The field recordings of musician-researchers Bruce Greene, Steve Rice, John Harrod, Barbara Kunkle, and Jeff Titon are especially strong in documenting Kentucky’s older generation fiddlers. In many instances the fiddle tunes and playing styles that they have documented date well back into the 1800s. Predominant tune sources for the fiddlers they recorded include minstrel stage music, Civil War military music, and the dance music of Britain, Ireland, and in some instances, France and Germany. Nonetheless real but less well documented, are the musical interchanges with African and Native Americans.
Transcriptions of some selected fiddle tunes from these collections have been produced by Sound Archives Fellowship scholars Erynn Marshall, Alan Jabbour, and Eric Strother.
A useful perspective from which to explore a large portion of Berea’s fiddle recordings, are the three broad regional traditions identified by Jeff Titon in Old-Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes (University Press of Kentucky, 2001).
Northeast Counties
The more elaborate melodies that became common in the northeast tended to not be well suited to the banjo.
Representative fiddlers from this region include Alfred Bailey (Bath County), Darley Fulks (Wolfe County), and Santford Kelly (Morgan County.)
Southeast Counties
Fiddle-banjo duets were particularly prevalent in the southeast but the solo tradition was also well represented among fiddlers born as late as the 1880s and 1890s.
Representative fiddlers from this region include Estill Bingham (Bell County), John Morgan Salyer (Magoffin County), and Effie Pierson (Owsley County), and Hiram Stamper (Knott County).
South-Central Kentucky Counties
Playing styles found most commonly in the south-central region include fiddle-banjo combinations associated with African-Americans prior to the Civil War. There is also an even older tradition of solo fiddle tunes not well suited to banjo.
Representative fiddlers from this region include Doc Roberts (Madison County), Clyde Davenport (Wayne County), Jim Bowles (Monroe County), Isham Monday (Monroe County),
Davenport’s playing includes both styles. Bowles tends mostly toward the African-American and Monday more toward the solo style. Doc Roberts is particularly notable for the extent to which he merged more modern styles with his older repertoire, much of which came from African American fiddlers of his acquaintance.
- Adair
- Anderson
- Barren
- Casey
- Clark
- Estill
- Fayette
- Franklin
- Garrard
- Hart
- Jessamine
- Logan
- Madison
- Metcalfe
- Monroe
- Rockcastle
- Russell
- Todd
- Warren
- Washington
- Wayne
Related Berea Sound Archives Sites
- Traditional Music and Spoken Word Performances This link opens in a new windowListen to selected musical performances and storytelling from the Berea Sound Archives.
- Alan Lomax Kentucky CollectionListen to ocumentary sound recordings of rural Kentucky music and lore collected under the auspices of the Archive of American Folk Song at the Library of Congress between 1933 and 1942.
- Oral History Collections GuideBerea's online oral history collections cover a broad range of topics in the areas of Appalachian history and culture, and the history of Berea College. In many instances searchable transcripts accompany the digitized audio recordings.
- Examples of Oral Histories For Use As Primary SourcesSelected interview texts and recordings covering a wide range of topics.
- Sound Recording Analysis WorksheetA teaching / learning resource from the National Archives.
- Sound Archives Research GuidesResearch guides are the work of Archives staff and the College's Sound Archives Fellows. Using audio and video illustrations, the guides cover a wide range of topics.
- Sound Preservation ProgramThe program's focus is on Berea's collections of noncommercial recordings that document Appalachian history and culture and the history of Berea College.
- Berea Sound Archives HomepageBrowse By Topic
