players trying to play blues.”
Contemporary Blues and Roots Fiddlers
Some of the violin players that have been inspiring to me
include Don “Sugarcane” Harris (no relation), Papa John
Creach, Regina Carter, Liz Carroll and Natalie MacMaster. All
of these artists have taken the instrument and infused it with their
own unique sonic signatures, and that is what I aspire to do.
Another of my inspirations, Rhiannon Giddens, has grown from
her beginnings as a founding member of the Grammy-winning
Carolina Chocolate Drops (playing fiddle and banjo) to become
a singular force of nature in the American roots genre, earning
her countless accolades and a Grammy nomination as a solo
artist.
Other blues violinists on the scene include Ilana Katz,
a Boston-based blues and old-time fiddle player who is a
preservationist, carrying the styles, traditions and tunes of
another era for a new generation of blues fans to dive into.
There’s also Cedric Watson, a four-time Grammy-nominated
fiddler, singer-songwriter and accordionist who has emerged
as a rising star in the Cajun, Creole and Zydeco traditions. You

60 Blues Festival Guide 2019