Fiddle music runs on names. Contest results, band rosters, hall of fame lists, and jam session stories all trace back to players. This page collects the notable ones in one place: the champions competing today, the bluegrass fiddlers filling records and stages, the Canadian masters, the judges, and the departed legends whose tunes we still play.
The list draws on the champion rolls of the National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest, the Grand Master Fiddler Championship, the Canadian Grand Masters, the IBMA awards, the National Fiddler Hall of Fame, and the Texas Fiddlers Hall of Fame. For how these contests work, see our guide to fiddle contests. For the style itself, start with bluegrass fiddle.
Contest champions competing today
These players define the modern American contest circuit. Most have won at Weiser, Nashville, or both.
Katrina Nicolayeff
The dominant Weiser fiddler of the 2010s and beyond. The Idaho fiddler has won the Grand National Championship six times (2011, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2021) plus four Grand Master Fiddler Championships.
Luke Price
Five-time Grand National Champion from Oregon (2014, 2015, 2017, 2022, and 2023). With Nicolayeff, he owns the modern Weiser era.
Ridge Roberts
The 2024 Grand National Champion from Granbury, Texas, and a two-time Grand Master Fiddler champion (2019 and 2024). A young standard-bearer for Texas style.
Mia Orosco
Texas fiddler. Grand National Champion in 2012 and Grand Master Fiddler champion in 2017.
Tristan Clarridge
Five-time Grand National Champion and three-time Grand Master champion who then carried contest chops into progressive string band music with Crooked Still. Also a cellist.
Tashina Clarridge
Grand National Champion in 2005. Tristan’s sister, and half of one of the strongest contest families on the West Coast.
Alex Hargreaves
Grand National Champion in 2007 and Grand Master champion in 2009. Now one of the most admired improvising fiddlers alive, holding the fiddle chair in Billy Strings’s band.
Kimber Ludiker
Two-time Grand National Champion (2009 and 2010) and founding fiddler of the bluegrass band Della Mae.
Tony Ludiker
Five-time Grand National Champion from Spokane and patriarch of the Ludiker contest family. A fixture on judging panels.
Dennis Ludiker
Multi-title contest fiddler of the same family, now an Austin mainstay with Asleep at the Wheel session and touring credits.
Luke Bulla
Won the Grand National Championship in 1996 as a teenager. Later toured with Lyle Lovett’s Large Band.
Danita Rast Hartz
Three-time Grand National Champion and three-time Grand Master champion from the Rast fiddling family of Idaho.
Matthew Hartz
Two-time Grand National Champion and three-time Grand Master champion.
Trustin Baker
Missouri fiddler. Grand Master Fiddler champion in 2018 and 2022.
Jesse Maw
North Carolina fiddler and the 2025 Grand Master Fiddler champion.
Maddie Denton
Tennessee fiddler. Grand Master champion in 2016 and the 2025 IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year with East Nash Grass. One of the clearest contest-to-bluegrass success stories of her generation.
Mark O’Connor
The most decorated contest fiddler of the modern era. Four Grand National Championships and three Grand Master titles, the first won at age 13. He left contesting for a Grammy-winning composing and performing career, and his shadow still hangs over every contest stage.
Bluegrass fiddlers playing today
The players you hear on today’s bluegrass records and festival stages.
Michael Cleveland
The most awarded fiddler in IBMA history, with 12 Fiddle Player of the Year titles. Blind since infancy, he leads his band Flamekeeper with a fierce, driving style rooted in Kenny Baker and Benny Martin. National Fiddler Hall of Fame inductee.
Stuart Duncan
The first-call bluegrass session fiddler of the last three decades. Longtime Nashville Bluegrass Band member, eight-time IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year, Goat Rodeo Sessions collaborator with Yo-Yo Ma, and a National Fiddler Hall of Fame inductee.
Jason Carter
Fiddler for the Del McCoury Band since the early 1990s and a multi-time IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year. The keeper of the hard-driving traditional bluegrass fiddle sound.
Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
Two-time IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year (2021 and 2022), known for her work with Molly Tuttle’s Golden Highway and her solo records.
