Over the years playing Fiddle, I have been (and still am) influenced by many different Fiddle players. Their style of playing, techniques and composition and improvisation methods all add to and make up each musician’s unique sound. In the first of this two-part blog, I would like to share with you some of these amazing musicians who may well influence your sound too.
Tag: players
Fiddler Players That Are Amazing- Part 1
Phil Beer
An amazing Fiddle player and accomplished with sound engineering, Phil Beer cites his main instrument as the Guitar. I am reminded of a Guitar workshop I attended, led by Phil Beer at Sidmouth Folk Festival several years ago, where he said that he wouldn’t call himself a Fiddle player, which completely bemused me at the time, as his skill with the Fiddle was incredible.
As a founder of the Folk group Show of Hands, this Devonshire Fiddler has played at huge venues and festivals, including multiple performances at the Royal Albert Hall and the BBC Folk Awards. He is also a skilled solo performer and has performed with his band The Phil Beer Band for many years.
Beer has been and still is one of my Fiddle idols, inspiring me with his innovative and soulful Fiddle playing and rich vocals, combined with his skilled use of reverb, delay, EQ and other effects. This man has very much shaped my musical development.
Phil Beer’s Website: www.philbeer.co.uk
Show of Hands Website: www.showofhands.co.uk
Nancy Kerr
Renowned both individually and as a duo with her husband James Fagan, Nancy Kerr is a very experienced and popular musician. Her Fiddle playing is a mixture of different styles, including Scottish and Irish, with techniques such as Scottish snaps, twiddles and twirls playing a prominent role in many tunes, which can be seen in her performance of Dance to Your Daddy.
In addition to her Fiddle skills, she is a talented singer and has performed and recorded many different songs. She is also very talented at singing and playing the Fiddle at the same time, which is something I’m still working on and I have great respect for anyone who is able to do this! Kerr has released several albums with Fagan and one solo album, while winning several awards, including BBC Radio 2’s Folk Singer of The Year and Best Duo awards for her and James Fagan’s collaborations.
Website: https://nancykerr.co.uk
Sam Sweeney
Sam Sweeney has had a very successful career, being a member of several Folk bands including the hugely successful Folk collective Bellowhead (which he left University to join!) and the band Leveret (with Rob Harbron and Andy Cutting). He has also collaborated with several other Folk artists, including Hannah James and Eliza Carthy.
His versatile Fiddle playing seems to be very much influenced by Scottish Fiddle music, featuring snaps and snatches. From slow, beautifully resonant Waltzes to powerful and fast-paced Bellowhead numbers, Sweeney seems to have the ability to turn his bow to whatever is the required energy of the piece.
In addition to his band work, he won the 2015 BBC Radio 2 Folk Award’s Musician of the Year, released his second solo album Unearth Repeat in 2020 and is currently offering Fiddle lessons via Zoom. As another one of my Fiddle idols, I’m very excited to see what Sam Sweeney’s next project is!
Website: www.samsweeneymusic.com
Brittany Haas
I came across Californian Fiddler Brittany Haas when I saw her performing as a member of the American Folk group Crooked Still, in the very early days of the Shrewsbury Folk Festival (after it moved from Bridgnorth). I was really taken by her Fiddle style, which seems to incorporate techniques from Cajun and Scottish music as well as elements from what I would describe as Nordic Fiddle. These elements all form into a really beautiful style that sounds brilliant for both slow, melodic pieces and rip-roaring, barn dance-style tunes.
Haas has performed at festivals and venues across the world, also performing at Late Night With David Lettermen. She has also collaborated with and been a part of many different musicians and groups, such as Crooked Still and Steve Martin’s Bluegrass Band, as well as recording her own albums and performing with her quartet Hawktail.
Website: www.brittanyhaas.com
Summary
Look out for the second part of Fiddle Players That Are Amazing, which will feature another four amazing musicians! To make sure you don’t miss any of my blog articles, you can subscribe to my newsletter using one of the forms on the website.
You can also listen to music from all the musicians in this series in the Spotify playlist for this blog, which you can find here.