Howard Wight Marshall, the author of the new book, Fiddler’s Dream: Old-Time, Swing, and Bluegrass Fiddling in Twentieth-Century Missouri, will present on Friday evening, November 10, 2017, beginning at 7:00 p.m. in Room 101 of Duane G. Meyer Library. The program will include a live performance with question and answer, followed by a book signing and refreshments. Marshall will be joined by musicians Gordon McCann, Luke Cormier and Heinrich Leonhard. This presentation is free and open to the public.

In this sequel to his 2013 book on earlier old-time fiddlers in Missouri, Play Me Something Quick and Devilish, Prof. Howard uses oral histories, archival photographs, and transcriptions of selected tunes to trace the evolution of traditional fiddle music in Missouri from the early 1920s through the abrupt changes in American society and traditional music in the 1960s. The book focuses on fiddle music in everyday life at music parties, dances, pie suppers, festivals, contests, and oprys. Local greats, such as Lenny Aleshire, Buster Fellows, and Zed Tennis are among the many Missouri fiddlers covered in this book.