Rosin the Bow with Joe McHugh

Pete Sutherland - Old-time Fiddler and Songwriter

Vermont-born fiddler and songwriter Pete Sutherland has been a mainstay of the old-time music scene for many years. I first met Pete in the early 1980s when we both served on the faculty of the Augusta Heritage Program in Elkins, WV. I later caught up with him at the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, WA, where we sat down for a chat about the instrument and music we love.

Eric Funk - A Musician for All Seasons - Part 2

In this second part of the conversation I had with Eric Funk, he talks about the inspiration and creative process behind his concerto A Violin Alone in which a solo violinist not only plays the part of the violin but uses his instrument to mimic all the other instruments in the orchestra. And there is more philosophy as well concerning the special role music plays in our lives.

Eric Funk - A Musician for All Seasons - Part 1

While attending a wedding in Bozeman, Montana, I had the good fortune to interview Eric Funk, musician, conductor, and celebrated composer. Eric is also a professor of music at Montana State University and hosts an Emmy award-winning music and culture program for Montana Public Television.

David Balakrishnan - Violinist & Composer with Turtle Island Quartet

David Balakrishnan is a gifted violinist and founding member of the Turtle Island String Quartet. He is also a composer who draws upon a variety of musical traditions to create works that are both fresh and enduring. I recorded this interview at his home in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2015.

Aaron Allen - Impact of Violin Making on the Environment

Aaron Allen is a professor of musicology and environmental studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. In this podcast, he looks at the impact instrument making and cultural assumptions about music impact the natural world, the trees, animals, and minerals that make musical instruments possible.

Michael Gray - Jazz Violinist

Michael Gray is a violinist and composer living in the Pacific Northwest who has performed with the gypsy-jazz inspired combo Pearl Django for many years. I interviewed Michael in 2015 at the Wintergrass Music Festival.

Eugene Friesen - Cellist with Paul Winter Consort

Eugene Friesen is a cellist who has performed as a member of the Paul Winter Consort for many years often exploring the musical possibilities of playing inside sacred spaces such as the Grand Canyon and the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine or accompanying animals such as whales and wolves. A four-time Grammy award-winner, he teaches at the Berklee School of Music in Boston where I interviewed him in 2017.

Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy - Canadian Fiddling Family

Husband and wife duo Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy are award-winning Canadian fiddle players. Natalie grew up on Cape Breton Island and Donnell grew up in Ontario. They have seven children and, when not out on tour, they work on their cattle ranch. I interviewed Natalie and Donnell when they came to perform at the Washington Center for the Arts.

Michael Cleveland - Champion Bluegrass Fiddler

Michael Cleveland was born blind but he fell in love with the violin as a young child when he heard a recording of the fiddle tune Orange Blossom Special. “I want to play that,” he told himself and, with the help of his parents and teachers at a school for the blind, that’s exactly what he did, and a whole bunch of other tunes as well. Named fiddler of the year six times in a row by the International Bluegrass Music Association, Michael performs with his group Flamekeeper. I interviewed Michael while attending the Hiawatha Traditional Music Festival in Marquette, Michigan, in 2018. 

National Gallery of Art - Tour of Paintings with Violins

Fine violins and cellos are more than musical instruments; they are also visual works of art. They exist in the visual art world in other ways as well. In 2015, I visited the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, where I was given a tour of the collection by Stephen Ackert, former curator of music, and Bruno Nasta, a jazz violinist who organizes the concert series that takes place each year inside the National Gallery. Stephen and Bruno showed me a number of paintings from antiquity to the 1840s in which a violin-style instrument played a significant part. Join me for this illuminating walk-about in one of our nation’s premier art museums.

To see paintings talked about in the podcast 

https://www.rosinthebow.org/national-gallery.html

Nadine Landry - Bass Player & Vocalist - Foghorn Stringboard

Nadine Landry was born into a musical family in the province of Quebec in Canada. She is a member of the Foghorn Stringband and is married to the band’s fiddler, Stephen “Sammy” Lind. I interviewed Nadine when the band performed at the Oly Old-time Music Festival in Olympia, Washington, in 2015. 

