Charlie Walden

About

Charlie “Possum” Walden is proof that regional fiddle styles still flourish in the United States. Both virtuoso performer and advocate for the Missouri style, Walden hails from tiny Hallsville in central Missouri. He was 14 when he heard the great old-time fiddler Taylor McBaine playing at a nearby gas station. The teenager got hold of a fiddle and started learning as much as he could from McBaine and the older man’s peers, such as Cyril Stinnett and Pete McMahan.

“Missouri fiddlers bow a lot when they play,” Walden explains. “There is a lot of alternate bowing or saw stroke employed, which makes the notes sound separated and makes the music sound lively and energetic…. Missouri fiddlers want to hear every note come out clearly and in tune.”

Slowly but surely Walden mastered this idiosyncratic style. He learned how to articulate each note distinctly, so the melody could be heard even at tempos fast enough to push the dancers around the floor. He learned the Missouri repertoire, which was heavy on Scotch-Irish jigs and reels but also included more waltzes than other regions. Soon Walden was playing house parties, dances, and fiddle contests, winning his fair share of the latter.

Just before he died in 1984, McBaine said of Walden, “You know, he’s nearly perfect.” As more of the old-timers died off, Walden became the dean of his home state’s fiddlers. He worked tirelessly to keep the style alive, playing with pianist Patt Plunkett as the duo Patt & Possum. Walden took on many students, wrote articles and gave talks, all to help Missouri fiddling keep its own identity. “I feel fortunate that I was able to experience the tail-end of an era of fiddle playing and old-time dancing which … is fading fast.”

Walden played the first National Folk Festival in Lowell in 1987. He’s back this year for the 30^th anniversary—accompanied by Mike Miller, who has been calling square dances across the Upper Midwest and Northeast for 25 years.