Live at the 1987 National Folk Festival (MSOTFA 401), by Pete McMahan & Charlie Walden (fiddle & guitar)

Live at the 1987 National Folk Festival (MSOTFA 401)

by Pete McMahan & Charlie Walden (fiddle & guitar)

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Full Digital Discography

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Get all 69 Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers Association releases available on Bandcamp and save 65%.

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Pete McMahan - Concert at Bethel Fiddle Fest - 1989, Charlie Walden & John P. Williams | July 4th, 2013, Applebee, Walden, Griffin and Rose | LIVE at The Blue Note, 1987 Ozark Invitational Fiddle Contest | Mountain View Ozark Folk Center, Old-Time Fiddling from Western Canada, Jake Hockemeyer at KOPN | January 28th, 1984, Wheatland Music Festival - 1991, Francis Stevens | Callaway County Fiddler, and 61 more. , and , .

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1.	Tom & Jerry 01:45	buy track
2.	Grandmother's Waltz 02:04	buy track
3.	Grey Eagle 01:09	buy track
4.	Fiddler's Dream 01:32	buy track
5.	Sugar in the Gourd 01:22	buy track
6.	Ozark Mountain Waltz 02:19	buy track
7.	Marmaduke's Hornpipe 01:34	buy track
8.	Leather Britches 01:53	buy track
9.	Bill Cheatum 01:10	buy track
10.	Waltz of Shannon 02:02	buy track
11.	Hell on the Wabash 01:20	buy track
12.	Coming Down From Denver 01:27	buy track
13.	Gilsaw 01:16	buy track
14.	Tom & Jerry 01:44	buy track
15.	Rachel 01:29	buy track
16.	Unknown Tune in G 01:26	buy track
17.	Happy Jack 01:25	buy track
18.	Arkansas Traveler 01:24	buy track
19.	Marmaduke's Hornpipe 01:22	buy track
20.	Old Cowboy Waltz 02:10	buy track
21.	Old Rugged Cross 02:09	buy track
22.	Grey Eagle 02:06	buy track
23.	The Old Spinning Wheel 01:20	buy track
24.	Ragtime Annie 02:04	buy track
25.	Old Hen Cackle 00:12	buy track
26.	Leather Britches 01:58	buy track
27.	Wagoner 01:06	buy track
28.	Tune Introduction 00:11	buy track
29.	Bill Cheatum 01:28	buy track
30.	Fiddler's Dream 01:35	buy track
31.	Over the Waves 02:33	buy track
32.	Old Indiana 01:37	buy track
33.	Hooker's Hornpipe 01:14	buy track
34.	Liberty 01:44	buy track
35.	Carrollton County Breakdown 01:19	buy track
36.	Lamplighter's Hornpipe 01:11	buy track
37.	Money Musk 01:15	buy track
38.	Waltz 02:00	buy track
39.	Ragtime Annie 01:52	buy track
40.	Johnny Don't Come Home Drunk 01:35	buy track
41.	Bitter Creek 01:35	buy track

about

This album consists of live stage recordings from the 1987 National Folk Festival held at Lowell, MA, July 24-26, 1987.

Excerpt from the original festival program

MISSOURI OLD-TIME FIDDLERS: PETE MCMAHAN AND CHARLIE WALDEN

The traditional fiddle music of every place is special; tunes and techniques are passed from one generation to the next through careful Iistening and watching and imitation. Style is shaped by this process as it echoes master players. A master fiddler's stylistic influence may extend in time through several generations and to players who were not yet born when the master was playing.

No schools teach traditional fiddler's skills. Those who would become skilled at this complex art must have discerning ears, an enormous recall for melodies, good finger and hand dexterity, and a yen to practice for a couple of hours every day. But of course the couple of hours is not enough for the beginner; they need to spend full days and full weeks in practice!

Among those places with a very special fiddle sound is the central part of Missouri. Two of the finest traditional fiddlers in a wonderful "Show Me" state style are at this festival.

Born in 1918, Preston "Pete" McMahan grew up in rural Montgomery County where he heard fiddling at dances. He was much influenced by the playing of a local farmer, Clark Atterbury. Atterbury was an excellent dance player, and the steady rhythms needed for dance were learned by Pete at a very young age. Like most other traditional fiddlers, Pete has played at hundreds of dances.

Rural dancing has been declining for the past 30 years, but contests have been increasing in Missouri. These are not the same as the Western contest style events; Missouri fiddlers have their own ideas and rules. Pete was Missouri State Champion in 1980, 1981, 1982 and Missouri State Senior Fiddler in 1985. He has also won various regional and national first places. But what Pete likes best is sitting with two or three other fiddlers, passing fiddles and guitars back and forth until the coffeepot is dry and the wee hours have come.

Charlie Walden's life was changed when he was in his early teens and walked past the grand opening of a service station in Columbia, Missouri. Among the musicians performing for this auspicious occasion was Taylor McBaine, a brilliant player in a central Missouri style. Charlie found out where he lived and went visiting. There was no formal organization of fiddlers in Columbia then, but everyone who played knew everyone else and soon Charlie was a fullfledged member of the firm. Pete McMahan lives nearby too, and Charlie figured out the way to his house.

Now age 30, Charlie is president of the Missouri Old-Time Fiddlers Association, surely the most active and dedicated group of its kind. He is also one of the most respected fiddlers in a state notable among collectors and musicologists for its amazing variety of styles and for the sheer numbers of fine players it has. Missouri Ozarks master fiddler Bob Walsh has said of Walden, "I've never seen anyone pick up a tune as fast as Charlie." Charlie has some of the qualities the older fiddlers admire most, he acquired them in the same process that they did, and he is carrying them to another generation.

credits

released April 3, 2016

Recorded live at the 1987 National Folk Festival at Lowell, MA.
Cover photo by Barry Bergey
Tracks 1-6,13-17, 22-25, 32-36,44 & 45 : Pete McMahan - fiddle & Charlie Walden - guitar. Tracks 18,21,38&39 - Twin fiddle with Pete on 2nd part. All others Charlie Walden - fiddle & Pete McMahan - guitar.

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Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers Association Missouri

The Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers Association works to promote and preserve the traditional fiddle music of Missouri and the surrounding region. Your purchase here supports those activities.

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