This past Saturday evening, 2.26.22, Nero's Fiddle caught on fire in Mt. Sterling KY. Happily, no persons or property were damaged. Quite the contrary. The evening was spectacular. The folks at the Gateway Regional Arts Center provided the perfect venue, The Parish Hall of The Church of the Ascension, good food, a little lively beverage, a reasonable price, and a great crowd of folks, to host your favorite quasi-appalachian dulcimer/gutar trio. The band fed off the crowd and the crowd fed off the music. The repertoire was broad and well-executed, and ended with a standing ovation. As Elvis would say, "Thank You. Thank You very much!" One satisfied patron described his experience in this manner:
"With Nero’s Fiddle, you got the sense that 3 high-functioning musicians were bored and double-dog-dared each other to start a band limited to 3 strings and only one key....challenge accepted, and what emerged was a serendipitous repertoire of music as eclectic as its members. Guitarist Ed keeps the train on the tracks with excellent picking and strumming, occasional vocals and even some sweet harmonica playing. Tina, a classically trained master musician in her other life, helps render that traditional whisping Appalachian dulcimer sound using a note stick, and plays melodies, harmonies, descants and grace notes with such precision and ease. Carl is the winsome front man who parlays the whimsical backstories to their selections with all the charm of the seasoned story teller he is, and then lets his music do the rest of the talking as his fingers dance across the frets like a kid playing hopscotch at recess...and being in the audience actually feels like recess...a welcome break from the classroom of life and an invitation to have some unsupervised, guilt-free fun for the next little bit. (And if you’re a musician, you may notice they travel in some uncharted territory for dulcimer music, sometimes transcribing classical pieces in different key signatures or repurposing fiddle tunes....their strong musical foundation lends them the passport that most traditional musicians don’t have, allowing them to walk past border lines and explore new areas.) If you’re not a musician, you’ll still be equally delighted. Either way, your ears will be tickled, your toes will get a work out, and you’ll feel enculturated to the Appalachian way of life in a most satisfying way...you may even get the sensation you snuck into a hootenanny and liked it :)" -Barry Frazier
All we can to that is, Wow! Thanks a ton, Barry. Oh and we really wish Barry was a writer for Rolling Stone. He 'gets us.' We would also be remiss to not extend many thanks to Ms. Becky Priest who was instrumental in making this such a success and for taking a chance on us. We look forward to a long association with GRAC and the fine folks of Montgomery County. Rumor has it that we will be making more appearances in the area. Stay Tuned