Deanie Richardson
Two-time IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year (2020 and 2024) and the fiddle engine of Sister Sadie.
Becky Buller
Songwriter, bandleader, and the 2016 IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year.
Patrick McAvinue
The 2017 IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year.
Ron Stewart
IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year winner and a rare multi-instrumentalist who has held fiddle and banjo chairs in top bands, including the Seldom Scene.
Aubrey Haynie
A-list Nashville session fiddler whose playing appears on hundreds of bluegrass and country records.
Alison Krauss
The most famous fiddler alive. She won fiddle contests as a kid in Illinois before her voice and her band Union Station made her a 27-time Grammy winner.
Jenee Fleenor
Bluegrass-rooted fiddler who became the first woman named CMA Musician of the Year in 2019.
Laurie Lewis
Veteran West Coast bluegrass bandleader, singer, and fiddler with a contest background.
Tatiana Hargreaves
Acclaimed younger fiddler working the seam between old-time and bluegrass, including duo work with banjoist Allison de Groot. Won the Clifftop fiddle contest in 2009 as a young teenager.
Johnny Warren
Fiddler for the Earls of Leicester and son of Flatt and Scruggs fiddler Paul Warren.
Mike Barnett
Fiddler known for his work with Ricky Skaggs’s Kentucky Thunder.
Shad Cobb
Nashville session and touring fiddler across bluegrass and country.
Christian Sedelmyer
Fiddler with the Jerry Douglas Band and 10 String Symphony.
Blaine Sprouse
Kenny Baker protégé who fiddled for Jim and Jesse and the Osborne Brothers. A living link to the first generations.
Buddy Spicher
Nashville A-team fiddler on thousands of sessions since the 1950s and a National Fiddler Hall of Fame inductee. Born in 1938 and still revered.
Canadian fiddlers
Canada runs its own contest world, crowned by the invitational Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Championship. These are its stars.
Louis Schryer
Four-time Canadian Grand Masters champion, the most titles in the contest’s history.
Pierre Schryer
The first Canadian Grand Masters champion (1990) and a renowned Ontario fiddler from the famous Schryer triplets.
Patti Kusturok
Three-time Canadian Grand Masters champion and the leading voice of Manitoba’s Métis fiddle tradition.
Shane Cook
Three-time Canadian Grand Masters champion from Ontario, and the 1999 Grand National Champion at Weiser. One of the few fiddlers to win the national title in both countries.
April Verch
The 1997 Canadian Grand Masters champion. The Ottawa Valley fiddler and step dancer built an international touring career on her home region’s style.
Scott Woods
Two-time Canadian Grand Masters champion with a record 12 top-three finishes, now a touring show fiddler.
Mark Sullivan
Three-time Canadian Grand Masters champion.
Ethan Harty
Three-time Canadian Grand Masters champion (2019, 2022, and 2024) from Alberta.
Daniel Gervais
Two-time Canadian Grand Masters champion (2011 and 2016).
Aynsley Porchak
The 2017 Canadian Grand Masters champion and 2015 Grand Master Fiddler champion in Nashville, another rare cross-border winner. She has also judged the Grand Master championship.
Calvin Vollrath
Alberta fiddler and composer of more than 600 tunes, honored by the Canadian Grand Masters and chosen to play at the 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremonies.
Natalie MacMaster
Cape Breton’s international star, Order of Canada member, and JUNO winner.
Ashley MacIsaac
Cape Breton fiddler who took the tradition to the pop charts.
Donnell Leahy
Leader of the family band Leahy and one of Ontario’s most electrifying players.
Alex Kusturok
Métis fiddler carrying his mother Patti’s tradition forward.
John Arcand
The Master of the Métis Fiddle, Order of Canada member, and founder of his own long-running fiddle festival in Saskatchewan.
Gordon Stobbe
Nova Scotia fiddle educator and broadcaster honored by the Canadian Grand Masters association.
Daniel Lapp
British Columbia fiddler, teacher, and institution builder honored by the Canadian Grand Masters association.
