Aaron Albrecht, fiddle

Aaron is an accomplished old-time fiddler from Springfield, Illinois. He began playing the violin when he was five years old and later took up traditional fiddling as a freshman in college in Kirksville, Missouri. From there, Aaron began learning old time fiddling in earnest, participating in the monthly square dance in Hallsville, Missouri, attending the fiddle camp in Bethel, Missouri, and playing in old time fiddle contests and jam sessions across the Midwest region. Aaron has learned from some of the Midwest’s finest fiddlers, including Dr. Howard W. Marshall, John White, Vesta Johnson, Geoff Seitz, and Charlie Walden.

Aaron won first place in both of Illinois’ premier old time fiddling competitions, including the Illinois Old Time Fiddle Championship in 2023 and the Illinois State Fair Old Time Fiddle and Banjo Contest in 2019.  He has also placed in many other fiddle contests throughout the Midwest.

Aaron has taught traditional fiddling at the Folk School of St. Louis and teaches at the Old Time Music and Dance Camp in Mountain View, Arkansas.  He serves as a judge for the Illinois State Fair Old Time Fiddle and Banjo Contest.  He plays old time square dances and presents workshops on the topic of traditional fiddling throughout Illinois and the region.

Aaron is also an avid folklorist. He makes field recordings of the traditional artists he plays with both to advance his own knowledge and to preserve the music and lore for the next generation. Toward this end In 2021 he released his first album of fiddle tunes with his band The Down State Ramblers to much acclaim in the old-time fiddling world.

 

Patt & Possum (Charlie Walden, fiddle, and Patt Plunkett, piano)

Charlie and Patt are active contra and square dance musicians, performing for numerous such event each year. They have played together for over 25 years, and serve as instructors at several music camps, teaching fiddle, piano styles, traditional dance and vocal music.  They co-host “The Big Fiddle Show”, a weekly fiddling and variety program on YouTube. 

They both grew up listening to and playing traditional mid-western fiddle music, and both learned their skills from older musicians who mentored them.

Charlie learned fiddle from masters of Missouri style fiddling, and went on to learn other fiddle dialects including Canadian, bluegrass, and “hot” fiddle styles.  He has won dozens of local and major fiddle championships in Missouri, Illinois, and West Virginia,  and is a master in both Missouri and Illinois traditional arts apprenticeship programs.  In 2020 he was inducted into the North American Fiddlers Hall of Fame. 

Charlie’s desire to preserve traditional Missouri playing styles has led to numerous recording projects and a large collection of field recordings that he has created. His efforts there have been recognized by a Grammy nomination for “best album notes” and listing in the Library of Congress Select List of Folk Recordings. To share this musical heritage with younger players, he organized the Bethel Youth Fiddle Camp in Bethell, MO, and co-directed camp operations and funding for a decade. 

Patt started out playing piano for her grandfather, who was a seasoned Illinois square dance fiddler, then went on to learn Irish style accompaniment. Her piano style projects the high energy necessary for accompanying dance music. She is a professional music educator, trained singer, and accomplished caller, clogger, and step dancer. 

Laura Sleade,fiddle

Laura is an old-time fiddler who particularly enjoys Illinois fiddle tunes. She has played for dances and historic sites. She has attended jams for more than 20 years and the weekly jam in Urbana since its inception 15 years ago. She finds community jams to be wonderful places for playing music with other people. These friendly jams are open to musicians of different ages and abilities, but all are old-time music lovers! Tunes, tempos, energy all vary based on who attends and no two jams are the same! Come hang-out and play some music!

 

Tom Faux, Clawhammer banjo, guitar

Tom is a year-round teacher and programming director at C4A. He has been playing with old time fiddlers since he was in his teens!  Here’s his bio.

 

 

Robin Kearton, fiddle

Robin is a year-round teacher and executive director at C4A. She loves violin/viola/fiddle in just about any style of music!  Here’s her bio.