PORT TOWNSEND — Now in its 36th year, the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes has developed its own history and traditions.
“We have a great faculty this year, but the festival is all about relationships,” said Suzy Thompson, Centrum’s artistic director for Fiddle Tunes.
“Everything is passed through the generations,” she said.
“Joel Savoy is one of this year’s instructors, but he remembers being here as a baby.”
Savoy, the son of Cajun legends Ann and Marc Savoy, is an instructor at this year’s event, which operates on two levels.
It is a place for fiddlers of all skills and backgrounds to learn the instrument as part of a weeklong seminar and a chance for the public to hear some authentic Americana music.
And — like Heraclitus’ saying about never stepping into the same river twice — this particular combination of experts and novices will never happen again.
Each Fiddle Tunes differs from the last, with a conscious effort to vary the instructors and offerings each year, Centrum Executive Director John MacElwee said.
Eight of the instructors are older than 90, and one of them, Elmer Rich, took his first airplane ride to get from West Virginia to Port Townsend.
“The older musicians take us back to another time and other traditions. When they are gone, the traditions are gone.”
“You get a real slice of history,” MacElwee said.
“It’s the American diaspora of music.
“People come from all over the country to experience music that was made many years ago.”
All of the classes are carefully scheduled, but Fiddle Tunes’ main attraction is its loose atmosphere where two fiddlers may meet on a porch and play a spontaneous tune.
“You can learn a lot in these classes, but you might learn more from some of the jam sessions,” said Byron Berline, a world-famous fiddler who is a faculty member.
“No matter how good you are, you can learn something from anybody if you pay attention.”
Berline has a storied history, playing sessions with performers as diverse as Bill Monroe, Bob Dylan and Tammy Wynette.
Outside of the bluegrass world, Berline is best-known for playing on “Country Honk,” The Rolling Stones’ countrified reworking of “Honky Tonk Women” from the group’s 1969 album “Let it Bleed.”
Berline said he was introduced to The Rolling Stones by Gram Parsons, who was pressuring the band to record more country-flavored tunes.
“I get this call at midnight from Keith Richards and their tour manager, Phil Kaufman, and it wasn’t very clear,” Berline said.
“They flew me out to LA the next day and sat me in a studio and played the recorded track for me to overdub my solo, but they didn’t seem to like it, so they put me outside on the street.
“I recorded the solo outside, which is why you can hear the horn at the beginning of the song.”
One of Berline’s fond memories was recording with Bill Monroe, which was done “seated in a semicircle like in the old days.”
His missed opportunities include recording with Dolly Parton, whom he calls “one of the best all-around writers and a natural singer.”
Parton is still recording, but there’s one opportunity that won’t present itself again.
“In July of 1977, I was talking to James Burton, who played guitar in Elvis Presley’s band, and asked him if Elvis would ever want to do any more country sessions,” Berline said.
“He said they’d been talking about that, and maybe he could get me in to play, but Elvis died a month later.”
Berline has spent the week teaching and playing impromptu sessions, including a rendition of “Country Honk” with Louisiana fiddler Aaron Gunn.
“This is the same kind of music everywhere,” Berline said.
“I’ve been overseas and played bluegrass for hours with people who didn’t know a word of English.”
Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
