Bruce C. Molsky (born 1955, New York City) is an American fiddler, banjo player, guitarist, and singer. He primarily performs old-time music of the Appalachian region. [1]
As a young man, Molsky first became interested in blues music, but eventually became absorbed in old-time music while studying engineering at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, beginning in 1972. His playing was influenced by the fiddling of Tommy Jarrell, whom Molsky visited in North Carolina in 1976. He recorded with Bob Carlin in 1990.
Molsky has released several records on Compass Records, Rounder Records and Tree Frog Music under his own name. Besides his solo recordings, he has also played in Fiddlers 4, with Darol Anger, Michael Doucet (violins) and Rushad Eggleston (cello). Since 2002, he has been a founding member of Andy Irvine & Dónal Lunny's Mozaik.
In 2008, Molsky collaborated with Norwegian hardingfele player and composer Annbjørg Lien on her album Waltz With Me [2] and accompanied her in subsequent concerts. He also appeared as a guest artist on Andy Statman's 2011 double-CD, Old Brooklyn (Shefa Records). [3] He played banjo, fiddle, guitar and sang on Anonymous 4’s album 1865: Songs of Hope and Home from the American Civil War, released in 2015. [4] Molsky was a guest on Mark Knopfler's 2015 album Tracker , playing banjo, fiddle and guitar. [5]
Molsky is currently[ when? ] a member of the faculty at the Berklee College of Music, American Roots Music Program, in Boston. [6]
Molsky and his wife Audrey reside in Beacon, New York. He enjoys baking and began a Facebook group during the pandemic called "Fiddle and Dough." [7] Molsky has collected fountain pens for many years.
A Hardanger fiddle is a traditional stringed instrument considered to be the national instrument of Norway. In modern designs, this type of fiddle is very similar to the violin, though with eight or nine strings and thinner wood. The F-holes of the Hardanger fiddle are distinctive, oftentimes with a more “sunken” appearance, and generally straighter edges. Four of the strings are strung and played like a violin, while the rest, named understrings or sympathetic strings, resonate under the influence of the other four. These extra strings are tuned and secured with extra pegs at the top of the scroll, effectively doubling the length of a Hardingfele scroll when compared to a violin. The sympathetic strings, once fastened to their pegs, are funneled through a “hollow” constructed fingerboard, which is built differently than a violin’s, being slightly higher and thicker to allow for these extra strings. The resonant strings lay on the center of the special bridge, attached to extra hooks on the tailpiece. Carved out within the center of the bridge is a smaller secondary “bridge”, or opening, designed specifically for these resonant strings to pass through. This is where the resonance is picked up and reverberated; as notes are played, the vibrations are sent through the bridge, where the sympathetics echo those notes.
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, clogging, and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering on a combination of fiddle and plucked string instruments, most often the banjo, guitar, and mandolin. The genre is considered a precursor to modern country music.
Darol Anger is an American violinist and founding member of The David Grisman Quintet.
Annbjørg Lien is a Norwegian musician, playing the hardingfele, violin, and nyckelharpa.
Martin Hayes is an Irish fiddler from County Clare. He is a member of the Irish-American supergroup The Gloaming.
Matt Glaser is an American jazz and bluegrass violinist. He served as the chair of the string department at the Berklee College of Music for more than twenty-five years. He is now the founder and artistic director of Berklee's American Roots Music Program.
Andy Statman is a noted American klezmer clarinetist and bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist.
Catriona Macdonald is a musician and teacher from Shetland and is considered to be one of the world's leading traditional fiddle players.
Rafe Stefanini is an old-time banjo player, fiddler, guitarist, singer, teacher, violin maker, and restorer.
Ambrose Gaines "Uncle Am" Stuart (1853–1926) was an American Old-time fiddle player. After winning various fiddle contests across the Southern Appalachian region in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Stuart made several recordings in June 1924 that would later prove influential in the development of early Country music.
String Sisters are a folk supergroup made up of six of the world's leading female fiddlers.
Old time fiddle is a genre of American folk music. "Old time fiddle tunes" derived from European folk dance tunes such as Jig, Reel, Breakdown, Schottische, Waltz, Two Step and Polka. The fiddle may be accompanied by banjo or other instruments but are nevertheless called "fiddle tunes". The genre traces from the colonization of North America by immigrants from England, France, Germany, Ireland, and Scotland. It is separate and distinct from traditions which it has influenced or which may in part have evolved from it, such as bluegrass, country blues, variants of western swing and country rock.
Baba Yaga is a studio album by Annbjørg Lien.
Waltz With Me is a live album by Annbjørg Lien.
Abocurragh is an album by Andy Irvine recorded in Dublin, Norway, Australia, Hungary and Brittany between February 2009 and April 2010. It was produced by Dónal Lunny who also plays on all the tracks, except the last one.
The Widening Gyre is the twelfth studio album by Irish folk music group Altan and their eleventh studio album of original material, released in February 2015 on the Compass Records label. It was released to critical acclaim.
Live from the Powerhouse is an album rehearsed in six days, starting on 1 March 2002 in the seaside town of Rye, Victoria in Australia, by multicultural group Mozaik featuring Andy Irvine, Dónal Lunny, Bruce Molsky, Nikola Parov and Rens van der Zalm.
Changing Trains is the first studio album recorded by Mozaik in Budapest during November 2005, and for which they had rehearsed new material a few months earlier, in January and April.
Andy Irvine & Dónal Lunny's Mozaik [a.k.a.Mozaik] is a multicultural folk band consisting of Andy Irvine, Dónal Lunny, Bruce Molsky, Nikola Parov and Rens van der Zalm. Created in 2002, the band have toured Australia, Europe, USA and Japan, and recorded four albums.
Andy Irvine/70th Birthday Concert at Vicar St 2012 is a live recording of a pair of concerts held at Dublin's Vicar Street venue, on 16 and 17 June 2012, to celebrate Andy Irvine's 70th birthday.
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