It’s no wonder that fiddles are so often compared to women. Fiddles are feminine. French horns, kettledrums? They’re masculine. I’m speaking now from the male point of view, the only POV I’m familiar with. Fiddles are definitely of the feminine gender. Just look at their shapes. There are the obvious curves, the long neck, like […]

Think middle school auditoriums, parking lots full of campers, cowboy hats, long standing rivalries, a smattering of liquor, kid fiddlers too young to be that good, doting parents, and gaudy trophies. That in a nutshell describes the ambience of the fiddle contest. Gaudy trophies rest, tantalizing, atop the stage left piano. Plastic and pearloid, they’re