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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Fiddlers’ paradise


Cheri Craig, left, of Clarkston, and Stephen Sickles of Colton, Wash., run through
Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review

If you can identify fiddle tunes like “Pig Ankle Rag” or “Swallowtail Jig” by ear, then you have probably heard about Weiser, Idaho.

If not, then you should know that this small farming town in arid southwestern Idaho is a Mecca for fiddlers, guitar pickers and people who love old-time music.

Thousands of musicians and music lovers arrive every June for the National Oldtime Fiddlers Contest, where blazing speed and musicianship can win you a trophy and bragging rights for life.

“If you win at Weiser, it’s like winning the Super Bowl,” says Denell LeTourneau of the Weiser Area Chamber of Commerce.

The event, known simply as “fiddle week,” is bigger than just the contest stage at Weiser High School. It’s all about music and you’ll hear it at local parks, in campgrounds and on street corners.

Weiser has hosted the contest since 1953.

“There’s been a fiddling tradition in Weiser dating back to the late 1800s and it’s always been a part of this town,” says LeTourneau.

Informal gatherings to show off fiddling skills in America date back to 1736, according to the contest Web site, but organized showdowns have multiplied in the last 100 years or so. The Weiser contest organization is the sanctioning body for fiddle contests in the U.S.

Fiddle contests have formal rules, including a time limit for each performer, a format of songs to be played and an amplification system that pipes the music to judges who are sequestered in another room. Contestants compete in several age categories, from “small fry” to “senior-senior.”

The keenest competition is in the grand championship division. Tony Ludiker of Rathdrum, Idaho, has won that title five times, tying a record for the most wins.

“My first year attending the fiddle contest was 1976. And I’ve never missed,” says Ludiker, who has also served as a judge several times. “I have no plans to ever miss.”

Ludiker teaches fiddle and violin and performs fiddle and classical music. His grown children, Kimber and Dennis, have won many contests over the years. Kimber, 20, took second place in the grand champion division in 2005 while her dad was eighth.

Fiddling has been popular in the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene area for many years. Hundreds of children have learned to play at a free music workshop in the Spokane Valley. At the Tuesday night jam sessions at Pioneer School, retired firefighter Frank Wagner strums his guitar and fiddlers as young as 3 play simple songs, such as “You Are My Sunshine” and “Five Foot Two.”

The workshop closes up during the summer so fiddlers can compete at weekend contests. Serious fiddlers may head to Texas or even the East Coast to compete. Whether they are competing or not, many try to be in Weiser during the contest.

Jam sessions are an integral part of fiddle week activities. After competition sessions, musicians pull their chairs and instruments up to a circle as the sun is going down.

Like gunslingers with guitars, musicians prowl the RV village outside Weiser High School looking for a jam session with the best players and an empty seat. Many will play until the wee hours of the morning. You’ll hear Irish jigs, cowboy songs, jazz standards, ethnic and folk music.

Over the musical conversation, new friends are made and old friendships are renewed.

“You get together, play some tunes and catch up on what’s happened in the year since you saw them last,” says Tony Ludiker. “It’s like a big family, a musical family.”

The Chamber of Commerce estimates that 18,000 visitors spend about $4 million in Weiser during that week. The town’s 5,300 citizens field more than 1,000 volunteers to help out.

“It’s something the entire town promotes and gets behind,” says LeTourneau.

The Weiser Senior Center serves breakfast and the Elks club serves dinner all week. At either place you’re likely to hear live music from visiting fiddlers. Area nursing homes ask fiddlers to stop by and play.

At the visitors’ center downtown, an open mike session invites wandering musicians to stop and sing a few songs. Churches open concessions stands, flea markets pop up and garage sales appear.

There’s a carnival in Veterans Park, and across the street, the municipal pool invites weary travelers.

Every spring, fiddlers ask each other: “Goin’ to Weiser?”