Fiddle

Becky Buller: From Minnesota to Tennessee

Richard Gordon

Logo from Becky Buller's websiteBecky Buller kicks off the 2014-2015 season of The Music Room. She is a delightful person to spend some time with and an exceptional fiddler, vocalist, and song-writer, too. She was appointed to the board of the International Bluegrass Music Association in January 2014.

Here’s an adaptation of a brief bio found at her website:

Becky Buller is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and producer from St. James, Minn., who has traipsed the world over performing bluegrass/Americana/roots music to fund her insatiable habit of songwriting. Her compositions can be heard on records by the likes of Ricky Skaggs, Rhonda Vincent, and Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. In addition, she wrote the title cut of Special Consensus’ album Scratch Gravel Road, a 2013 Bluegrass Album Of The Year Grammy nominee.

Becky was featured on the Spring 2012 cover of Fiddler magazine, is winner of the 2006 IBMA Album of the Year award for her work with the Daughters of Bluegrass, and was the 2001 winner of MerleFest’s Chris Austin Songwriting contest. After graduating from East Tennessee State University in 2001, Becky spent ten years on the road with Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike and two years with Darin & Brooke Aldridge. She performs with the Daughters of Bluegrass when scheduling allows.

She has just released her third solo album, ‘Tween Earth And Sky. Her other solo albums are Little Bird (Bell Buckle Records, 2004) and Rest My Weary Feet (SRS 2000). Becky can also be heard on Pickin’ Like A Girl (Blue Circle, 2013), the latest album by the Daughters of Bluegrass as well as Flying (Organic, 2013) from Darin & Brooke Aldridge. In her spare time, Becky co-hosts Thunder Radio’s Bluegrass Crossroads Show on WMSR in Manchester, Tenn., and teaches instrumental music.

In this interview, Becky talked with us about her background, her song-writing, her new album, her collaboration with Valerie Smith, and lots of other topics!

The Interview

Becky Buller (Recorded 6/23/14; original broadcast date: 10/07/14; host: Mandorichard). 22:16, 21.4 MB. Due to copyright restrictions, the podcast version contains only excerpts of the music heard in the radio broadcast.

The Music

The following music is heard in this episode of The Music Room:

  • Artist / Song / Album (or note) / Label (or source) / Date / Notes
  • Valerie Smith and Becky Buller / Four Wet Pigs, The Ham Chorus / Here’s a Little Song / Bell Buckle / 2008 / EXCERPT IN PODCAST
  • Becky Buller / Nothin’ to You / ‘Tween Earth and Sky / Dark Shadow / 2014 / EXCERPT IN PODCAST
  • Special Consensus / Scratch Gravel Road / Scratch Gravel Road / Alliance / 2012 / EXCERPT IN PODCAST
  • Becky Buller / Southern Flavor / ‘Tween Earth and Sky / Dark Shadow / 2014 / EXCERPT IN PODCAST

“Ask Walt and Clare. They’ll know that tune!”

Richard Gordon

Walt Koken and Clare Milliner

Walt Koken and Clare Milliner have been playing music together for a long time, and both have a ton of tunes stored away in their memory, Clare’s collection of notebooks, and in a variety of recorded media. Both are accomplished fiddlers, Walt’s a great banjo player, and they have even been known to break out in song every now and then.

It was a great day for traditional fiddlers and those interested in American folk music when Clare and Walt decided to transcribe and edit their notes into The Milliner-Koken Collection of American Fiddle Tunes. The book contains transcriptions of over 1400 fiddle tunes, including written notation for “how that particular fiddler played that tune on that particular day,” sources, alternate versions, and lots more great information.

During our interview, Clare tells some great stories about the tunes you’ll hear her and Walt play. And don’t miss Walt talking about what got him started with this kind of music when he played in bands such as The Highwoods String Band and The Fat City String Band.
The Milliner-Koken Collection of American Fiddle Tunes

They also talked about Larry Warren’s Slippery Hill website (slippery-hill.com), where Larry has researched and posted source recordings for the Milliner-Koken collection and for many of the other important collections of American old-time fiddling.

Currently, Walt and Clare play in The Orpheus Supertones with Pete Peterson, Kellie Allen, and Hilary Dirlam. All the Supertones share their music graciously and willingly and host some of the best music sessions in the Delaware Valley. In addition, Walt, Clare, Pete, and Kellie appeared last year on WVUD for a July 4 jam during the Roots program. All the Supertones are official Good Guys ™–promoting traditional music wherever they go!

For more information about Walt and Clare’s music and to order some of their recordings or the Collection of American Fiddle Tunes, visit Mudthumper Music.

The Interview

Milliner-Koken Collection Interview (illustrated with three fiddle tunes!) (Recorded 11/03/13; original broadcast date: 01/21/14; host: Mandorichard). 29:59, 28.8 MB.

The Music

The following music appeared on this episode of The Music Room:

  • Artist / Song / Album (or note) / Label (or source) / Date / Notes
  • Clare Milliner and Walt Koken / The Hog Went Through the Fence Yoke and All / The Music Room / WVUD / 2013 / Source: Luther Strong
  • Clare Milliner and Walt Koken / Falls of Richmond / The Music Room / WVUD / 2013 / Source: Edden Hammons
  • Clare Milliner and Walt Koken / Hogs and Sheep Going to the Pasture / Just Tunes / Mudthumper Music / 2003 / Source: Burl Hammons

April Verch: Fiddler, hoofer, trouper

Richard Gordon

AprilVerch-BrightLikeGoldApril Verch has been dancing since she was 3, fiddling since she was 6, and releasing recordings since she was a teenager. She has had an amazing career as a performer and recording artist, playing a variety of fiddle styles including different Canadian and American “traditional” styles along with some traditional country music, swing, jazz, and original music.

April and her band always put on a very engaging and entertaining show providing a mixture of inspired music, song and dance. She’s toured Australia, Asia, Europe, and North America, showcasing some of the best traditional North American music while also showing how much fun it is to use that music as the point of departure for innovative new music.

Her concerts are huge fun, her CDs are great, and there are a lot of very good videos of her music and dancing on YouTube. If you get a chance, see her in concert. She plays with verve and style, and her gracious personality shines through when she’s on stage.

As you’ll hear, she and I had a lot of fun chatting about her music, her dad, some of her upcoming projects–but most of all, you’ll get to hear some great fiddling, dancing, and singing.

The Interview

Interview with April Verch (Recorded 11/20/13; original broadcast date: 12/3/13; host: Mandorichard). 29:18, 28.1 MB.

The Music

The following music appeared on this episode of The Music Room:

  • Artist / Song / Album (or note) / Label (or source) / Date / Notes
  • April Verch / Still Trying / That’s How We Run / Slab Town / 2011 / Bobby Hicks, Fiddle
  • April Verch / Five Miles from Town / That’s How We Run / Slab Town / 2011
  • April Verch / No Other Would Do / Bright Like Gold / Slab Town / 2013
  • April Verch / Sandy River Belle / Bright Like Gold / Slab Town / 2013
  • Strung / A Riverboat’s Gone / Band of Gypsies / Slab Town / 2010 / April Verch, Doug Cox, Tony McManus, Cody Walters