Country Music Blog: Natalie McMaster

Dierks Bentley, John Rich and Gretchen Wilson remember the Station nightclub fire, which occurred five years ago, with an acoustic concert in Rhode Island.

Did you bite into something crunchy at Country Radio Seminar? The health scores for the Nashville Convention Center might explain why the lights were so dim.

Speaking of country radio, is your favorite station among the off-camera nominations for the Academy of Country Music Awards?

Sam Bush, Natalie McMaster and Chris Thile will be playing RockyGrass this summer in Telluride, Colo., and the single-day lineups have been announced.

This rock star produced Loretta Lynn's Grammy-winning album and lives in Nashville. Now, Jack White is rush-releasing a CD by his new band, The Raconteurs.

Here at Johnny D’s in Boston, I’m watching the very talented and very gorgeous fiddler Carrie Rodriguez finish her sound-check. The Greencards and Carrie are playing a show together tonight and it’s a thrill to play with her as she steps out from the shadow of her great work with Chip Taylor. It wasn’t too long ago that the idea of a female fiddler leading her own show was a novel idea and hard for some in the industry to accept. The world of country music has had its fair share of male fiddler role models. Where would be without Bob Wills, Roy Acuff or Charlie Daniels? I was going to mention Western swing legend Spade Cooley but that little misdemeanor of killing his wife rules him out of the ‘role model’ title. Where are the female fiddlers in the history books? I can’t think of too many.

These days things are different – female fiddlers of all different styles are making a name for themselves. Natalie MacMaster is a wild, wild fiddler who merged Cape Breton fiddling with bluegrass in the excellent record, Blueprint. Elana James from Austin was a leading force in the Hot Club of Cowtown and now leads her own fiery Western swing trio. April Verch records for Rounder and can be seen at festivals around the country dancing and playing her heart out.

When did this all change? I’m going to stick my neck out here and point to the emergence of Alison Krauss as a major force in bluegrass AND country music in the early 90s. Alison would appear onstage or on TV and amaze people with her vocals and then effortlessly hold her own as a fiddler with any bluegrass musician. If you don’t own a copy of her I’ve Got That Old Feeling album, your life is sadly incomplete. It will knock your socks off!

Hopefully soon we won’t have to talk in terms of male or female fiddlers, thanks to all those who have broken the mold. The fiddle world is uniting and gaining strength. Guitar pickers beware, we are about to rule the musical world!