Journey of  a Bluegrass Fiddler

Tad grew up in a suburban area of Philadelphia. At a young age he heard music playing inside his head without the aid of a radio or phonograph. He recalls that as a child he would skip along the sidewalk, avoiding the cracks, and hum the tunes he was hearing. He is sure that he had not heard these melodies before and that they originated from within. This was a wonderful gift that had a profound effect on his life, and this is when he first discovered his musical ability. It is probable that many of the great composers of classical music had that or a similar gift which enabled them to write their original symphonic melodies.

Tad attended Penn State University and earned a degree in Fine Arts. As electives he took piano and viola lessons and within a few months he was playing in the college orchestra.  He also began playing fiddle and within a few months he was able to play in jam sessions at the Wall, a Penn State student hangout. A course in musical composition taught him to write and score music. With this knowledge he composed a concerto for string orchestra which was performed before an appreciative audience.

Like many bluegrass devotees Tad first heard bluegrass on the Andy Griffith and the Beverly Hillbillies TV shows and immediately reacted and thought “This is it! I like this stuff!” Attending the Philadelphia Folk Festival and hearing the Lilly Brothers with Tex Logan and Don Stover made a huge impression. A few months later while working with the cleanup crew at a Temple University summer musical festival there was a chance meeting with Vassar Clements. Vassar was very cordial and showed Tad his fiddle with the carved head and a little later Vassar’s backstage practice was within hearing distance. Tad approached Vassar and told him “I see what you are doing. You’re hearing the melody in your head and then playing improvisations to the melody.” Vassar replied that this was very perceptive; a very inspiring compliment to a young fan.

There were other early musical inspirations. The Highwoods String Band performed at one of the nearby music festivals and their performance of old-time fiddle tunes was just wonderful. Tad wanted to hear them again and helped the band obtain a booking at the Main Point, a prominent Philadelphia Folk Music club. Friendships developed and Tad was hooked for good on fiddle tunes and bluegrass music.

While still a student at Penn State, Tad became good enough on fiddle to win first place in a contest and was recruited to play fiddle for a weekly square dance and country music gig at the VFW Lodge near State College, Pennsylvania. There was often a group of young kids sitting on the floor in front of the band listening and watching with great interest to everything that was going on. Years later a group of teenagers approached Tad at one of his gigs and told him that they were the young fans from the square dances. All of them were now playing music. How cool was this?

After graduation, Tad stayed in State College and began his musical career. His first regular gig was with Bob Doyle, a folk singer and booking agent. They performed at Penn State Branch Campuses and colleges throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Ohio. The next stop on his musical journey was Charlottesville, Virginia to play with Beau Loeser and the Fifth Street Symphony. The heavy travel schedule throughout the east coast, with mostly one-night stands, grew tiresome and after about one year he returned to State College. Whetstone Run was based there and needed a fiddle to achieve the traditional sound they were seeking. Tad joined the band and soon thereafter Lynn Morris came to State College to play banjo. Tad’s friendship with her, and his tasteful and exciting fiddle style, led to his playing in her band a few years later on three European tours.

Although Whetstone Run was quite busy, Tad needed additional income for living expenses. His musical education enabled him to write charts and musical notation for other musicians and bands and he was paid quite well to do this. He lived in an apartment above a local radio station and was able to borrow bluegrass records from their library. This is where he first heard many of the newer bluegrass bands and was particularly excited by the Johnson Mountain Boys and Eddie Stubbs’ fiddling.

A friendship developed with Lee Ann Lenker, who was the banjo player with Buffalo Chip Kickers. She and the guitar player, Pete Ross, moved to a small log cabin in Ellicott City, MD. After several visits Tad became aware of the lively bluegrass music scene in the Baltimore and Washington DC area. When the cabin next door was available it became his home for the next several years.

Tad performed with several of the local bands in the area and had regular gigs in Baltimore with David Streett and Lee Ann. David worked at International Violin Company in Baltimore and Tad was hired to take his position at the store when he left to apprentice with a violin maker. Tad worked there off and on for about ten years and did most everything needed in connection with operating the retail and repair areas of the store. International Violin is a highly regarded shop with a large inventory of violins and related merchandise. Many of the area musicians, repairmen, and luthiers came to the store for supplies and Tad was able to cultivate friendships with many of them. Some of them hung out at the store and showed him the tricks of the trade for repair and bow rehairing.

