Keith Hunt was born during "the great depression" and grew up on Wellesley Island on the Saint Lawrence River. He attended the local island dances from his earliest memory, where his father played banjo with local island musicians. Thus, he grew up with the North Country and Canadian fiddling of the area, listening to great fiddlers such as Don Messer; Ned Landry, Earl Mitton, Jim McGill, King Ginam, and others on live radio shows of the time. Keith started out playing the music on a tenor banjo, but soon found that the fiddle tunes were better suited to playing on the fiddle. Keith finally got a serious start on the fiddle by attending a group fiddle lesson given by Eleanor Townsend at the NYSOFTA Fiddlers' Picnic around 1978. Telleta Atwell assisted Eleanor in that class and Telleta continued working with Keith through the present. After leaving Wellesley Island, Keith always sought the kind of dancing he knew from the island, never quite finding it the same anywhere else. However, in his search, he ended up performing the dances of many lands and international folk dances. Keith also learned to call traditional square and contra dances such as those he grew up with. Even though Keith and his wife Judy are members of a Scandinavian dance performance group, Keith's first love, musically, is the traditional jigs, reels, and related dance fiddle tunres. In the past, Keith has been the instructor for square and contra dance workshops during the 1980's at the Fiddlers' Picnic. In 2006 Keith was a clinician at the Fiddle Worshops and he is also President of the Board of Directors for NYSOTFA
VIC KIBLER
Victor Fountain Kibler was born October 22, 1919, in the Town of Wells, New York. His Grandfather William Fountain, in particular, was a fine fiddler, and it was his playing more than anything else that was to influence Vic’s own playing style. Vic started to learn fiddle at the age of thirteen and got his own instrument two years later. By the time Vic was in high school, he was playing the music in public. Due to an oath he gave to his very religious mother as a youth, Vic never played for dances. He also took a few lessons outside of the family. Another family member, Uncle Lewis Nichols had a different bow style that set him apart from other local fiddlers. He was also a prime influence on Vic’s style of playing style. During World War II, Vic served as an Army medic. He continued to fiddle now and then on a local fiddler’s instrument in Germany. After returning home Vic became an auto mechanic and also played with a group called the Adirondack Mountaineers. He then married and found himself playing for his three sons. Vic has long been one of those fiddlers who seeks out and learns as many good tunes as he can find. He has an enviable repertoire of over 500 tunes, old and new. Vic has made numerous appearances from the 1990s to the present time period. Some of these include: The Eastman School of Music, Café Lena, Troy Music Hall, Altamont Fair, Roxbury Arts Community Center Performance Hall, Albany Art Museum, New York Historical Society and Elderhostel’s Adirondack Master’s Series in Pottersville. He was honored to be recognized as a Master of North Country Folklife by North Country Public Radio. He also received a North Country Heritage Award given by TAUNY. Victor has served as a fiddle contest judge for 25 years. He was considered an expert in tune authentication. Victor spent much time in the recording studio recalling family tunes for the Adirondack Fiddler Project. These tunes would have been lost if not recorded during this project. This project went on to win Smithsonian awards in folk music for two years in a row. Through the years, Victor has taught many students in the aural tradition.Vic’s style is his own, but it is also very much an Adirondack style, influenced by the many other traditions which in the mid to late twentieth century have become part of the upstate New York culture.
Dick began his violin and music training at age 8 through college with 12 years of private classical violin lessons. He then became a physician who retired from medicine in 2000 after 31 years in practice. During the past 30 years Dick has studied a variety of traditional fiddle genres, styles and repertoires, including Irish, Southern Old Time, Scottish, Cape Breton, and French Canadian. Dick’s performances have pleased audiences across upstate New York for over 40 years. He is energetic, skillful and versatile, an excellent vocalist who plays many instruments including violin, viola, Celtic harp, guitar, autoharp, banjo and piano. Dick’s enjoyable programs highlight his natural musicianship, engaging stage presence, good humor and artful selection of tunes and songs. He is a member of the popular Irish trio Tullamore Celtic Band. Dick performs 19th Century historical and Civil War music at living history museums and re-enactment events. He is a member of the Flint Hill Folk, the resident music group of the Genesee Country Village & Museum in Mumford, New York. He performs at the Farmer’s Museum of the New York State Historical Society in Cooperstown and at The Lands at Hillside Farms near Wilkes-Barre PA with Jim Kimball, Ethnomusicologist and Prof. of Music at SUNY Geneseo. Dick has also appeared at The North American Fiddler’s Hall of Fame and Museum in Osceola several times. He has performed in many other places as well. Dick gives private violin and fiddle lessons as well as guitar lessons.
LAURIE HART
Laurie is a resident of Ithaca, NY. She attended the Eastman School of Music as a violin major. She specializes in Irish, Quebecois, Scandinavian, French and American dance music. Laurie has been performing since 1986 at contradances, concerts, festivals and dance weekends. She currently plays with several different groups including Alize, Hedgehog Irish Trio, Duo Hart-Wobus and The Contradictions. She gives private lessons in many styles of fiddling and provides group classes and workshops as well. She has taught at Ashokan Northern Week and Ithaca College. She has released several recordings including Alize: Le Canard Perdu, Cobbler’s Dream, Danse Ce Soir! Fiddlespel and Gravity Hill. Laurie has written articles for Fiddler Magazine. She received the 2002 Fulbright Award to study and learn the dance and music of Norway and Sweden. Laurie has appeared at the Pennsylvania Folk College Weekend, Old Songs Festival, Dance Flurry, New England Folk Fest, Grassroots Festival and many more.
