Stories From The 2022 National Old Time Fiddle Contest
by Katie Glassman
I began going to the National Oldtime Fiddler’s Contest in 1994. It takes place in Weiser Idaho and hence, all of us regulars call it “Weiser.” Over the years, those trips to Weiser always gave me that needed jolt of inspiration, friendship, and community. Taking place the third full week of June every year, it was always like my “Christmas.” I would plan my trip and my tunes all year long. Between us, it’s all I ever thought about — so sure, I never quite felt like I fit in at school.When you drive to Weiser, you are immediately slowed down to 35 mph hour as you drive through the small yet festive town. Blasting fiddle music in the car, you’ll pass the large hanging fiddles on the light posts. If you follow them, you’ll eventually end up at the high school grounds, where the contest, camping, and jamming happens. As a kid, I remember arriving at Weiser and immediately feeling butterflies, I could barely wait for the car to stop. That first year, there were 90 people in the Junior Division (13-17), and I came in 52nd place — which sure was a wake-up call. I then practiced so much (and loved every bit of time on my fiddle) that by the time I was 17, I finished in 1st place!
Weiser is where I learned about the fiddle greats from the past and present. I remember watching Danita Gardner win the Grand Champion division in 1999, the first woman ever to do this! And there were so many epic jams that I got to hear — and participate in — over the ensuing years with people like Jimmie Don Bates, the Rast sisters, Carl Hopkins, Gene Gimble, Paul Anastasio… I could go on and on. Oh, and everyone was always saying that things were never as good there as “the old days.” Well, I thought they were pretty darn great. And still do!
Fast forward to 2022… it was pretty awesome to see Britton, Ellis, Evie, and Alexis compete in the Junior Junior Division. They all did an incredible job. They played under the four-minute time limit, with a good groove, good intonation, and plenty of feeling! Britton and Evie made the first cut and got to play a second round. I think the Weiser experience will light a big fire for all of those kids for the year. Needless to say, they began playing guitar throughout the week, and Sydney (you’ve probably seen Sydney Green play guitar in all of the Session 1 videos) was a superstar to jam with them and teach them throughout the week.
Next to our campsite was one of our very first Fiddle School students and longtime fiddler, Louise Terpstra. I happened to be walking by when I spotted her jamming with Susumu Okano — that’s right, Susumu flew all the way out from Japan to compete at Weiser. I sat down and we jumped right into playing 10 or so tunes. The whole time, I was thinking that it was just surreal to be there after recovering from my breast cancer saga. I felt so at home just playing music with my people.
Louise, Susumu, and Donna competed in the Senior Division alongside many good fiddlers. I had the pleasure of being a part of their backup teams. Everyone made it to the second round, and Donna came in 5th place!
Next up was Seiji in the online division. Being a new division, it was a thrill for everyone to have a fiddler attending from Japan. Seiji played two quality rounds, and we are so very proud of him for competing at a national contest!
Then there’s Jesse Quintana from Colorado. This was his second year in the Junior division and he was there to defend his title. And defend he did, Jesse took the whole dang deal — he played solidly, smoothly, and with so much personality that it won us all over. Jesse takes lessons from Celeste; we are so very proud of him — winning the junior division is no small feat. And now he’s done it twice!
Our Celeste. She was a judge this year. The judging panel had four judges, with three on duty each time. She was at our camp jamming whenever she wasn’t in that high school library keeping scores for every single contestant. I think judging may be even harder than competing. Great job, Celeste!Luke Price. I’ve grown up with Luke and have so much more to share about who he is. But what I’ll say for now is that he’s one of our Mountain Retreat instructors, and he won the Grand National Championship! I love Luke’s style of playing and really, really enjoyed his rounds. Congrats, Luke!
I had some wonderful jams with our buddies Anne and Scott Sumner, Carl Hopkins, Luke, Nat, and Sydney. Playing music is the best moment of any day for me, and this Weiser gave me days and days of joyful musical moments. And now I’m looking forward to competing again in 2023. I was inspired by EVERYONE who played on that stage.
Overall, I feel like Weiser is still very much alive and well. I hope that you get a chance to attend and soak up some of that fiddle inspiration that I’ve thrived on for all of these years.
Growing up, music gatherings like fiddle camps and contests were my absolute favorite thing in the world. Each year, I looked forward to these gatherings like other kids looked forward to Christmas or trips to Disneyland. I could not imagine anything more perfect than spending time with friends I loved and artists I admired, all of us there because of our shared passion for traditional music. Those camps and contests were the reason I made many of my dearest friends, discovered a lot about what lights me up, and really honed my musical skills as a fiddler and an accompanist.
our predecessors would’ve heard at a square dance many miles away, simply by opening a new browser tab. We’re living in different times. We have unlimited access to any kind of music or musical instruction that tickles our fancy, and we don’t even have to leave home to get it. But even though our cultural milieu has changed—after all, we don’t need to tie up the horses and spend the night at the hootenanny before driving back to the farm anymore—there’s still a thriving selection of in-person musical gatherings, camps, contests, festivals, and more. People will still travel hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles, to participate in these experiences. After two years of the Zoom life, I’m sure you could easily name a dozen reasons why.
this moment, are playing this song that will never be quite the same again.” The act of making music together requires collaboration, spontaneity, intimacy. And that’s just one song we’re talking about. When people come together for longer periods of time (at a fiddle camp or fiddle contest, say), there’s space for even more. Community forms, curiosity grows, and we experience deep inspiration through this musical tradition of which we are stewards. When we dedicate our time, our physical presence, and our attention to anything on that level, incredible changes happen. That’s why these experiences are so dear to me and so many other musicians I know. Every time we come together to make music, we walk away feeling inspired, grateful, and connected to the music and the community in a way that nothing else can imitate. 
Have you had the pleasure of listening to Duke Ellington’s Jazz Violin Session? Recorded in 1963 but not released until two years after Ellington’s death in 1976, these sessions feature Ellington and members of his orchestra plus three paramount jazz violinists: Svend Asmussen, Stéphane Grappelli, and Ray Nance. The other players on the album include tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves, drummer Sam Woodyard, bassist Ernie Shepard, alto saxophonist Russell Procope, and trombonist Buster Cooper. Ellington plays piano on all tunes except two, where Billy Strayhorn takes his place. The tunes are Ellington and Strayhorn compositions. 
school but, he said in a 1955 interview, did not have ‘the least interest in dentistry’ and was playing music professionally before he was out of his teens” (New York Times.) Although Asmussen’s main instrument was violin, you’ll hear him playing viola on this album to round out the low end of the strings. On every tune, you can recognize his playing by its explosive groove. On this album, each violinist gets a solo feature on one tune. Asmussen’s feature tune is “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore.” 
French violinist Stéphane Grappelli was born in 1908 and was a founding member of of of jazz’s first all-string groups, the Quintette du Hot Club de France. He’s best known for his prolific work with pioneering guitarist Django Reinhardt; together they shaped the style we now know as “gypsy jazz,” jazz manouche, or hot jazz. His unmistakably elegant style shines through throughout this album. Grappelli (or Grappelly, as he was billed for the first three decades of his career) has his solo feature on the tune “In a Sentimental Mood,” a choice that really accentuates his refined playing and emotional nuance. 
school, he taught himself trumpet because ‘I wanted to hear myself on a louder instrument in way I couldn’t do with a violin in an orchestra'” (New York Times.) He became a drum major in his high school band, then took up singing and later the cornet when he joined Duke Ellington’s band in 1940. It seems that there was no instrument he couldn’t play. On this album, you can hear his knack for melodicism in each solo he takes. Nance is the featured soloist on “Day Dream.” 