Robert Ray - Violin Bow Maker

The Rosin the Bow project got its start thanks in large part to bow maker and violin dealer and shop owner Robert Ray in Olympia, Washington. Bob’s fascination with the history of the violin and the art of bow making inspired me to go in search of stories about this remarkable family of instruments and the people who love them. 

Zoe Conway - Classical & Traditional Irish Musician

Zoe Conway is a gifted young musician living in Ireland. Steeped in the traditional fiddle music of her native land, she is also an accomplished classical violinist. I interviewed Zoe while attending the Clifden Arts Festival that is held each September in a lovely seaside town in Connemara in the west of Ireland. Zoe’s performance of a composition by Bill Whelan with the national RTE Orchestra is one I shall not soon forget.

Bruno Crosignani & Giuliano Zugliani - Caretakers of the Val di Fiemme - Part 2

This podcast features an interview with Bruno Crosignani, director of the office of the Paneveggio Forest that manages the harvesting of tonewood from the Val di Fiemme high up in the Italian Alps. Bruno explains in detail the process of growing, harvesting, and selecting spruce wood for the making of fine musical instruments. This is followed by a tour of Val di Fiemme led by Giuliano Zugliani, head ranger of the Val di Fiemme.

Piera Ciresa - Val di Fiemme - Part 1

Piera Ciresa is the co-owner of the Ciresa Val di Fiemme, a tonewood company located in the small village of Tesero high up in the Italian Alps. The company provides spruce for violin instruments and piano sound boards that was harvested from the Val di Fiemme, the Valley of the Flame, where the great violin makers of old such as Stradivari, Guarnari, and Amati got their wood. The interview begins in a special park in the town of Cavalese where important political and economic decisions, including the management of the forest, were made by elected representatives of the community going back as far as the Middle Ages. I later toured the factory with Piera and learned about “bearclaw” spruce.

Mick Moloney & Athena Tergis - Traditional Irish Musicians

These are two of most highly regarded traditional Irish musicians performing and teaching today. Mick Moloney was born in Ireland and now lives in the United States. Along with being a singer and player of the 4-string banjo and mandolin, he holds a doctorate in folklore from the University of Pennsylvania and regularly takes groups to Ireland to experience first-hand the music and culture of his native land. 

Born in New York City and then spending her childhood in San Francisco, Athena Tergis was classically trained on the violin but later fell in love with Irish and Scottish fiddle music. A former solo fiddler for the Broadway production of Riverdance, she tours with Mick Moloney and other musicians when not tending to her winery with her husband in the hills of Tuscany, Italy.

Sigrun Seifert & Joseph Grubaugh - Husband & Wife Violin Makers - Part 2

In this part 2 podcast, husband and wife luthiers Joseph Grubaugh and Sigrun Seifert talk about the importance of varnish in the making of violins and cellos. They also discuss the practice of “antiquing” newly-made instruments, how certain famous violins got their names, and how they came to own a set of chairs used in a Grammy-award-winning recording by the Angeles Quartet.

Sigrun Seifert & Joseph Grubaugh - Husband & Wife Violin Makers - Part 1

Joseph Grubaugh and Sigrun Seifert are violin makers living in Petaluma, California. They are also husband and wife and they make almost all of their instruments together. Many gifted musicians play their instruments or have them repair and adjust their instruments. They have also won numerous awards. Is that enough? Well, they also played a central role in recovering a Stradivari violin that went missing decades earlier and was considered stolen.

Alicia Svigals - Klezmer Violinist

Alicia is a violinist, composer, and founding member of the Grammy- winning Klezmatics. She collaborated on musical projects with violinist Itzhak Perlman, the Kronos Quartet, playwrights Tony Kushner and Eve Ensler, the late poet Allen Ginsburg, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, among others. When it comes to the Jewish tradition of Klezmer music, Alicia is the person to talk to. 

 

For more information and to check her calendar visit Alicia's website.

Scott Marckx - Port Townsend Violin Maker

Scott Marckx is a violin maker and old-time fiddler living in Port Townsend, Washington. He is a also a builder of wooden boats and a philosopher. It is always a pleasure to spend time in his company.

