Old-Time Fiddle Music

Friar the Fiddler - Battle of San Pasqual - 2005

Friar the Fiddler, Battle of San Pasqual re-enactment

Larry Edwards - Emma's Gut Bucket Band - Balboa Park - July 2008

Larry Edwards, with Emma's Gut Bucket Band
Balboa Park, July 2008

Pirate Fiddler - Koehler Kraft Wooden Boat Festival - 2006

Friar the Pirate Fiddler, Koehler Kraft Wooden Boat Festival

I currently fiddle with

Heritage (fiddle tunes and songs of the 18th and early 19th centuries)
Corps of Rediscovery (historical reenactment, including songs and dance tunes of of the 18th & 19th centuries)
Pick of the Lizard (contra dance)
The More the Merrier (contra dance, community band)
The Usual Suspects (contra dance, pick-up band)
Emma's Gut Bucket Band (hybrid: old-time fiddle, classic country, bluegrass, western swing)
The Mo' Beddah Band (indescribable, but imagine Jerry Garcia meets Pierre Cruzatte)
F Group (old-time fiddle, bluegrass)
various pick-up bands for paying gigs

Jam Sessions:

Richard Chance, guitar; Rick Johnson, mandolin; Larry Edwards, fiddle; JoAnn Koppany, banjo

I've been fiddling since 1974, getting my start with the Washington Old Time Fiddlers Association and later joining the California Old Time Fiddlers Association, San Diego Chapter.

I made the annual pilgrimage to Weiser, Idaho, for the National Old Time Fiddlers' Contest for 16 years. Influential fiddlers: Benny Thomasson, Clark Kessinger, Tommy Jarrell, Cyrill Stinnett, Mark O'Connor, (Uncle) Gary Lee Moore, Bob Shields, Kenneth Brank and many others, including a couple fiddlers who don't receive enough recognition, Marc Rennard (St. Louis, Mo.) and Mark Tamsula (Pittsburgh, Pa.).

I play an old fiddle (c. 1820, originally Baroque-style violin). It's something of an ugly duckling and violin appraisers, once they stop laughing, tell me it's a worthless piece of junk. But I like the way it sounds and that's all that matters to me.

I compose fiddle tunes when the muse awakens. The most popular of my tunes is "Manitoulin Thunder" [video] which struck me during a vengeful thunder storm while my wife, Janis, and I were visiting our friend Ivan Harwood at his summer home on Manitoulin Island in Ontario, Canada.

I also pluck the doghouse bass and can manage basic chords on a guitar. Playing the bass, I recorded with Roger and Janice Maddy and the Curly Creek String Band as well as a number of prestigious fiddlers, including Loretta Brank and Mark O'Connor.