Tad’s next regular gig was with the Twigg Brothers. They were a very good 1950s style traditional band with a heavy emphasis on Stanley Brothers music. The brothers were quite popular and played at festivals and other events throughout Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania. It is unfortunate, but like so many bands they stopped playing together after only a couple of years. During his time with the Twigg Brothers, Tad also played a number of shows with Chris Warner who had been Jimmy Martin’s banjo man for a number of years. Chris had made a CD of songs he had composed in the Jimmy Martin style. Other musicians on the CD were Dudley Connell, Rickie Simpkins, Audie Blaylock and Earl Yeager. Chris booked a number of shows in connection with the CD, but Rickie Simpkins was not available to play fiddle so Chris asked Tad to join the band for these shows. Tad felt playing with this group was the best music he had ever experienced.

Attendance at the 1989 SPBGMA convention in Nashville was a defining moment. There were jam sessions going on everywhere, famous musicians mingling with the crowd, instruments for sale, concerts, awards and lots more! It was like an atomic blast. Everything came together all in one place. And Tad saw his whole future pass in front of him. ‘This is it! This is where I want to be! This is what I want to do!’”

In February 1990 Tad joined the Del McCoury Band which was quickly gaining national recognition. Del’s two sons, Ronnie on mandolin and Robbie on banjo, were in the band along with Mike Brantley on bass. They traveled nationwide to adoring bluegrass fans and during this time they recorded the Blue Side of Town album. When Del moved to Nashville a very hard decision was presented. Would there be enough income to live on? What living arrangements would be available? And there was not anyone available to help him get settled in Nashville. The decision to stay in Maryland was made and at the 1992 SPBGMA convention he told Jason Carter that he was leaving the band. 

Playing with Del had been Jason’s dream job and he was able to quickly connect with Del and get the gig. And Jason has now been with Del for almost 30 years and he has become one of the premier fiddler players in the world.

Over the next several years Lynn Morris made three European tours and hired Tad to accompany her. The other band members were Marshall Wilburn on bass and Tim Laughlin on mandolin. They played in most of the European countries including Germany, Italy, Holland, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Austria, Belgium, Scotland and England.

Bluegrass and country music are extremely popular in Europe and these Lynn Morris tours were incredibly successful. And it needs to be noted that Lynn is an exceptional entertainer and musician. She has a beautiful voice and when she sings, she sings from the heart and listeners feel she is singing just to them.  

In 1994 Tad became a member of the James King Band. Brian Wetzel played mandolin and sang tenor, Adam Poindexter played banjo, and Jason Moore was the bass man. They traveled throughout the United States in a motor home and played to appreciative audiences at festivals, concerts and nightclubs. The reception in areas where bluegrass had not been heard very often was incredible and James had a way of exciting the audience with his music and stage presence.

Tad often hung out at the Appalachian Bluegrass Shoppe in Catonsville, Maryland. Many of the Baltimore area musicians gave lessons there and friendships developed. He met Bob Perilla and soon this friendship led to a 25-year association. Bob’s band, Big Hillbilly Bluegrass, had a regular gig at a restaurant named Madam’s Organ in Washington DC. The name of the restaurant was a play on words on the name of the neighborhood, Adams Morgan. They played every Wednesday night for more than 20 years. Some of the musicians that worked there with Bob over the years include Tom Mindte, Mike Munford, Dick Smith, Danny Haller, Mike Marceau, Merl Johnson, Ira Gitlin, Stefan Custodi and Elizabeth Day on vocals.

In 2000 Big Hillbilly Bluegrass played at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. It was a memorable experience and at one performance the Dali Lama attended. It was very entertaining to see Tibetan Monks dancing to bluegrass music in their orange robes.

A friend of Bob’s got a part for the band in a Chris Rock movie, Head of State. Many people who saw Big Hillbilly Bluegrass in the movie came to Madam’s Organ. There were US State Department employees and many members of the news media. Jena Bush, the President’s daughter, came in several times accompanied by her Secret Service body guards. One of the young ladies who often came was from the Armenian Embassy. She thought that having the band travel to Armenia would be a magnificent cultural exchange. As a result of this idea, the band made several overseas tours sponsored by the US State Department. The first tour was to Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Republic of Georgia. The success of this tour led to several more trips with visits and shows in more than 30 countries in Europe, Asia and Africa. When “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” was performed, the audiences went wild, as they had never heard a bluegrass-style banjo played before.