 

Jeff Harshbarger - Multi-genre Bassist - Part 2

In part two of this podcast, bassist Jeff Harshbarger talks about his different approaches to using a bow with a bass. He also talks about a remarkable teacher he visits each year in France and the role physical spaces play in how music sounds.

Jeff Harshbarger - Multi-genre Bassist - Part 1

Jeff Harshbarger is a bassist, composer, and band leader living in Lawrence, Kansas. In 2011, he was voted Best Bassist by Pitch Magazine. I first heard Jeff perform as a member of a quartet blending classical Indian violin music with western classical and jazz violin. Jeff brought to our conversation about the bass a deep understanding of not just music, but what it means to be fully human.

Carl Jones - Songwriter and Fellow "Tune Tramp"

I have know very few songwriters whose songs move me as much as those composed by Carl Jones. A multi-instrumentalist as well, and that includes the fiddle, Carl has performed with some of the top folk musicians alive today, including his wife Erynn Marshall and fiddler James Bryan. I know you’ll enjoy his wit and insights into what makes life interesting and worth the effort.

Erynn Marshall - Old-Time "Tune Tramp" Fiddler

Erynn Marshall grew up in British Columbia but her love of traditional fiddle music eventually took her to the mountains of southwestern Virginia where she lives today with her husband Carl Jones, an accomplished musician and songwriter. Along with keeping the fiddle traditional alive by playing the old tunes, she also composes wonderful fiddle tunes. Here she talks about her life as a traveling musician and her love for the violin she owns, even celebrating its birthday each year.

Music for Food - Helping Those In Need Through Classical Music

Inspired by Carol Rodland’s Rochester-based “If Music be the Food…” food drive concerts, violist Kim Kashkashian launched a concert series titled Music for Food in 2010 to help relieve food insecurity in the Greater Boston area. Working with a group of Boston-based musicians and guest artists, Music for Food has created over 500,000 meals through donations made at concerts for nearly 100 hunger-relief organizations. More than 160 international artists have performed at concerts worldwide that were organized by Music for Food. Here Kim Kashkashian and other members of the organization share the reasons they are committed to this worthy project.

Roland Feller - The Making of a Luthier

Roland Feller grew up in Switzerland and attended the violin-making school in Mittenwald, Germany, before coming to the United States to work with Simone Fernando Sacconi in New York. He later opened his own shop in San Francisco where he is a much sought after restorer as well as maker. Here Roland tells of the challenges he endured in those early years of his violin-making education.

Alasdair Fraser - Scottish Fiddler - Part 2

In this part of my conversation with Alasdair Fraser, he tells a remarkable story about how a young girl with a rare and potentially fatal disease was helped by listening to Scottish fiddle music. He also tells the story of how an unscrupulous producer stole his music composition to use in a major Hollywood film.

Alasdair Fraser - Scottish Fiddler - Part 1

In my twenties, I spent a year living in Scotland doing my best to learn the fiddle music of the Highlands. Later I moved to Nevada City, California, where I had the good fortune to meet and become friends with Alasdair, regarded by many as one of the most accomplished Scottish fiddlers living in the world today. In part one of our conversation, Alasdair talks about how the violin helped him overcome a debilitating shyness when he was a child and how later he dedicated his life to bringing back a musical tradition that was often disregarded.

Laurie Lewis - The Maple's Lament

Laurie Lewis is a Grammy award-winning bluegrass fiddler and songwriter. For several years she owned a violin shop in Berkeley, California. Here Laurie tells how she wrote two songs about the violin: The Maple's Lament and The Bear Song. Her interview is followed by a folktale and music from Mongolia about the origins of the Mongolian horse-head fiddle. 

Bruce Harvie - Orcas Island Tonewoods - Part 2

In part two of my conversation with tone wood expert Bruce Harvie, we discuss the selection and use of Pernambuco for making bows and the growing problem of tone wood tree poaching

Bruce Harvie - Orcas Island Tonewoods - Part 1

Bruce Harvie is a tonewood dealer who lives in the San Juan Islands of Puget Sound. Here he shares his passion and vast knowledge of tonewood for violins and other musical instruments.

