Old-Time Fiddle
Fairfax, VA
Willie Marschner remembers falling asleep to the sounds of his family and their friends making music, and he began playing the fiddle himself when he was just six years old. Now a multi-instrumentalist, Willie worked with fellow mandolin-guitar-fiddle player Danny Knicely in the Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program to develop his skills in improvisation and in furthering his personal style on traditional tunes. The two met, fittingly, at Watermelon Park Festival, in a campground jam that is so essential to moving old-time music forward. Now at 16 years-old, Willie is well on his way to making his own path in this music. He explains, “That's what keeps it alive. That's what makes old-time not so old.”
See Willie play with his 2023 Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program mentor, Danny Knicely, on Sunday, September 29, at noon, when both join Riley Baugus as special guests on the Center for Cultural Vibrancy Stage.