"Diamond Joe & Blackberry Blossom", Bruce Molsky & Ale Moller

"Diamond Joe & Blackberry Blossom", performed by Bruce Molsky (www.brucemolsky.com) & Ale Moller (www.alemoller.com) in concert at the Institute of Musical Traditions (www.imtfolk.org), Takoma Park, Maryland, USA on March 24, 2012.

Bruce Molsky stands today as the premier old-time fiddler in the world, the defining virtuoso of Appalachia's timeless folk music traditions. That must feel odd for a former engineer from the Bronx, who didn't begin a music career until he was forty. But folded into those strange facts is the secret to his unique genius.

In addition to a prolific solo career, performing on fiddle, guitar, and banjo, Molsky frequently joins genre-busting supergroups, like the Grammy-nominated Fiddlers Four, and Mozaik, with Hungarian Nikola Parov, and Celtic giant Donal Lunny. He was on Nickel Creek's farewell tour, and performs in a trio with Scottish fiddler Aly Bain and Sweden's great Ale Moller.

"Playing in these kinds of groups is an important part of what I do," Molsky says. "Regionalism was one of the hallmarks of traditional music in the old days; now we're in the Information Age, and I don't think that's what folk music does anymore. But the more cultures I discover, the more I realize that folk music performs the same function for everybody; and therefore is the same thing everywhere - just spoken with different accents."

Ale Möller creates his own landscape of music upon different musical traditionsof various origins. He operates freely, motivated by his own curiosity. His inquiring ambitions have been transferred to a wide audience, fascinated by the complexity of his music and intoxicated by his movement of the
entire landscape.

Sound: Charlie Pilzer, Dave Richardson, Dave Eisner

Camera: Laura Christoplos, Sarah J. Hull, Ralph Lillie

Editing: Ralph Lillie

© 2012, Institute of Musical Traditions