Midwest Fiddle Champs for 2010, part 1

Our 8th annual contest was held back in July, with the Open Division on Thursday the 8th in Giddings Plaza in Lincoln Square and the Invitational Division on the main stage on the 10th at the Chicago Folk & Roots Festival. The Open Division attracted 12 fiddlers with their bands, including . . .
Kolleen Blume with Walter’s Dream
Bill Bodle with the Wild Onion String Band
Caroline Fernald with the Bell Flowers
Claire Halpin with the CH4
Ted Johnson & Elise Dalleska
Lynn Malnekoff with Innisfree
Chris Marshall & friends
Miles Mibeck with Siobhan Wojcik & Megan McKeon
Kit Paulson with James Kreigsmann & David Stokman

The evening also featured performances by the three top prize winners at the Youth Division competition held in June:
3rd Place – Ethan Matlin with Last Minute Deal
2nd Place – Abigail Burrus & Sean Mythen with Sarah Mythen
1st Place – Maddy & the Hillions, Max & Anna Hill, fiddles & Maddy Tyler, guitar

In reverse order, here are the top 4 prize winners in the Open Division.

4th Place – Twin Sisters, that is Debi Lewis on fiddle with Deborah Fausch on banjo
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlQJUJRbMDw]
They started off with “Oak Ridge Stomp.”

3th Place – Chirish, Maggie Danaher & Kristen Bern, fiddles, & Andrew Serb, guitar
(It was too dark to film in the plaza when this group played, so all we have is an audio recording.)
[audio:http://drdosido.net/fiddleclub/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Gentle-Maiden-Tommy-Peoples-Reel.mp3]
They played a medley of “The Gentle Maiden” and “Tommy People’s Reel.”

2nd Place – Po’ River Boys, Dan Gillespie on fiddle, with Jeff Yonkis on fiddle & washtub bass & Evan Collins on banjo
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRAUGxWLdng]
Their first tune was “Black-Eyed Susie.” Later, in a playoff, they played “Gospel Plow.”

1st Place – Second String, Rachel Baiman & Eva Walsh, fiddles with Greg Reish on guitar and Ethan Philion on bass
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cy7daXyIp_Q]
They started with “Oh My Little Darling,” and performed “Red Rocking Chair” for the playoff.

Part 2 will feature videos of the four bands that competed in the Invitational Division at Folk & Roots.

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