Listen to the Fiddler

The Ranch Record

National Ranching Heritage Center

Spring 1996

“Ranch-Dance Fiddle Tunes of the Texas Panhandle,” the first 1996 Edith McKanna Parlor concert will be presented Sunday, March 10 at 2:00 p.m. “This music has been played for over 100 years at cowboy and ranch dances and is still played today,” says Lanny Fiel.

Fiel, a musician as well as a researcher of historic western music, will play fiddle during the conceit with Joe Carr on fiddle and mandolin, Tim McKenzie on stand up bass, and John Ford on acoustic guitar. The musicians will recreate historic tunes such as “Cattle in the Cane,” “Prettiest Gal in the County” “Wang Wang Blues,” and “Red Wing.”

Traditional western swing music, especially fiddle music, has been passed down from generation to generation. Fiel recently received a Texas Folklife Resources Apprenticeship in the Folkarts grant to document the work of older fiddlers. He currently is studying with Frankie Mcwhorter and Joe Stephenson, fiddlers with deep roots in western music. Mcwhorter is foreman of the Camp Creek Ranch at Lipscomb, Texas and Stephenson is a fourth generation fiddler from McAdoo, Texas. Fiel is producer and host of “Roots Music,” a public radio program on 89.1 FM KOHM which explores the origins and influences of traditional local music.

“Ranch-Dance Fiddle Tunes of the Texas Panhandle” will be held in the DeVitt-Mallet lobby. Admission is free.

Article from the “Ranch Record”
Spring 1996
Newsletter of the Ranching Heritage Association
Ranching Heritage Center
Texas Tech University