Erskine Old-Timers

When the Erskine Old-Timers were recorded by Phil Nusbaum in the 1980's, they had already been going as a band for more than 40 years.  The three original members were Bernt Odegard, fiddle; Bloyd Talge, banjo; and Vernes Trandem, bass.  In this recording they were joined by Dove Machart on piano. Erskine is a town in Northwestern Minnesota with a population of 509.

I have listened to hundreds of hours of Minnesota recordings for this project.  The Old-Timers are my favorite of them all. Something about the way they play really hits home with me.

Bill Sherburne

Bill Sherburne is arguably one of the best known of the Minnesota old-time fiddlers of the last 100 years. He was born in 1903 and died in 1991.  Bill's father was from a family of 12 children, and they all played fiddle.  His grandmother was also a very good fiddler.  Bill started fiddling when he was 8 years old.  He led dances in the Spring Grove area since the 1920s.  There was a time when he put down his fiddle to concentrates on farming.  In the 1960s he picked it up again and played dances until his last days.  Beth Hoven Rotto studied with him and carries on some of his repertoire in the dances she hosts in Decorah, Iowa.

Leonard Finseth- A fiddler 30 miles from the border with many Minnesota connections

Leonard Finseth was born at the same Mondovi, Wisconsin farm where he lived all his life. Leonard's father came from Norway, and he married his mother in the early 1900's and they lived at that same farm. Leonard was born in 1911 and passed away in 1991.  He learned to fiddle from his uncle Ed Quall.  Ed Quall played fiddle for local dances with an accordion player.  When Leonard was old enough, Leonard started playing with them on guitar.

He had several fiddling friends who he visited frequently and shared tunes with, among them being legendary Minnesota fiddlers Harold Sorenson and Edwin Johnson.  In his archives there are reel recordings of him playing with various fiddlers in the Spring Grove, MN area.

His penchant for recording himself, his uncle, and his friends has led to a treasure trove of recordings that are packed away in his archives. He also recorded two commercial LP's.  We can enjoy a few of his songs off one of his out-of-print records- The Hills of Old Wisconsin.  Thirty miles away those same hills are known as Bluff Country, Minnesota.

Craig Ruble- A Minnesota fiddler who passed too soon.

Craig Ruble was born in Austin, MN on May 19th, 1948.  He grew up in Oakland, MN. His five brothers all played instruments.  He and three of his brothers had a bluegrass band called the Ruble Brothers. Craig's father, Jim, taught him to play fiddle at a young age.  Jim knew the old Norwegian tunes of his heritage.  After graduating from the Univertsity of Minnesota, Craig served in the army and played in a country band.

By the mid-seventies he was considered one of the best, youngest fiddlers in the state.  He played on many studio recordings at that time.  He was in several bands and won the first annual Swayed Pines Fiddle Contest at St John's University.  He played for the Minnesota Scandanavian Ensemble where he got to play the tunes he learned from fellow Minnesotan fiddlers Selmer Ramsey, Casey Aslakson, and his father.

He produced 3 cassettes of Scandanavian music, where he plays all of the instruments himself. Leroy Larson put them out on his Banjar label.  Minnesota fiddler, John Beland, was kind enough to send me electronic copies of those old cassettes.

Craig had a 2 year battle with cancer and died in 1992 at the age of 44.  We will do our little part to keep his memory alive by selecting a few of his tunes for the repertoire.

Ken Amundson is a fourth generation Minnesota fiddler.

Nick Hoffman and Ken Amundson.

Ken Amundson is a Saint Paul 3rd generation Minnesota violin luthier and 4^th generation Minnesota fiddler. His great grandfather came to Minnesota from Norway. They were mostly barn dance and party fiddlers.  Sometimes there would be just a few musicians and sometimes they would need a bunch of folks to keep the crowds pleased.   They would dance on Friday night until the daylight Saturday and then get back at it after chores on Saturday.   He tells a cute story of kids falling asleep on the pile of jackets that accumulated in the corner of the room during the dances.  His grandpa and dad were house builders, barn builders and farmers. Because his grandfather, Karl, was good with wood, people would ask him to fix their fiddle.  He passed this skill on to Ken’s father Harris and Ken has turned it into the business he has today.  Ken has done work for several important artists including Ricky Scaggs and Kenny Chesney’s fiddler, Nick Hoffman.  Nick learned to play fiddle from Kenny Admundson’s father, Harris. Harris liked to teach tunes to the younger generation.

