Alice Clemens - Your Fiddlin' Friend - and similar items

Extremely Rare Cassette...Antiquity...Everything here is in excellent condition except the ink on side 2 has been smeared away from the track listing for reasons unknown. Tape plays Well. See pictures for track listings. Profile of Alice Clemens Follows.... Alice Clemens (1922-1999) was known as “The Queen of New York State Fiddlers.” She was hooked at age three when she heard great-uncle Art Colvin fiddle for a dance, and by seven she was learning his tunes on her own instrument. Although Alice learned how to read music, she always found it easier to pick up a tune by ear. For most of her life she played for parties and country dances near home, although she also had some memorable experiences performing well outside of the Adirondack foothills. Some of her personal highlights included playing in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, playing for Russian and American wrestlers on Long Island, and playing for nursing homes and developmentally disabled populations around the state. Alice usually performed with guitar or piano backup, and sometimes with other fiddlers as well. From 1960-1975, she also worked with the group “Alice and Her Country Cousins,”and she played at the Redfield Hotel for many years. In her own words, “I pound on a piano to chord with other fiddlers, but I am really just a fiddler. I like jigs, reels, waltzes, and pop and country.” She collected hundreds of nearly-forgotten fiddle tunes from old-time musicians of the region, providing the Library of Congress archives with 27 tunes thought to have disappeared from public knowledge. Alice was especially proud of teaching her own daughter, granddaughter and great-grandchildren to fiddle. She often said, “If you want to have fun in life, get a fiddle in your hands.” A tireless advocate for old-time fiddling and old-time fiddlers of the region (and beyond), Clemens founded the New York State Old Tyme Fiddlers Association (NYSOTFA) and co-founded the North American Fiddlers Hall of Fame and Museum in Osceola. NYSOTFA encourages the gathering of fiddlers from all over the state in regional groups to learn and play the old fiddle tunes together, and the Hall of Fame maintains an extensive archive and sponsors fiddling contests each year.