Designated Driver

What drives a fiddler to fiddle? I suppose it's a little different for each of us.

For me, it started with my introduction to contradancing around 1993. The sound of the fiddle, the energy of the dancers, the vibrations & rhythms in the hall... all of these things grabbed me and engaged me from the very start. As I listened for more fiddle music, I became even more drawn to the instrument. My interest and passion have taken many paths over the years, but it's always the fiddle I come back to.

I found this quote on the Childsplay web site... Edgar Lee Masters, in Spoon River Anthology, wrote of the Fiddler Jones:

"The earth keeps some vibration going there in your heart, and that is you. And if the people find you can fiddle, why, fiddle you must, for all your life."

This really speaks to me personally... if fiddle I must, then I must do it for all of my life. It seems lately that all things lead to fiddling, in some way or another... the acquisition of the sound system, the Tuesday jam session, the conversations we have with people, learning to call dances, and being contacted to put on dances... it all starts with, and involves, fiddling.

A very special person, years ago, told me that if I'm having fun, I must be doing things right. I make choices in my life (for the most part) and those choices are leading me to play more music and try more peripheral activities associated with fiddling (learning about the sound system, organizing dance programs, drawing up flyers, even maintaining this blog & the web site). And I'm having a blast! I feel like the designated driver... making sound choices, investing my energies & focus, and knowing that I am traveling on a chosen path in life.

Designated Driver comes from the Lighthouse Collection.