Thursday, April 9, 2009

Geoffrey Seitz, our go-to oldtime fiddler


Geoffrey Seitz, a longtime contributing musician to Poetry Scores, is the subject of a beautiful photoessay and multimedia package by Erik Lunsford of The Post-Dispatch. Geoff is an oldtime fiddler and traditional violinmaker - one of the best in either business.

He was brought to my attention in the early 1990s, when I was writing for the Ray Hartmann-era Riverfront Times. Geoff had just won the most prestigious oldtime fiddle competition, held every year in Virginia. A friend of his (who owned a flower shop) knew Geoff wouldn't mess with promoting himself, so she called me out of the blue and told me I should write a story about him.

I did, and we have been together ever since - as friends and, eventually, bandmates. I was extremely blessed to have him play with me in Three Fried Men, and he has never said no when I asked him to play on a recording. I have kept writing about him, too, most recently in St. Louis Magazine.

Here is a brief sampling of Geoff's fiddle work on Poetry Scores project. So far, so good - he has been on every one!

Free mp3s

From Crossing America

"Rain and the sea"
(Trad.; adapted from "Napoleon Crossing the Rhine")
"Horror is easy"
(Trad; adapted from "Indian et a woodchuck")
With Dave Landreth on banjo

From Blind Cat Black

"Black Coal"
(Ece Ayhan, Chris King, Murat Nemet-Nejat)
With Three Fried Men

From Go South for Animal Index

"The old moon sleeps in the new moon's arms"
(Matt, Fuller, Chris King, Stefene Russell)
With Three Fried Men

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Visit Geoff at his violin shop, 4171 Loughborough Avenue.

Photo by Erik Lunsford.

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