During one of the African tours the band was scheduled to play for the Baka Pygmies in the Central African Republic. Their performance was delayed when they were held at gunpoint by revolutionary guerillas. After some difficult negotiation Big Hillbilly Bluegrass was allowed to proceed but first had to perform their bluegrass music for the guerillas. Another scary incident took place at the border crossing from Tajikistan into Uzbekistan in Eastern Europe. Before proceeding, Elizabeth Day had to perform a Dolly Parton song for theguard.  

Most everyone has experiences which seem to be a coincidence and these events often shape one’s life. Tad was part of a panel at an American University seminar. The panel included Dede Wyland, Ira Gitlin, and Larry Cohen. They were there to talk about bluegrass music and its impact on society. That evening at dinner Larry talked and bragged about Target Recording Studio and advised Tad that should he ever need a great studio, Target was the place to go. Larry gave him a business card from Target and here is where the coincidental event takes place. Two days later a phone call was received from Target which led to him playing in a recording session for Celtic folk singer Charlie Zahm. There was no prior contact with Target by anyone and Tad does not know how Target got his name. Tad did the session.  Charlie liked his playing, and invited him to play with him on some of his gigs. He accepted and this musical relationship is now more than 20 years old.

Playing fiddle on Charlie’s shows has been very rewarding and interesting. He is an historian and mixes Scottish and Celtic folklore into his emcee work. A wide variety of musical styles and Tad’s improvisational backup on the fiddle have enhanced Charlie’s presentation and performance. There have been four trips to Scotland as part of a tour group of Americans and in 2012 they traveled to the US Air Force Base in Oatar to perform for the troops.  On another jaunt, they visited Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba to perform for a Robert Burns Dinner celebration.

Tad has made four CDs over the years. Calling In The Dogs presents fourteen exciting fiddle tunes most of which are original compositions. Our Crazy Love Affair features several of Tad’s vocal compositions as well as nice interpretations of classic fiddle tunes. Highlander’s Farewell is a wonderful listen of traditional Scottish music. The Back Road Home features several more of Tad’s original compositions and includes two lovely performances by Dede Wyland. All of these CDs are well produced and still available for purchase on most of the internet music sites.

When not playing gigs, Tad spends much of his time in his workshop repairing violins—rehairing bows and brokering violin sales. During the COVID pandemic with so much shut down, Tad has been making violin rosin. Many years ago, while still in college, he rode a Greyhound bus to New York City to visit a girlfriend. There was a nearby violin shop operated by William Salchow, a world-famous violin bow maker and craftsmen, and Tad went in to browse. Mr. Salchow was very friendly and took a liking to him and had him rosin up and try several of the bows which had recently arrived at the shop. When he came to the last bow, Mr. Salchow gave him a cake of rosin and said “Here, try this.” Tad rosined up this last bow and played a tune and it was awow moment. The bow grabbed the strings noticeably better. Mr. Salchow remarked “This is my rosin. And someday someone will produce a rosin that will greatly improve the tonal quality.”

Tad remembered this incident and began experimenting. He melted down the basic pine resin and tried literally hundreds of additives in hopes of making the perfect rosin. This was a long and tedious process, but he finally came upon an additive that resulted in a rosin that produced beautiful tone with good grip and only a small amount of string residue. He named it Lonesome Pine Violin Rosin and gave cakes of it to some of his fiddle friends. And they all loved it. Most everyone thought the rosin was superior to anything they had ever used. Jason Carter called Tad a year later and wanted to buy a cake. Tad told him he would just give it to him. Jason said that it was the best rosin he had ever used and that he should sell it.

In reflection Tad said, “Trying to make a living in the music business is a long and tough journey. But if you understand that you have learned something from each experience, you can put this knowledge to good use and become more focused with your goals. Though you may likely end up in a different place than you originally planned, the journey you will take can be amazing.” 

As a closing thought Tad advises young people that everyone has a talent. Try to find your talent as early in your life as possible and try to develop that talent whatever it may be. Keep a positive attitude, and be awarethat when coincidences occur, pay attention for they may hold a valuable message. The love of music and performing is the catalyst for a contented and happy soul.