Harris was a significant Minnesota fiddler. He was involved in starting the Minnesota State Fiddle Association with Elmo Wick.  They starting organizing fiddle festivals around the state.  Ken told a touching story about his father’s favorite tune.  For many years his father couldn’t remember what the name of the tune was.  One day while he was out driving he saw a Westphalia camper and that triggered his memory that the tune was Westphalia waltz.  Many years later Kenny’s brother was with their father by his death bed.  He had not been doing well, but began tapping a tune out in ¾ time on his bed.  Kenny’s brother asked him what tune it was and he said it was the Westphalia Waltz. He died a short while later.   For that reason the song will be in my Minnesota repertoire.  I am in the process of getting copies of Harris's home recordings and then I will share a few tunes with you all.

In the videos Ken also shows us the great Hardanger fiddles that are around his shop.  If you are in need of fiddle repair work, you should contact him.

Henry Ford’s fiddle contests hits Minnesota in 1926.

In 1926 Henry ford decided to have a bunch of fiddle contests at auto shows simultaneously all across the country. They became a major cultural phenomenon. Henry’s putting the fiddle in the national spotlight led to many newspaper articles about the contests. Luckily for us, some of these newspaper clips were collected in one of Bob Andresen's files at the University of Wisconsin. It gives us a peak into who the great Minnesota fiddlers were 85 years ago and glimpses of their repertoire. It shows that Minnesotan fiddlers were playing many of the common tunes that were shared by fiddlers around the country- the kinds of tunes that are still played in jams today. I would be remiss if I didn't add some of these popular tunes into this blog's collection. The three that come up the most are Turkey in the Straw, Irish Washerwoman, and The Girl I Left Behind Me. All three of these tunes have been in Minnesota since the early days of Fort Snelling.

Some notable excerpts from the statewide contests:

- A.A. Lund, chewing away for dear life, without a tooth in his head, gave them The Girl I Left Behind Me, his moustache jerking up and down in perfect time with the tune.

- Between 20,000 and 30,000 fans have packed three theatres over the last 4 nights.

- Rules of contest: Entrant must be over 60 years of age. 90 names were entered.

- Diffney’s right arm amputated just below the elbow where his violin bow was strapped. His second number was Irish Washerwoman which received shouts and applause.

- 600 people attended. Largest crowd ever assembled in the hall.

I have no Minnesota sources of these tunes from the 1920's.  So here are the popular stringbands of the day playing them-

Turkey In The Straw. Gid Tanner And His Skillet Lickers (1926)

The Girl I Left Behind Me. Gid Tanner And His Skillet Lickers (1926)

 Irish Washerwoman. Doc Roberts (1928)

Selmer Ramsey

Talk to the old generation of Minnesota fiddlers and most of them have heard the tune Selmer Ramsey's Waltz. A few might say that he was a guy from up north. I was excited to find an actual out-of-print recording of the man. Selmer passed away 33 years ago.

From an out-of-print LP -

"Selmer Ramsey was born in 1914 in Highlanding Township, MN. His mother, Sophie Resla, was from Oslo, Norway. His father, James Ramsey, was from Albert Lea, MN. Selmer began playing the violin at the age of nine.
In 1937 Selmer married Ruby McEnelly of Goodridge, MN. They have one daughter, Jean, and two grandchildren, Jeffrey and Kristen. Selmer was a dance band leader for many years in the Goodridge and Thief River Falls area. At one time his band played regularly over KTRF, a local radio station.

Many of the tunes on this record are so old, they are only known as a waltz or schottische. Many were learned from his father James and his uncles Elling and Julius Ramsey, who were all from the Albert Lea area. There are also tunes which he learned from two local fiddlers, Ivan Sjuiestad and Ole Tharaldson. Selmer was also influenced by the old-time music played on radio stations from Winnipeg, Manitoba and Fargo, North Dakota (WDAY). He has several waltzes and schottisches of his own composition.