Willow Keasler

North Carolina-based old time fiddler Willow Keasler (she/her) began studying fiddle and other string instruments, via the traditional “call and response” method, in the Watauga County Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM) program. Willow, who names Cecil Gurganus, John Engle, and flatfoot dancer Phil Jamison among her mentors, went on to teach music lessons in the same JAM program, as well as at camps and festivals such as Bruce Molsky’s Old-Time Rollick in Ashokan, New York, MerleFest in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, and the National Folk Festival.  

“‘Old time’ is much more than just a genre or style of music,” Willow says. “It encompasses the history, culture, and community of the Appalachian Mountains. Knowing the history and cultural meaning and importance behind the music” is just as vital as learning the tunes. To learn more about that cultural context, Willow completed a Bachelor’s Degree in traditional music from Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, North Carolina. There, she wrote her thesis on the fiddling style of her great-great uncle, blacksmith and musician Marion Reece, who appears on 1936 recordings by Alan Lomax. Willow also recorded an album of Reece’s tunes to accompany her research.

Willow plans to use her Emerging Traditional Artists Program award to begin a new research and recording project about the Scotch-Irish roots of old time music. She hopes ultimately to develop a series of video lessons for learners of varying skill levels, teaching both tunes and their cultural history.

Of her role as an emerging musician, Willow says, “currently, it is a new and exciting time for old-time music. Millennials that are now leading and continuing the old-time genre are providing new content, tunes, and styles that showcase a plethora of talent. I would like to document and collaborate with these musicians to record the modern development of the genre.”