Eastern Kentucky Fiddler - Virgil Alfrey (Full Album)

Playing the fiddle always came easy for Virgil Alfrey. From the time his father, Henry Alfrey, an “Oldtown Fiddler” gave him a fiddle at age 12, the notes just seemed to roll off the bow. During the Memorial Day weekend, Alfrey won the top prize, “Fiddler of the Festival,” in competition at the Fiddler’s Grove Old Time Fiddler’s & Bluegrass Festival in North Carolina, besting more than 50 other top fiddlers who had been invited to participate from around the country. Playing the fiddle came so easy for Alfrey that it lost the challenge, and for many long years his violin had gathered dust. Between the time the 61-year-old ARMCO crane operator picked up the fiddle and the time he won the prestigious championship three weeks ago there lies a story: Twenty-five or so years ago, when songwriter/guitarist Chet Atkins popularized guitar-picking in a way that had never been presented before, Alfrey laid down his fiddle and picked up the electric guitar. “He presented a challenge” Alfrey said, “I said if that guy can do it, I can do it too.” And so he stayed with the electric guitar through more than two decades, playing in several local bands at various places. His wife, Clela, who plays guitar and sings with him, said, “I’ve told him time and time again that he made a mistake in laying down the fiddle.” Mrs. Alfrey, a Raceland native, met her husband-to-be more than 42 years ago when she came to play and sing on WCMI Radio in Ashland. “Virgil was in the back-up group with his fiddle. I think I fell in love with his fiddle music before I fell in love with him,” she said. Other music-playing friends encouraged Alfrey to take up the fiddle and the bow again, friends like Ray “Curley” Parker of Flatwoods, J.P. Fraley of Rush and Chillison Leach of Ashland. Jim Day, a Morehead lumberman who had heard him play at a country/bluegrass music festival in Grayson, also “kept on me,” Alfrey said. Even the late “Hawkshaw” Hawkins, a Huntington native who became a star performer on Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, thought Alfrey was wrong in hanging up the bow. Alfrey, who had played music with Hawkins in his early years in the Tri-State, said he visited with the singer backstage at the Opry shortly before the tragic plane crash that took his life. “Hawkshaw, when he found out I was no longer playing the fiddle, told me, ‘You’ve made a mistake, boy. The fiddle’s your thing and you shouldn’t have never laid it down,’” Alfrey said. Finally, three years ago, Alfrey gave in the the pressure from his friends and rosined up his bow again. “Fiddle playing had always come easy to me, but now I found that I had to really concentrate to get the tunes out.” He went to his peers to “get a handle” on some of the old tunes. “One of the tunes I wanted to play in the competition was “Marching Through Georgia,” and I had to go visit Chillison to get that one back.” Actually, Alfrey competed in the 1983 contests at Fiddler’s Grove, but wound up playing second fiddle to the eventual winner, Mack Snoderly. “When they invited me, I thought I was just going down there to perform. I didn’t know everything you played was competition.” Alfrey said. This year he was more prepared with tunes like “Martha Campbell,” Blue Violet Waltz,” “Cotton Patch Rag” and “Marching Through Georgia” just waiting to roll out of his old fiddle. Four of the most popular fiddle tunes ever played, “Orange Blossom Special,” “Mocking Bird,” “Faded Love” and “Black Mountain Rag” aren’t permitted to be played in the competition. “Everyone likes to hear those old-time favorites, but the Fiddler’s Grove contest isn’t based on popularity,” Alfrey said. “The judges know their fiddle-playing, and they look for such things as tone clarity and bow action. You’re not permitted to cross-tune. Everything is standard fiddle playing.” The Grand Finale fiddler playoff started at 7 Saturday night and it was 2:30 Sunday morning before Alfrey was crowned champ. About 5,000 fans were on hand at Fiddler’s Grove, located on the farm of Harper Van Hoy just outside Union Grove. Fraley, the Rush fiddler who won the “Fiddler of the Festival” title twice during the 1970’s and who was in this year’s contest, said Alfrey’s playing “was flawless,” “The music business is different from other professions,” Alfrey said. “There’s no envy, no jealousy. Musicians just help each other. All the other fiddlers were happy for me.” Alfred credited much of his success to his wife, who played back-up guitar for him. Mrs. Alfrey finished as first-runner-up in the auto-harp competition. What’s next for Alfrey? Back to the job at the steel mill, for one thing, but maybe more. If his friend, Jim Day, has his way, he’ll someday compete in the Grand Masters fiddling contest in Texas. “Jim says I have a Texas style,” he said. Alfrey, like a lot of other local musicians, appears to have talent that begs a wider audience. But like others here, family ties and job security have kept him home. [June 17th, 1984]