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Cloverdale 2008

Sunday morning, January 27, 7:30 A.M. It was raining yet again. The phone rang just as I stepped out of the shower, and I knew it had to be my sister. I was sure she was calling to cancel our planned day-trip up to Cloverdale to attend the old time fiddle contest that’s put on by the Cloverdale Historical Society every January.

I was both right and wrong. Yes, it was my sister, but she was not calling to cancel. She and her husband simply wanted to leave a little earlier and stop for breakfast in Piedmont. Sounded great to me; I love blueberry-oatmeal pancakes.

Breakfast aside, I’m glad we didn’t let the weather stop us from driving to Cloverdale. Although we missed the first day of the contest, which was held on Saturday this year and featured the seniors, twin fiddlers, and youth, we still had a fantastic time on Sunday.

If you’ve never been there, the Cloverdale Fiddle Festival is a well organized family-oriented event that features great on-stage fiddling, indoor and outdoor jamming, and various concession stands that offer food, handcrafts, musical instruments, and more. The festival is held at the Citrus Fairgrounds on the edge of the town and costs $10 for adults to get in ($12 on Saturday). You get your hand stamped when you enter, and you can come and go as you please throughout the day (in case you want to quickly duck into town during one of the stage breaks). Most people stay, however, and just grab a bite to eat at one of the concessions.

One of my favorite parts of any fiddle contest is listening to the youngsters play. Dang. Most of those kids are a long sight better than I am. I always find myself wavering between feeling inspired and wanting to pick up my fiddle and feeling helpless and wanting to throw it down. Either way, I’m always in awe of the talent the kids have and the way they can innocently stand up in front of everyone and play. Unfortunately for us this year, the youth fiddling took place on Saturday, and since we could only go up for Sunday, we missed out. But we did get to hear Darin Smith, Griffin Stoller, and Morgan Cummings play in the youth old-time division on Sunday. Remember those names; you’ll hear a lot more from them in the next few years. Totally awesome.

My favorite thing on Sunday was not the formal fiddling in the adult and waltz divisions that took place on stage throughout the day, although that was wonderful. It was one of the jams that spontaneously formed back in the concession area. The jam started out with Kenny Blacklock, a longtime member and ex-Baysrings editor of District 9, and Jim French, the premier Texas-style guitar accompanist who hails from Weaverville. Jim sets the standard for all other Texas-style accompanists in Northern California, and anyone who has ever gone to any of these fiddle contests will recognize his name. Anyway, Kenny and Jim played a rousing version of Dusty Miller, and they were soon joined by Art Kees, also of District 9, and several other excellent fiddlers and accompanists. Together they all played tunes like Billy In the Lowground and other standards that I keep saying I’ll learn someday. Within ten minutes the group had quite a crowd gathered about them, but by then it was time for me to duck back into the main hall again. I managed to snap a few pictures, but only a couple of them came out well enough to send in for this newsletter.

I should mention here that Art Kee took first place in the seniors division this year. Kenny Blacklock took second in the waltz division and third in the adult old-time division. Other district 9 members also did well: Katy Bridges took third in the adult progressive division, and she and Kenny took second in the twin fiddling division on Saturday. Charley Oveland, former state champion, took third in the seniors. Although Tom Clausen didn’t make the cut, he gets my vote for best-dressed, and moreover, he also wins the coveted “more-courageous-than-me award” for just getting up there on stage and giving it his best shot. Tom was accompanied quite proficiently by John Durbin, who is also no stranger to the Castro Valley jam.

Congratulations to all of these folks from District 9 and also to the Cloverdale Historical Society for another successful year. I heartily recommend this event to everyone for next year. Mark your calendars now for January, 2009.


by Dave Dalton