Fiddlers' Conventions

A tradition throughout the Backcountry - - and these days, beyond - - the "fiddlers' convention" is a gathering to celebrate traditional folk ("old time") music. Fiddlers' conventions go back at least a century, and probably grew out of smaller community gatherings where music was played.

(To listen to streaming samples of old timey fiddle music, go here for samples from the Galax Old Fiddlers' Convention and here for an excellent long-running jukebox feed from Roots of American Fiddle Music.)

Although the six-string guitar predominates in modern "folk" music, guitars were rare in the early days of the Backcountry and the American frontier.  The instruments used in that day were the fiddle, which had come over with settlers from the British Isles, and the banjo, which came over with slaves from Africa.

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