Erynn Marshall
Canadian-born old-time fiddler who lives in Galax, Virginia. She learned from elder source fiddlers including Melvin Wine, Lester McCumbers, and Art Stamper, and won the Clifftop fiddle contest in 2008, the first woman in 19 years to take it. She won old-time fiddle at Mount Airy in 2019, wrote the book Music in the Air Somewhere on West Virginia’s fiddle and song traditions, coordinates Swannanoa Old-Time Week, and tours with her husband, multi-instrumentalist Carl Jones.
John Showman
Toronto fiddler who won the Clifftop fiddle contest in 2011, the first foreign-born man to take it. He leads the Lonesome Ace Stringband and has anchored the Foggy Hogtown Boys, New Country Rehab, and the Juno-nominated Creaking Tree String Quartet.
Trent Freeman
Vancouver Island fiddler and a founding member of the Fretless, the Juno-winning Canadian quartet of two fiddles, viola, and cello that rebuilt fiddle tunes as string quartet music.
Karrnnel Sawitsky
The most decorated competition fiddler in Saskatchewan’s history, raised touring in the Sawitsky Family Fiddlers. A Fretless member, Juno winner, and composer of more than 300 tunes.
Ben Plotnick
Canadian-born, Nashville-based fiddler with the Fretless and the duo Oliver the Crow. He has recorded on more than 100 albums as a session player, and his fiddle and banjo duo album with Frank Evans earned a Juno nomination.
Patrick M’Gonigle
Victoria-raised, Nashville-based fiddler who founded Boston’s Lonely Heartstring Band and has produced and toured with Bella White. He holds a doctorate in contemporary improvisation from the New England Conservatory.
Other recent Canadian Grand Masters champions include Chuck Joyce, André Brunet, Julie Fitzgerald, Tom Fitzgerald, James Steele, Paul Lemelin, Greg Henry, Jane Cory, Kyle Charron, and Max Francis.
Crossover, old-time, and show fiddlers
Players whose careers touch the contest and bluegrass worlds from other directions.
Sam Bush
Won the Weiser junior division three times as a teenager before founding New Grass Revival and becoming the father of newgrass mandolin.
Sara Watkins
Nickel Creek fiddler who came up through the Southern California bluegrass scene.
Brittany Haas
Old-time rooted fiddler with Crooked Still and Hawktail, now with Punch Brothers.
Gabe Witcher
Founding Punch Brothers fiddler with a California contest-kid background.
Darol Anger
New acoustic music pioneer with the David Grisman Quintet and Turtle Island String Quartet.
Bruce Molsky
The leading old-time fiddler of his generation, carrying Appalachian source repertoire to world stages. Won the Clifftop fiddle contest in 1999.
Amy Alvey
California-raised, classically trained fiddler who found old-time music at Berklee, where she studied with Matt Glaser, Darol Anger, and Bruce Molsky. She won adult old-time fiddle at Mount Airy in 2026, placed second at Clifftop in 2018, and has taken ribbons at Galax. She tours as half of the duo Golden Shoals and hosts the Sunday night old-time jam at Dee’s Country Lounge in Madison, Tennessee. Her practice runs on field recordings and 78s, chasing the spirit of the old styles.
Andrew Small
Multi-instrumentalist from Floyd County, Virginia who won the Clifftop fiddle contest in 2025, the same year his string band the New Floyd County Ramblers took first in the traditional band contest. He holds a master’s in music performance from Yale, apprenticed under National Heritage Award recipient Eddie Bond through the Virginia Folklife Program, and served as the first Artist-in-Residence for the Crooked Road, Virginia’s heritage music trail. He fronts the bluegrass band the Alum Ridge Boys and Ashlee and plays old-time country as a duo with Ashlee Watkins.
Casey Driessen
Chop-style innovator who expanded the fiddle’s rhythmic role.
Jana Jae
Buck Owens’s Buckaroos and Hee Haw fiddler, and a National Fiddler Hall of Fame inductee.
Barbara Lamb
Weiser junior division standout who went on to Asleep at the Wheel and Ranch Romance.
