This post is a contribution from Tim Kruzic, banjo player with Blue Daze. Tim is a long time friend of The Bluegrass Blog who has been involved with IBMA on many levels over the past several years. Serving on various committees and participating in the Leadership Bluegrass program Tim is a valuable asset to the bluegrass industry.

One of my favorite things about IBMA is witnessing some of the unique picking sessions that occur because of the gathering of so many great musicians. At Owensboro or Louisville, it was a bit easier to walk the halls and discover some of this magic. In Nashville, one of the coolest events is the series of concerts sponsored by Fred Carpenter at The Violin Shop. Though the venue is a bit of a ride from the main IBMA event and has a separate admission charge, it is well worth the effort. Fred sponsors shows on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights. The venue only seats about 50 people and features an all acoustic setup. The concerts are recorded on video and subsequently released on DVD. Twenty five percent of the concert admission is put toward a scholarship fund for up and coming fiddle players to attend music camps; the remainder of the admission goes directly to the musicians.

Last night’s concert featured Tim O’Brien with an all star supporting band of Bryan Sutton on guitar, Stuart Duncan on fiddle, and Dennis Crouch on bass. Tim played a ninety minute set that featured some old Hot Rize favorites (Blue Night), more recent material from his solo career (Senor, Drunkard’s Hiccups [Jack Of Diamonds]), current material (Look Down That Lonesome Road, Cornbread Nation), and some great instrumentals featuring the band (Red Apple Rag, Lee Highway Blues). An added treat was twin fiddles by Tim and Stuart on several tunes. (more…)

We also heard last week from Fred Carpenter, who runs The Violin Shop in Nashville. He shared some of his plans for IBMA week later this month, which will include their participation during the Grand Masters Fiddle Contest (9/28-29), and a special concert at the shop that Monday.

The show on September 25 will feature Tim O’Brien and Stuart Duncan, with support from Bryan Sutton and Dennis Crouch. There will be two shows that evening, at 7:00 and 9:00 p.m., with both shows taped for Volume II of their live Violin Shop concerts on DVD.

We posted about the first volume when it was released earlier this summer. That concert DVD features Andy Leftwich, Bruce Molsky, Aubrey Haynie, Jim Van Cleve and Bobby Hicks on fiddles, with contributions from Ronnie Bowman, Ron Stewart, Alan Bibey and several other fine pickers and singers.

Fred says that he really has no set release date for the Duncan/O’Brien concert DVD, but expects it will be in the first half of 2007. Details will surely appear on The Violin Shop site as they are clarified.

Fiddlers, and fans of fiddle music in the Nashville area, have made a point to catch the occasional concerts held at The Violin Shop on Old Hickory Boulevard. The shows are always intimate, performed with no amplification in a 60 seat music room, and dependably spontaneous and improvisational.

A collection of these concert performances have now been assembled on DVD, featuring some of bluegrass music’s finest fiddlers. Andy Leftwich, Jim VanCleve, Aubrey Haynie and Bruce Molsky are showcased on The Violin Shop Concert Series, Vol. 1. Guests and supporting players on the DVD include veteran fiddler Bobby Hicks, as well as Ronnie Bowman, Byron House, Cody Kilby, Wyatt Rice, Charlie Cushman, Alan Bibey, Kent Blanton, Adam Steffey, Clay Jones, Ron Stewart, Jason Moore, and Steve Gulley.

The Violin Shop is run by Fred Carpenter, and is both a favored repair facility for Nashville fiddlers, and their local meeting place as well. Carpenter spent several years as a member of The Tony Rice Unit while also serving a violin building apprenticeship in California. He moved to Nashville in 1987, and opened The Violin Shop while also touring with Emmy Lou Harris. His repair and restoration staff at the shop has grown over the years, and Fred now focuses on buying and selling fine violins. He remains active as a player touring with Kathy Mattea.

Carpenter said that there was never an intention to either record these live shows, or release them on DVD.

“My intention with the concerts was just to build a room where we could have some fun shows. Jeff Wyatt Wilson, a Nashville filmmaker, happened to come to the Violin Shop the day before our first show, looking for 3 seconds of fiddle playing for a documentary he was working on. We got to talking, one thing led to another, and this project just became what it is as the discussions evolved.”

The DVDs can be purchased on The Violin Shop web site.