Johnny you rosin up your bow and play your fiddle hard

When I was seven years old, I ventured into a local music store with my parents and brother to buy harmonicas.  Out of the corner of her eye, my mom spied a hammered dulcimer and took me by the hand.  The co-owner of the store at the time introduced himself and handed me a hammer.  D-D-A-A-B-B-A-G-G-F#-F#-E-E-D - after one round of "Twinkle, Twinkle," I was in love.  My parents surprised me with a Cloud Nine for my eighth birthday.  February 12, 1993 marks the day I began this wonderful, musical journey.

Just a few years later, I picked up the fiddle.  It was a painful beginning - for not only me, but any of those within hearing distance.  It was a challenge to tame this wonderful instrument and learn how to manipulate it into making beautiful music - it still is!  This was a test of my abilities in a demanding but exciting undertaking.  Still today, holding the fiddle up to my chin brings a comforting, yet exhilarating feeling. 

I am so thankful for all of the opportunities that have presented themselves to me through music.  I have balanced on milk crates when I was too short to reach someone's instrument, and I have stood on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry.  I squeezed into massive jam sessions of more than 50 players, and I have huddled in circles, knee-to-knee with some of the greatest old-timers.  I picked out tunes in hotel hallways with world-renowned musicians, and I played music til dawn in the Pecan Grove at the WVA Festival in Winfield, Kansas.  I will treasure these experiences always and look forward to making many more memories in the future.

Having graduated from college and started my career, finding the time to play has been difficult.  As such, I am issuing a challenge to myself to learn 52 new tunes in the next 52 weeks.  I'll be picking songs out of the myriad of music books and albums I have acquired over the past 18 years, in addition to taking suggestions from fellow musicians and sitting in on local jam sessions.  I would like to not only learn how to play the tunes, but also learn a little history about and anecdotes related to each of them, if possible.  The next year will be music-filled and a great learning experience.