Megan Lynch Chowning
Multi-time contest champion, in-demand judge, and one of the most influential fiddle teachers in the country.
Jay Ungar
Composer of Ashokan Farewell and a National Fiddler Hall of Fame inductee.
Woody Paul
King of the Cowboy Fiddlers with Riders in the Sky.
Doug Kershaw
The Ragin’ Cajun of Louisiana Man fame.
Kenny Sears and Joe Spivey
Fiddle section of Nashville’s Time Jumpers and Grand Ole Opry staff band veterans.
Violet Hensley
The Whittling Fiddler of the Arkansas Ozarks, still fiddling and making fiddles past her 109th birthday.
The judges
Contest judging panels are made of champions. At Weiser, any fiddler who wins the Grand Championship three years running must judge the next year or sit out, so the judges’ room fills with names from the champions list: Tony Ludiker, Katrina Nicolayeff, Luke Price, and their peers across the decades. The same pattern holds at the Grand Master Fiddler Championship, where recent panels have included past champions Justin Branum and Aynsley Porchak alongside West Virginia fiddle patriarch Bobby Taylor. In Canada, Grand Masters judges are drawn from respected players across the regional styles. If you want to know who judges fiddle contests, read the champions lists. They are the same people ten years later.
Champions year by year
Weiser Grand National Champions
The National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest has crowned a Grand National Champion since 1953. Repeat winners tell the story of eras: Loyd Wanzer and Herman Johnson each won five titles, Dick Barrett won four, Mark O’Connor won four, and the modern era belongs to Katrina Nicolayeff (six) and Luke Price (five). Other past champions include Byron Berline (1965 and 1970), Benny Thomasson (1974), Tony Ludiker (five titles), Shane Cook (1999), the Clarridge siblings, Alex Hargreaves (2007), Kimber Ludiker (2009 and 2010), Mia Orosco (2012), and Ridge Roberts (2024). The full year-by-year roll lives at the University of Idaho’s National Oldtime Fiddlers’ collection.
Grand Master Fiddler champions
Since 1972, the Grand Master roll includes Vernon Solomon (the first champion), Dick Barrett, Mark O’Connor, Terry Morris, Texas Shorty Chancellor, J’Anna Jacoby, Jimmy Mattingly, Randy Howard, Dale Morris Jr., Matthew Hartz, Danita Rast Hartz, Roberta Rast, Daniel Carwile, Tristan Clarridge, Katrina Nicolayeff, Alex Hargreaves, Justin Branum, Jacie Sites, Laura Waters, Aynsley Porchak, Maddie Denton, Mia Orosco, Trustin Baker, Ridge Roberts, and 2025 champion Jesse Maw. The full list is at grandmasterfiddler.com.
Canadian Grand Masters champions
Since 1990: Pierre Schryer, Louis Schryer (1991 to 1993), Patti Kusturok (1994 to 1996), April Verch, Scott Woods (1998 and 1999), Shane Cook (2000, 2002, and 2003), Mark Sullivan (2001, 2004, and 2005), Chuck Joyce, Louis Schryer again in 2007, André Brunet, Julie Fitzgerald (2009 and 2010), Daniel Gervais (2011 and 2016), Tom Fitzgerald, James Steele, Paul Lemelin (2014 and 2021), Greg Henry, Aynsley Porchak, Jane Cory, Ethan Harty (2019, 2022, and 2024), Kyle Charron, and Max Francis (2025).
