Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers Association

Fiddlers

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Liz Amos moved to Missouri over 30 years ago to play traditional music, apprenticing with famed Ozark square dance fiddler Bob Holt. Influenced by the driving dance styles of Holt and other Midwest greats like Dwight Lamb, Vesta Johnson, Nile Wilson, and John White, she has brought lively, phrased tunes for dances far and wide. A leader in Bob Holt’s dance style, Liz embraces both square and non-square dance music, keeping it vibrant for dancers everywhere.

 

Amanda Arbuckle is an undergraduate student studying biomedical engineering at the University of Missouri. She started playing by learning classical violin - She began playing old-time Missouri fiddle music after discovering John White’s jam in Hallsville. She’s played at Bethel Fiddle Camp as a student and junior master and recently completed an apprenticeship with master fiddler Charlie Walden through the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program. She loves sharing Missouri’s fiddle tradition with both new and familiar audiences.

 

Amber Gaddy is a 5th generation Ozarker and grew up in Springfield, MO listening to her dad and both grandfathers play fiddle tunes on the harmonica. In 2016, after 20 years as a backup player for great Missouri fiddlers like Dwight Lamb, John White and Bob Holt, she took up the fiddle, hoping to keep her local square dance going. Though she was raised in the Ozarks, she primarily represents Missouri's northern fiddle styles. 

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Howard Marshall is Professor Emeritus of Art History and Archaeology and former director of the Missouri Cultural Heritage Center at the University of Missouri. Earlier in his career he was a museum director and curator and worked for five years at the Library of Congress. A native of Moberly, after service in the Marine Corps in the 1960s, he received his BA at the University of Missouri and his MA and PhD at Indiana University. Among his books are Folk Architecture in Little Dixie, Paradise Valley, Nevada: People and Buildings of an American Place; Barns of Missouri: Storehouses of History; and three volumes with companion CDs on the heritage of traditional fiddle music and fiddlers in Missouri for the University of Missouri Press. Marshall has played fiddle music for more than five decades and helped judge fiddle contests from Washington DC to San Francisco as well as at the National Oldtime Fiddlers Contest in Weiser, Idaho, and state contests in Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota, New Mexico, Montana, and Oregon. He produced fiddle CDs for Voyager Records.

 

A native of Mansfield, Missouri, David Scrivner has been playing traditional Ozarks fiddle music for nearly 30 years, including several years as a student and apprentice of renown Ozarks fiddler Bob Holt. Focused on preserving Ozarks dance and music traditions, David plays for square dances in the Ozarks and mentors younger musicians in the area. David won the 2019 Arkansas State Old-Time Fiddling Grand Championship and represented Ozarks fiddling at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., in 2022 and 2023.

 

Geoff Seitz, Lemay MO, has been playing fiddle for over 50 years. Throughout his years of fiddling, Geoff sought out traditional master fiddlers and learned tunes in the old time
style. He has won numerous awards for his fiddling including first place at the Old Fiddlers Convention, Galax VA, and first at the Appalachian Stingband Festival, Clifftop, WV. He regularly plays traditional dances and concerts. Geoff was one of the founding members of The Ill-Mo Boys, a critically acclaimed string band of old time tunes and songs.

 

Kathy Summers: I was born and raised in Bourbon, Missouri and have been playing the fiddle since I was about 14 years old. I started playing rhythm guitar at age 7 with my grandfather Joe Bryan, also a left-handed fiddler, and my father, Delbert Bryan, played guitar and always encouraged me to play. I married Howard Summers from Bourbon who was also a fiddle player. Now my children and grandchildren are playing fiddle and guitar, which makes me very happy to pass on the tradition.

 

Hallsville native Charlie Walden is a master Missouri fiddler known for his energetic style and deep knowledge of traditional fiddle tunes. A lifelong advocate for old-time music, he has performed across the U.S. and abroad, sharing the unique sound of Missouri fiddling at festivals, workshops, and contests. Charlie has won major competitions in Missouri, Illinois, West Virginia, and Ontario, Canada. His flamboyant bowing style, dazzling left-hand and encyclopedic repertoire make him a fierce fiddling competitor.

 

Lynn Wells, born August 7, 1956, in Howard County, Missouri, grew up as one of nine children in the family of Evellee Blessing Wells and Dewey Eugene Wells. Inspired by the music of local square dance fiddlers like Charlie Jackson, Little Billy Crane, and Cleo Persinger, Lynn fondly remembers Sunday afternoons spent visiting their homes with his father, listening to the tunes and styles that shaped his own fiddling. A long-running contest favorite and often sought-after judge, Lynn is respected for both his skill and deep connection to Missouri’s fiddling traditions.  

 

John P. Williams grew up in northeast Missouri and learned to play fiddle at the long-running Bethel Youth Fiddle Camp, where he now teaches. He studied with legendary Missouri fiddlers including Pete McMahan, and in 1998 apprenticed with McMahan through Missouri’s Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program. John is a five-time master artist in that same program and remains dedicated to preserving and passing down Missouri’s traditional fiddle music.  

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House Band

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Mason Herbold is from Hallsville, MO and has been involved in the Missouri Old Time Fiddling Tradition for a number of years. Herbold plays both guitar and accordion and takes inspiration from David Cavins, Robert Mackey (both appearing), Kenny Applebee, Amber Gaddy, and many others. Herbold is a past Bethel Fiddle Camp student and resides in Springfield during the academic year, playing tunes in the Ozarks with the likes of David Scrivner and studying Music Education at Missouri State University.

 

Robert Mackey is an acoustic guitar player and singer-songwriter from Mexico, Missouri. He specializes in rhythm guitar accompaniment for traditional old-time fiddle tunes. Inspired by his father Arlie, Robert began playing guitar at 15 and later apprenticed with Kenny Applebee through the Missouri Folk Arts Program. Known for his solid timing and steady groove, Robert now shares his passion for old-time music by teaching backup guitar at music camps and events throughout the year.

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David Cavins has had the good fortune to play guitar with Missouri master fiddlers of the older generation, his own generation, and young, up-and-coming musicians. His guitar playing is primarily influenced by the elegant and spare style of Elvin Campbell of Nebraska, the steady dance backup of Alvie Dooms of Ava, Missouri, and the perfect pacing of Kenny Applebee of Mexico, Missouri. David has spent 25 years playing, dancing, and calling at square dances around Missouri.

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Master of Ceremonies

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Thomas Coriell grew up immersed in old-time country music, learning guitar by watching his father rehearse. A left-handed player on right-handed instruments, he played in St. Louis bands before turning to fiddle and mandolin. He studied Missouri fiddle styles from players like Charlie Walden, who later became his mentor through the Missouri Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program. Thomas performs, teaches, competes, and researches Missouri’s rich fiddling traditions, and serves as treasurer of the long-running Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers Association (MSOTFA). 

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