The Canote Brothers - Old-time Musical Twins

Greg and Jere Canote are identical twins who play old-time fiddle, guitar, and banjo. Renowned for their musical stylings as well as their zany sense of humor and good-natured stage-presence, the Canote Brothers have toured the world sharing their infectious love of music. In this episode they talk about the challenges of being raised by their deaf mother, the creative beginnings of The Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, and the curious nature of playing music with your identical twin.

David Fulton - Stories from the Collection

This is the second part of my interview with violin collector David Fulton. Here David shares an entertaining mix of stories related to some of the most treasured violins and cellos in his collection.

David Fulton - The Making of a Collector

David Fulton is one of the most important violin collectors in the world today. Here David shares his life story and the passion that drove him to seek out and preserve instruments made by such masters as Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu.

Darol Anger - Violinist and Teacher

Few violinists in modern times have made as much of a mark on the music world as Darol Anger. A founding member of the Turtle Island Quartet, he now teaches at the Berklee School of Music in Boston. I caught up with Darol at the Wintergrass Bluegrass Festival in Bellevue, Washington, and here he talks about the physical challenges of playing the violin and some of the exceptional violins he has had the opportunity to tuck up under his chin. 

William Monical - History of the Violin

William Monical is a highly regarded restorer of bowed stringed instruments. He also possesses a wealth of knowledge concerning the evolution of the modern violin. Here he recounts that history with the flair and wit of a gifted storyteller.

Mark O'Connor - Contest Fiddler - Part 2

With three Grammys, seven CMA awards, and numerous national fiddle, guitar, and mandolin champion titles to his name, Mark pays tribute to his mother and her dedication to his musical gifts and his well-being as a person. He also speaks passionately about his method for teaching young people the violin.

 

Mark O'Connor - Contest Fiddler - Part 1

While performing at the Wintergrass Music Festival in Bellevue, Washington, Mark O’Connor takes time to revisit the memories of his childhood growing up in Seattle and those who taught him the language of music, such as the legendary Texas-style fiddler, Benny Thomasson.

Paolo Bodini - Creating a Museum for the Violin

Dr. Paolo Bodini is a physician. politician, and president of the Museo del Violino in Cremona, Italy, a city that is famous for having been the home of master violin makers Andrea Amati, Antonio Stradivari, and Guiseppe Guaneri. We visited Cremona in 2015 and sat down with Paolo to learn what inspired him to lead an effort to create a museum for the violin in Cremona and what we can learn about history, technology, and the love of these remarkable instruments and the people who make them.

Rachel Barton Pine - World Renowned Violinist - Part 2

Ms. Pine begins this part of the interview with the story of an unusual experience she had once while playing a very special violin. She also discusses her desire to bring the work of composers of African heritage into the mainstream of classical music.

Rachel Barton Pine - World Renowned Violinist - Part 1

Internationally acclaimed concert violinist, recording artist, educator, and philanthropist, The New York Times describes Rachel Barton Pine as “Striking and charismatic…she demonstrated a bravura technique and soulful musicianship.” Here she tells the story of her early life and love of the violin.

Rosin the Bow Podcast Sampler

Joe McHugh is a storyteller, fiddler, and award-winning public radio journalist who travels the world exploring the many roles the violin family of instruments play in society today. He has interviewed gifted musicians who play a variety of styles—classical, folk, jazz, and rock—as well as master luthiers, dealers, collectors, tone wood producers, insurance agents, museum curators, rosin makers, string designers—even FBI agents who have helped recover stolen violins. The Rosin the Bow archive of recorded interviews will become a permanent part of the Smithsonian Institution’s collection of violin-related materials.

Episode 01 Rosin the Bow Sampler features a number of shorter segments culled from longer interviews that will be featured in future podcast episodes. So stayed tuned and enjoy this journey through the life and times of a family of remarkable musical instruments and the exceptional people who make sure they continue to bring us moments of joy and enchantment.