Charlie Walden began playing fiddle at age 11 when inspired by players in a fiddler’s contest at the Boone County Fair in his native Missouri. With the generous help and encouragement of older master fiddlers he went on to be recognized as one the best Missouri old-time fiddlers of his day. He has won dozens of local fiddle contests as well as major championships in Missouri, Illinois and West Virginia.
Charlie has taught fiddling to dozens of players and has served as an instructor at the Festival of Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, Washington, The Snowshoe Workshops in West Virginia, and the Montana Fiddle Camp. Intent on preserving and passing on the unique Missouri style and repertoire, Charlie organized the Bethel Youth Fiddle Camp in Bethel, Missouri, and directed camp operations and funding for a decade.
Concert and festival appearances include: Missouri State Fair, Illinois State Fair, Smithsonian Festival of Folklife, Masters of the Folk Violin Tour, National Folk Festivals (Lowell, MA, Johnstown, PA, Bangor, ME), Frontier Folklife Festival (St. Louis), University of Chicago Folk Festival, Cuyahoga Valley Folk Festival (Akron, OH), Appalachian String Band Festival (Clifftop, WV), Galax Old-Time Music Festival (Galax, VA), Mother's Day Festival (Gays Mills, WI), Ozark Mountain Festival (Mountain View, AR), Michigan Fiddlers Association North Central Region Fiddlers Convention, Wheatland Music Festival (Remus, MI) and others.
Charlie has recorded numerous fiddlers in Missouri in an attempt to preserve the traditional playing and repertoire of the Show-Me State and is an avid collector of fiddle music. One such recording, "Now That's A Good Tune" (issued by the University of Missouri Extension Division), garnered Charlie a Grammy Nomination for "Best Album Notes" and the overall project on which he is a featured performer was nominated as "Best Folk Recording". In addition, he has written numerous articles on Missouri fiddle and dance traditions and maintains a web site dedicated to Missouri fiddling and his other passion, home-brewing.
While widely recognized as a traditional player, Charlie is also an avid performer of traditional Bluegrass and “Hot” fiddle styles. He also plays guitar, mandolin and tenor guitar.
John Stewart's versatility and sensitivity as a guitarist have gained him a formidable reputation in several genres of music. He began his career in the Midwest working with some of the finest traditional fiddlers, and then toured and recorded on upright bass with swing and bluegrass bands. For some twenty years he played guitar with the legendary Kansas City jazz violinist, Claude "Fiddler" Williams. He has performed on numerous tours for The National Council for the Traditional Arts, including Echoes of the Ozarks, Masters of the Folk Violin and Masters of the steel String Guitar.
As a guitarist Stewart has toured and recorded with Nashville legends Kenny Baker, Josh Graves, Albert Lee and Grammy Award winners Alison Krauss and Jerry Douglas. He has also accompanied blues greats Howard Armstrong and John Cephas, jazz guitarists Tal Farlow and Cal Collins, jazz/country fiddler Vassar Clements and Irish fiddler Kevin Burke. As a bassist, he has recorded with the world-famous Cajun brothers Michael and David Doucet and their band, BeauSoleil.
Recent appearances include Port Townsend Hot Jazz Festival, Lowell Folk Festival, Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, National Public Radio, The San Remo Image Jazz Festival (Italy), The Border Festival (EI Paso), Frontier Folklife Festival (St. Louis) and The Brisbane Biennial International Music Festival (Australia). Tour stops include Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Marseille, Strasbourg and Vancouver, BC.
Stewart is based in Seattle Washington where he performs in a variety of contexts on the seven-string guitar in duets with a variety of players. He has served on the faculty of Puget Sound Guitar Workshop and Ashokan Fiddle and Dance Camp.
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Mr. Walden is a very good old-time fiddler and tune collector who has long been associated with the Missouri Old Time Fiddlers’ Association. Here he is accompanied by guitarist John Stewart in a very nice collection of 31 tunes, well mixed between standards and obscure pieces. It’s strong Missouri style fiddling on tunes like HELL AMONGST THE YEARLINGS, SHANTY TOWN, CLARINET POLKA, SOUTH MISSOURI, FIDDLERS DREAM, INDIANA, PEACH TREE LIMB, LOVE SOMEBODY, WHISTLIN RUFUS, etc.
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