Champs Stage Ever-Growing Fiddling Camp

You’ll find bows galore at this summer camp, but not an arrow in sight.

The 115 campers gathered at the Rockin’ B Ranch just south of Interstate 90 at the Washington-Idaho state line aren’t here to paddle canoes or earn their Webelos badges.

As the name implies, there is only one real draw at the Ludiker Fiddle Camp: The joy of fiddling around.

T.J. Duncan came all the way from Silver City, N.M. The polite 12-year-old says he gave up his piano lessons when he turned on the radio one day and was blown away by a blister-hot Charlie Daniels riff.

“You’re not gonna believe this,” says Duncan of what got him started on the fiddle. “But I wanted to play `The Devil Went Down to Georgia.”’

He came to the right place.

Former national fiddle champs JayDean and Tony Ludiker started this camp 15 years ago. Back then it was just 20 kids in the back yard of their Spokane Valley home.

Their camp outgrew the back yard. It now boasts 11 top-flight instructors, many of them champions in their own right. Because of the quality, the Ludiker camp is considered one of the nation’s premier gatherings for fiddle instruction.

“We have students here from Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah as well as Washington, Idaho and Oregon,” says JayDean, 36. “Our youngest camper is 5. The oldest is 65.”

The students spend four days and nights concentrating on technique and learning the tricks of the fiddling trade. The camp is getting so popular that two sessions are planned for next year.

It’s easy to see why.

The Ludikers’ teaching staff includes all-stars like Danita Hartz. Last month, the Boise resident was declared a champion at the National Oldtime Fiddle Contest and Festival at Weiser, Idaho. Also here is April Verch, a Canadian grand master’s champ in both fiddling and step dancing.

Make a note, ye lovers of fiddle fare. The instructors and students will perform a free concert at 6:30 tonight on the ranch grounds. Take the Stateline exit, go south and look for the big red barn.

The success of the camp is especially encouraging for the Ludikers. They remember a time not all that long ago when musical snobs considered fiddlers as hicks and their music lowbrow.

My, how things have changed.

Two years ago, JayDean and Tony were flown to Chicago to teach classical violin virtuoso Rachel Barton a few fiddle tunes. “We had to bring down her vibrato and get her a little more choppy and gritty,” says JayDean.

All the recent interest in traditional music - as seen in the popularity of acts like Riverdance - has given the humble fiddle a new life.

The Ludikers have been one of the Spokane area’s musical treasures since the 1970s, performing at countless shows. They still play, often with Tony’s brother, Terry, adding his magic on the fiddle and guitar.

Both child prodigies, JayDean and Tony met each other as kids at contests.

Tony, 37, is a five-time national champion. JayDean is a past ladies and junior national champ.

“I beat him in the very first competition we were both in,” says JayDean, chuckling. “We hated each other for 10 years.”

Eventually, the sparks of rivalry turned into the flames of romance. Now it is the Ludiker children who are winning awards.

Their 15-year-old daughter, Kimber, took first last month in the junior competition at Weiser. Son Dennis, 16, captured third.

The Ludikers have come a long way since they first grabbed a fiddle and picked up a bow. But it’s obvious that their passion for the instrument hasn’t changed at all.

“What people find when they start researching their cultural roots is that everybody’s grandpa played the fiddle,” adds JayDean.

“Everybody had a fiddle in their home. As far as American history is concerned, the fiddle is the most important instrument.”