On just a few occasions I was able to get right next to Vassar while he was playing. I watched and listened closely, just drinking it in. In conversation with him it was clear that his attention was on music, not on being the famous fiddler and carving out fame and recognition from a culture that gives fiddlers little regard anyway.

The first time was way back in the days that I began playing with a bluegrass band. This band was my first chance to move beyond a few easy folk fiddle licks and do some real fiddling.

It was with a violinist’s background and technique that I witnessed his impromptu demonstration in a record store in St. Petersburg, Florida. He was talking and just playing a few riffs when the session suddenly went over-the-top.

The casual atmosphere suddenly exploded with energy when Mike Marshal came breezing in with his violin case. He quickly opened it up and plunged into a lively twin fiddle version of Old Joe Clark with Vassar.

This was my introduction to twin fiddling. I was too astounded to even notice who was playing which part. It was flawless in its performance. I thought they might have rehearsed it. It was all spontaneous, of course. That’s fiddling.

Later that evening I was performing with the bluegrass band. As I pushed myself further into the Vassar zone, and out of my comfort zone, I heard the harmonica player say, “Rassel that thang!” And I have been ever since.

Vassar’s Signature Style
The glory of Vassar’s style is in his unique signature licks and the eerie, melancholy sound that no one else has matched.

The licks, though advanced and difficult, can be learned. The sound, his unique, instantly identifiable sound, is as personal as a vocalist’s sound. Mimicked and modeled by few, it’s equaled by none.

The comment about mimicking his sound is not disparaging. I would boast that I have modeled hi playing, but I can only confess to being a common lick thief. Only two players I know of come close to Vassar’s likeness. I envy their ability.

Vassar chose to drop the rhythmic shuffle style of dance fiddling early on. He focused on the melodic aspect of playing. “Instead of changing the bow to a shuffling thing, where I would have to give up some of the notes, I started using short and long bow strokes in order to get it clear and let it flow.”

When you listen to Vassar’s playing you will hear him move between a liquid, legato sound with notes connected in one bow to a staccato sound of each note having its own bow stroke. It all sounds intuitive and effortless. And definitely a fusion sound.

His philosophy about playing music was summed up when he said, “For me, the fun of music is in learning. I don’t want to play “Little Maggie” twenty years from now like I do now. I don’t mind playing the same songs but if I don’t learn anything, then I’m just spinning my wheel….The fun in music is always learning.
If I can stay out here where people can keep hearing what I’m doing, that’s what I want to do. I’d like to accomplish that and keep learning and never come to a standstill.”

Amen to that, brother.