Performance at the SB Fiddlers' Convention, ca. 1974<\/p><\/div>\n

This was a labor of love to all participants, and we were spreading the word about a wonderful American musical form that was — and in some cases remains — little known to the average citizen. \u00a0That the response was enthusiastic was heart-warming and reward enough to make it a worthwhile, yearly effort for us. \u00a0It is ironic that, even with low admission prices, A&L did generate enough revenue to enable them to present extra classical music programs with old time fiddlers’ funding!<\/p>\n

Our MCs and judging staff, working at a minimal honorarium, provided a lot of help to contestants, many of whom had not been on a stage in front of thousands before. \u00a0 Mary Katherine Aldin, music researcher, blues enthusiast, and radio programmer (KPFK) is still with the event to this day. \u00a0Professor D.K. Wilgus, at UCLA Folklore MC’ed with a dry wit that added enjoyment to his vast storehouse of knowledge about the music being performed. \u00a0D.K. was also very helpful in lining up participants and presenters in our weekend music lectures and workshops connected with the event. \u00a0Local musician Todd Grant also did yeoman MC work when DK was unable to continue, and once earned a special award for “best legs”.<\/p>\n

Our staff of judges, knowledgeable and sometimes long-suffering, were crucial to the success of the convention. \u00a0John Zehnder, of McCabe’s Guitars in Santa Monica, acted as “Chief Justice” for many, many years. \u00a0He was joined by Jack Aldrich, Carole Miller, Steve Parker, Linelle Glass, Peter Tinker, Michael Mendelson, — and more recently — Ross Landry and Harley Tarlitz . . . \u00a0 we had dozens of fine judges . . .\u00a0 I hope others can add more names in the “comments” section. \u00a0I do recall we made an effort to provide the judges with good lunches, since we wanted to keep them in a good humor for the sake of the late afternoon contestants. \u00a0Scoring was based on musicality, performance skills, timing, and also a demonstration of knowledge of the tradition from which the piece came. \u00a0Early on, we established a rule that each contestant had a maximum of three minutes of time to play their piece, and that the tune or song chosen was at least fifty years old. \u00a0This “fifty-year rule” was established, not to discriminate against bluegrass pieces (as some have claimed), but to avoid the danger of having the convention being taken over by singer\/songwriters pushing their own material. \u00a0Indeed, at the second annual event, I found a film crew setting up cameras and reflectors near the front of the stage — blocking the view of dozens of attendees. \u00a0I inquired about their purpose in doing this and was told, very confidentially, that a Hollywood TV Starlet was going to appear later in the day to perform her own song against the backdrop of the convention to enable her to further her career. \u00a0I told them that her career would have to look elsewhere and that their crew had ten minutes to remove their equipment or our own security staff would take care of it.<\/p>\n

We worked with various sound companies to provide as good a public address system as possible. \u00a0It was an especially demanding job for any sound person, since the performance lasted three minutes, and microphones had to be set very quickly between different contestant appearances with a minimum of fuss. \u00a0 Sound checks were not feasible, due to time limitations. \u00a0I recall that Geoff Cooke was one of the first sound men we used, and that he did a commendable job under difficult circumstances. \u00a0His concept made use of arrays of small, 4-inch speakers, at least 200 per cabinet, all linked in parallel.<\/p>\n