"The Milliner-Koken Collection of American Fiddle Tunes" with Walt Koken & Clare Milliner

"Old-Time" music could be loosely described as that body of music containing fiddle tunes, banjo tunes, ballads, and ensemble pieces in various instrumental combinations including the guitar, mandolin, autoharp, dulcimer, mouth harp, jaw harp, dobro, piano, and other related non-electrified instruments. "Old-Time" music has often been preserved before the industrial age in the relative isolation of the Appalachian mountains. "The Milliner-Koken Collection of American Fiddle Tunes" contains transcriptions of over 1400 fiddle tunes. The book includes an artist profiles section with brief bios of the 347 fiddlers/bands represented in the book. A majority of these fiddlers were born before 1900. The collection also contains a comments section with interesting information about the tunes and fiddlers. Walt Koken began playing the five string banjo in 1959. He has played the banjo and fiddle in a variety of groups including "The Busted Toe Mudthumpers," "Fat City," "The Highwoods Stringband," and the "Orpheus Supertones." In the late 70's, he retired from the old-time music business and worked as a carpenter. In the early 1990's, he began playing banjo again, released several CD's, and formed Mudthumper Music. The company is dedicated to the preservation of non-electrified, fiddle-banjo oriented music. Clare Milliner grew up in Chester County, Pennsylvania, not far from the original site of the Brandywine Friends of Old Time Music's annual Mountain Music Festival. She studied piano and violin, but when she heard fiddle tunes at the Old Fiddler's Picnic at Lenape Park near her home, it changed her approach to playing. She plays often for square dances, usually with the "Cacklin' Hens and Roosters Too," and she and Walt play double fiddles, as well as fiddle-banjo duets.