Clifftop fiddle contest winners
The fiddle contest at the Appalachian String Band Music Festival (Clifftop) crowns the old-time world’s champion each August. The winners list reads different from the Texas-style rolls above: old-time stalwarts, source-tradition players, and the occasional legend. Bruce Molsky won in 1999. Lester McCumbers, the great West Virginia elder, won in 2004 in his 80s. Tatiana Hargreaves won in 2009 as a young teenager. Jake Krack and Rhys Jones have each won twice. The festival did not run in 2020 or 2021.
| Year | Winner | Home |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Bruce Molsky | Virginia |
| 2000 | Kirk Sutphin | North Carolina |
| 2001 | Mark Campbell | Virginia |
| 2002 | Rhys Jones | Illinois |
| 2003 | Mark Simos | Massachusetts |
| 2004 | Lester McCumbers | West Virginia |
| 2005 | Jimmy Triplett | Iowa |
| 2006 | Jake Krack | West Virginia |
| 2007 | Mike Bryant | Tennessee |
| 2008 | Erynn Marshall | British Columbia |
| 2009 | Tatiana Hargreaves | Oregon |
| 2010 | Joseph Decosimo | North Carolina |
| 2011 | John Showman | Ontario |
| 2012 | Emily Schaad | New York |
| 2013 | Clelia Stefanini | Pennsylvania |
| 2014 | Aaron Olwell | Virginia |
| 2015 | Jake Krack | West Virginia |
| 2016 | Jason Cade | Georgia |
| 2017 | Rhys Jones | Virginia |
| 2018 | Henry Barnes | Ohio |
| 2019 | Nokosee Fields | Oklahoma |
| 2022 | Tessa Dillon | West Virginia |
| 2023 | A.J. Srubas | Minnesota |
| 2024 | Tessa McCoy | West Virginia |
| 2025 | Andrew Small | Virginia |
The full results for every year, including banjo, band, and dance divisions, live on the festival’s contest winners page.
Galax fiddle winners
The Old Fiddlers’ Convention in Galax, Virginia has crowned fiddle champions since 1935. The convention posts winner lists in five-year snapshots before 1990 and for every year after. Galax ran a single fiddle category through 1970, then split into old-time and bluegrass fiddle.
The records hold some treasures. Art Wooten, the first fiddler in Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys, won in 1950. Clark Kessinger won in 1970 during his folk revival comeback. Round Peak legend Benton Flippen won the first two posted old-time titles after the split. Jimmy Edmonds of Galax won awards across a 52-year span, from 1965 to 2017. Jake Krack owns the modern era with nine old-time fiddle titles, and Billy Hurt Jr. has won in both fiddle categories. And in 2019 the old-time title left the continent with Mattias Thedens of Oslo, Norway.
| Year | Old-time fiddle | Bluegrass fiddle |
|---|---|---|
| 1935 | Herbert Higgins (single fiddle category) | |
| 1940 | Clarence Fielder | |
| 1945 | John Rector | |
| 1950 | Art Wooten | |
| 1955 | Charlie Higgins | |
| 1960 | Charlie Higgins | |
| 1965 | Otis Burris | |
| 1970 | Clark Kessinger | |
| 1975 | Benton Flippen | Jimmy Edmonds |
| 1980 | Benton Flippen | Wade Petty |
| 1985 | Geoff Seitz | Chester D. Wilson |
| 1990 | Harold Hausenfluck | Tom Brantley |
| 1991 | Richard Bowman | Jim Vipperman |
| 1992 | Cathy Pleasant | Gretchen Koehler |
| 1993 | Dave Rainwater | Marty Kaufman |
| 1994 | Greg Hooven | Billy Hurt Jr. |
| 1995 | James Burris | Nathan Leath |
| 1996 | Greg Hooven | Ted Lundy |
| 1997 | Richard Bowman | Teddy Lundy |
| 1998 | James Burris | Glen Alexander |
| 1999 | James Burris | Dewey Brown |
| 2000 | Greg Hooven | Hunter Berry |
| 2001 | Eddie Bond | Billy Hawks |
| 2002 | Barbara Kuhns | Glenn Alexander |
| 2003 | Jake Krack | Nathan Leath |
| 2004 | Eddie Bond | Nathan Leath |
| 2005 | Jarred Nutter | Steve Fraleigh |
| 2006 | Jake Krack | Jimmy Edmonds |
| 2007 | Eddie Bond | Aaron Lewis |
| 2008 | Jake Krack | Tim Martin |
| 2009 | Jake Krack | Bryan McDowell |
| 2010 | Nick McMillian | Glen Alexander |
| 2011 | Jake Krack | Samantha Snyder |
| 2012 | Jake Krack | Corrina Logston |
| 2013 | Jake Krack | Stephen Fraleigh |
| 2014 | Eddie Bond | Crystal Shipley |
| 2015 | Jake Krack | Glen Alexander |
| 2016 | Jake Krack | Ivy Phillips |
| 2017 | Jimmy Edmonds | Ivy Phillips |
| 2018 | Aila Wildman | Aaron Lewis |
| 2019 | Mattias Thedens | Marina Pendleton |
| 2021 | Billy Hurt Jr. | Marissa Colter |
| 2022 | Asa Nelson | Cody Bauer |
| 2023 | Billy Hurt Jr. | Marina Hutchins |
| 2024 | Annisa Burnett | Ruth Shumway |
| 2025 | Brian Grim | Hollace Oakes |
Two notes on the table. Galax held two conventions in its first year, and the fall 1935 fiddle winner was Clyde Rayfield. The 2020 convention did not happen, and the 2026 results were not yet posted when this page was updated. Names appear as the convention prints them, including the varied spellings of Glen Alexander.
IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year
The bluegrass industry’s top fiddle award has been dominated by a short list: Michael Cleveland with 12 wins, Stuart Duncan with eight, and Jason Carter with several, joined by Becky Buller (2016), Patrick McAvinue (2017), Deanie Richardson (2020 and 2024), Bronwyn Keith-Hynes (2021 and 2022), and Maddie Denton (2025).
Texas Fiddlers Hall of Fame
The Texas Fiddlers Hall of Fame at the Fiddlers’ Frolics in Hallettsville has honored the giants of Texas fiddling since 1977. The roll reads like a map of Texas fiddling families: five Franklins, four Solomons, three Rileys, three Fryers, and two Junots. Bob Wills joined in 2011.
| Year | Inductees |
|---|---|
| 1977 | Claude Henson |
| 1978 | Sleepy Johnson |
| 1979 | Major Franklin |
| 1980 | Benny Thomasson |
| 1981 | Ervin Solomon |
| 1982 | Red Steely |
| 1983 | Eck Robertson |
| 1984 | Straley Allsup |
| 1985 | A.R. Westmoreland |
| 1986 | Bryant Houston |
| 1987 | Orville Burns |
| 1988 | Texas Shorty, Ed Junot |
| 1989 | Terry Morris, Cliff Fryer |
| 1990 | Louis Franklin, Harvey Norris, Velda Ross Fryer |
| 1991 | E.J. Hopkins |
| 1992 | Norman Solomon, Vernon Solomon |
| 1993 | J.C. Hounshell |
| 1994 | Bill King |
| 1995 | Johnny Gimble |
| 1996 | Forrest H. Craig |
| 1997 | Jimmie Don Bates |
| 1998 | Bill Northcutt |
| 1999 | Omega Burden, Jake Glidewell |
| 2000 | Randy Elmore |
| 2001 | Dale Morris |
| 2002 | Larry Franklin |
| 2003 | Ray Franklin, Royce Franklin |
| 2004 | Dick Barrett, Bill Lyell, Bartow Riley |
| 2005 | Betty Solomon |
| 2011 | Bob Wills |
| 2021 | Stuart Fryer, Brad Riley |
| 2022 | Bobby Christman, P.T. Riley |
| 2023 | Keith Junot |
| 2025 | Joey and Sherry McKenzie |
| 2026 | Bryan Duckworth |
The hall lists no inductees for some years, and the table shows the roll as posted.
The departed legends
The players below built the traditions everyone above inherited. Dates are included where well documented.
The bluegrass first generation
Art Wooten. The first fiddler in Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys, before the classic mid-1940s lineup. He won the Galax fiddle contest in 1950.
Chubby Wise (1915 to 1996). Fiddler on Bill Monroe’s foundational 1940s recordings. As much as anyone, he invented bluegrass fiddle.
Kenny Baker (1926 to 2011). Monroe’s longest-serving fiddler and the most influential bluegrass fiddler of all. Jerusalem Ridge carries his bowing forever.
