A visit to “The Woodshed” is a great place to learn the fiddle style from the Texas Panhandle.  Especially, when Joe Stephenson is on hand.

As the story goes, Joe’s first memory is from his bassinet hearing the clunk of piano pedals as his Mom Jewel accompanied his Dad Nathan on fiddle.  Not long after he began to learn to play by clamping his teeth onto the fiddle scroll while Nathan literally played the tunes into Joe’s head.

A farmer and third-generation fiddler, Nathan wanted his son to carry on the family tradition and offered Joe the choice to “practice or plow.”  No surprise Joe became Texas State Champion Fiddler at age 16.  Though his musicianship goes far beyond contests.  Joe Stephenson plays from the heart with memories in mind that reach back four generations.

Transcriptions in standard notation are no match for the master’s touch.  But the notes are a good place to start then listen to Joe and let your ears do the rest.