Crossing Bows for the Championship: A History of Fiddling in America

300 North Beaty Street,Athens AL 35611

02 September, 2021

Description

"Crossing Bows for the Championship: A History of Fiddling in America & Limestone County, Alabama," an Athens Forever Series Lunch & Learn Please join us for this Athens Forever Series Bicentennial Lunch & Learn, featuring the very talented Joyce Cauthen. Cauthen, a scholar of traditional music in Alabama, will speak on a subject with a rich history in Limestone County. Starting with the introduction of the violin to the American colonies in the early 1600s, she will tell how fiddle styles were influenced by the country of origin of those who played that instrument, calling attention to fiddlers of African ancestry in the development of a southern style of fiddling. A huge influx of settlers to Alabama in the early 1800s brought large numbers of fiddlers into the state, and a good many found their way into Limestone County which over the years became Ground Zero for fiddler’s conventions. Because the Athens Forever Lunch and Learn series is highlighting the achievements of women this year, Cauthen will also talk about women fiddlers who participated in local fiddlers’ conventions and excelled in a form of music historically dominated by men. Fiddler Jim Cauthen, Joyce's husband, will join her to musically illustrate this talk, which is made possible with funding from the Alabama Humanities Alliance, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. About Joyce Cauthen: Joyce Cauthen is the author of With Fiddle and Well-Rosined Bow: The History of Old-Time Fiddling in Alabama, published in 1989 by the University of Alabama Press and producer of the CD, “Possum Up a Gum Stump: Home, Field and Commercial Recordings of Alabama Fiddlers.” For a decade she served as Executive Director of the Alabama Folklife Association, producing CDs and books on Primitive Baptist hymn singing, Sacred Harp singing, children’s folksongs, Alabama quilts, programs on the State’s foodways, and more. Her husband, Jim Cauthen, plays fiddle, and she plays guitar and banjo. The tunes they learned from older fiddlers across the state in the 1980s are a large part of their repertoire. --- Tickets are free, but space is limited! RSVP by Friday, August 27. Questions? Please reach out to [email protected].