Vassar Clements (1928 to 2005). The father of hillbilly jazz. Monroe alumnus, Old and In the Way member, and a genre unto himself.
Bobby Hicks (1933 to 2024). Monroe alumnus and 23-year Ricky Skaggs sideman whose double stops defined modern bluegrass harmony fiddle. Ten Grammy awards.
Byron Berline (1944 to 2021). Brought Texas contest fiddling into bluegrass when he joined Monroe in 1967, then became one of the most recorded fiddlers in American music.
Paul Warren (1918 to 1978). The driving fiddler of Flatt and Scruggs’s Foggy Mountain Boys.
Benny Martin (1928 to 2001). Flatt and Scruggs fiddler and inventor of the eight-string fiddle.
Howdy Forrester (1922 to 1987). Big Howdy, Roy Acuff’s longtime fiddler and a Monroe alumnus.
Scotty Stoneman (1932 to 1973). The wild man of bluegrass fiddle, from the Stoneman Family and the Kentucky Colonels. His live recordings still sound dangerous.
Curly Ray Cline (1923 to 1997). The Stanley Brothers’ Clinch Mountain Boys fiddler.
Art Stamper (1933 to 2005). Kentucky fiddler with the Stanley Brothers.
Jim Shumate (1921 to 2013). Fiddler on early Monroe and Flatt and Scruggs recordings who talked Monroe into hiring Earl Scruggs.
Mack Magaha (1929 to 2003). The dancing fiddler for Reno and Smiley and Porter Wagoner.
Tex Logan (1927 to 2015). Bell Labs mathematician by day, bluegrass fiddler forever. Wrote Christmas Time’s A-Comin’.
Randy Howard (1960 to 1999). Grand Master champion and IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year, honored in the year of his death.
Gordon Terry (1931 to 2006). Monroe fiddler turned country star.
Dale Potter (1929 to 1996). Pioneer of Nashville double-stop session fiddling.
The Texas contest legends
Eck Robertson (1887 to 1975). Made the first commercial country record, Sallie Gooden, in 1922. The founding document of Texas contest fiddling.
Benny Thomasson (1909 to 1984). The greatest influence on American contest fiddling. He built the variation-rich Texas style, won everything including Weiser in 1974, and mentored Mark O’Connor.
Major Franklin (1904 to 1987, commonly cited). Patriarch of the Franklin fiddling family and a pillar of the Texas style.
Terry Morris (died 1997, commonly cited). Considered by many Texas fiddlers the most gifted contest player of his generation. Grand Master champion in 1976.
Vernon Solomon. The first Grand Master Fiddler champion, from the Solomon fiddling dynasty.
Norman Solomon. Famed contest rival of Benny Thomasson.
Orville Burns. Texas Fiddlers Hall of Fame member and contest legend.
Louis Franklin. Texas Fiddlers Hall of Fame member of the Franklin family.
Johnny Gimble (1926 to 2015). Texas Playboys swing fiddle giant and multiple CMA Instrumentalist of the Year.
Dick Barrett (1932 to 2022, commonly cited). Four-time Grand National Champion and Grand Master champion who later judged and taught across the circuit.
Herman Johnson (1922 to 2013). Five-time Grand National Champion from Oklahoma, said to have never lost a final round at Weiser.
The old-time pioneers
Fiddlin’ John Carson (1868 to 1949). His 1923 Atlanta session produced country music’s first hit record.
Uncle Jimmy Thompson (1848 to 1931). The first performer ever on the Grand Ole Opry, in 1925, at age 77.
Gid Tanner (1885 to 1960). Leader of the Skillet Lickers.
Clayton McMichen (1900 to 1970). The Skillet Lickers’ virtuoso and a many-time national champion.
Fiddlin’ Arthur Smith (1898 to 1971). The most influential Opry fiddler of the 1930s. His rag-style tunes still fill fiddle contests.
Clark Kessinger (1896 to 1975). West Virginia virtuoso who came back in the 1960s folk revival and won the senior division at Weiser.
