Local fiddler’s influence lives on

Posted on by Kent Priestley

The life and music of fiddler Marcus Martin will be toasted on Tuesday night, July 24, at Warren Wilson College.

Born in 1881 in Macon County, North Carolina, Martin lived in Swannanoa for much of his life. He played the fiddle with rare finesse, and his unique phrasing and ornamentation—and repertoire—have influenced any number of old-time musicians since, including the acclaimed fiddler Rayna Gellert of Asheville, most recently of the band Uncle Earl.

Gellert and several other old-time musicians, including Bruce Greene and Don Pedi, will perform tunes and songs associated with Martin and discuss his lasting influence on the genre during the concert, planned to begin at 7:30 p.m. in room 20 of WWC’s Kittredge Building at the Swannanoa campus. The event is part of the school’s annual Swannanoa Gathering. 

The performance will also anticipate the release of When I Get My New House Done a new compilation of field recordings made of Martin and issued by the Chapel Hill-based Southern Folklife Collection.

To learn more about Martin, click here. To hear a snippet of his fiddling, try this.

—Kent Priestley, staff reporter

 

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One thought on “Local fiddler’s influence lives on”

  1. Don Talley

    Great article….

    I’m glad to see Mountain Xpress continuing to do a great job of covering the tradtional music heritage of Western NC.

    Our local music scene is amazingly diverse for a city our size, but it’s also great to remember of musical roots and the acknowledge the music that has been played here for over 2 centuries…

    Keep up the great work !!!

    Don Talley
    The Asheville Music Scene

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