Ed Haley (1885 to 1951). Blind West Virginia and Kentucky fiddler whose home recordings became a sacred text for old-time fiddlers.
Tommy Jarrell (1901 to 1985). The Round Peak, North Carolina patriarch who taught a generation of revival fiddlers on his front porch.
Tommy Jackson (1926 to 1979). The defining Nashville session fiddler of the 1950s. His square dance records taught thousands of fiddlers the standards.
Doc Roberts (1897 to 1978). Kentucky recording fiddler of the 78 rpm era.
J.P. Fraley (1923 to 2011). Eastern Kentucky fiddler of Wild Rose of the Mountain fame.
Melvin Wine (1909 to 2003). West Virginia traditional fiddler and NEA National Heritage Fellow.
Tommy Magness (1916 to 1972). Roy Acuff and Bill Monroe fiddler who recorded the source of Cherokee Shuffle.
Fletcher Bright (1931 to 2017). Chattanooga fiddler, teacher, and festival patron.
The Canadian legends
Don Messer (1909 to 1973). The most famous fiddler in Canadian history. His television show made Down-East fiddling the national sound.
Graham Townsend (1942 to 1998). The Ottawa Valley virtuoso who won every major Canadian title and recorded across every Canadian style.
Eleanor Townsend. Championship fiddler, cited as the first woman to win the Canadian Open. Graham’s wife and duet partner.
Ned Landry (1921 to 2018). Three-time North American champion from New Brunswick and Order of Canada member.
Buddy MacMaster (1924 to 2014). The gentleman patriarch of Cape Breton fiddling.
Jean Carignan (1916 to 1988). Québec’s towering traditional virtuoso.
Andy DeJarlis (1914 to 1975). Manitoba Métis fiddler and prolific recording artist of the Red River style.
Al Cherny (1932 to 1989). Canadian Open champion and longtime Tommy Hunter Show fiddler.
Winston “Scotty” Fitzgerald (1914 to 1987). The defining recorded voice of Cape Breton fiddle.
Rufus Guinchard (1899 to 1990) and Émile Benoît (1913 to 1992). The two great source fiddlers of Newfoundland.
Oliver Schroer (1956 to 2008). Canada’s most adventurous fiddle composer.
King Ganam (1914 to 1994, commonly cited). Saskatchewan-born star of Canadian television’s fiddle era.
Western swing and beyond
Bob Wills (1905 to 1975). The King of Western Swing and the first National Fiddler Hall of Fame inductee.
Roy Acuff (1903 to 1992). The fiddling Opry patriarch whose backing launched the Grand Master Fiddler Championship.
Claude “Fiddler” Williams (1908 to 2004). Kansas City jazz fiddle master.
Stéphane Grappelli (1908 to 1997). The Hot Club jazz violinist whose swing vocabulary seeped into Texas-style fiddling.
Joe Venuti (1903 to 1978). Jazz violin pioneer whose double shuffle crossed into fiddle contests.
Charlie Daniels (1936 to 2020). The Devil Went Down to Georgia brought fiddle contests to the pop charts, even if no real contest works that way.
Papa John Creach (1917 to 1994). Blues fiddler with Jefferson Airplane.
Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown (1924 to 2005). Texas blues fiddler and guitarist.
Rufus Thibodeaux (1934 to 2005). The great Cajun fiddler.
Jeff Cook (1949 to 2022). Fiddler and guitarist of the band Alabama.
A note on this list
No list of fiddlers is ever finished. This one leans toward players tied to contests and bluegrass, since that is what this site is about. Champion counts and dates come from the contest organizations and hall of fame rolls linked above. If you spot an error or a missing name who belongs here, get in touch.
Sources
Champion rolls and biographical details drawn from the University of Idaho National Oldtime Fiddlers’ collection, grandmasterfiddler.com, the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Association, the Texas Fiddlers Hall of Fame, the National Fiddler Hall of Fame, the Appalachian String Band Music Festival contest results, the Old Fiddlers’ Convention winner archives, and IBMA award records.