Spirit of Suwannee Music Park hosts fiddlers convention

LIVE OAK, Fla. – Fans of rustic music will want to spend Oct. 8-9 at The Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park and Campground attending the 40th annual Florida State Fiddlers Convention. This is the first time this convention has been held at the Spirit of the Suwanee venue.

According to the convention, this will be its first in-person event since the 2019 convention. It will be a reunion of sorts with some of the best fiddling music fans have ever heard by many great fiddlers.

The Florida State Fiddlers Association comprises a group of musicians and music loving friends who have organized for the purpose of holding a yearly convention and fiddle contest and to increase communication among fiddlers and other old-time musicians in Florida.

“The official purpose of the FSFA organization is to increase communication and support among fiddlers and other old-time musicians in Florida and beyond,” FSFA Vice President Andy Martin of Thomasville, himself a banjo player, said.

Many of the association’s members are long-time friends of the SOSMP, Martin said, adding that many of the FSFA members also attend various events held at this internationally known music and camping park.

Special guests for the event will be Adam Hurt and Beth Williams Hartness. Deemed a “banjo virtuoso” by the Washington Post, Hurt has fused several traditional old-time styles to create his own elegantly innovative clawhammer banjo style.

Hurt was introduced to the instrument at age 11 in his native Minnesota. A respected performer and teacher of traditional music, he has played at the Kennedy Center, conducted banjo and fiddle workshops at many venues across America and abroad, and has been featured on the cover of Banjo Newsletter. Since moving to the South in 2002, Hurt has placed or won most of the major old-time banjo competitions, including three first-place finishes at Clifftop. He also has claimed several state banjo and fiddle championships.

Hurt won first place in the 2020 FSFA Fiddle Contest, Old-Time Category and was a member of the judging panel for the 2021 FSFA Fiddle Contest.

Hartness, who plays banjo and guitar, is a Southern girl from Piedmont, N.C., where she taught herself to sing at 12 and also to play guitar. In the 1980s she learned about old-time music. This led to her become part of many string bands, winning many awards as a guitarist, recording with old-time bands. Hartness has developed a special way of finger-picking that will delight audiences and make them want to run out and purchase a banjo.

Hurt said he’s excited about this year’s convention and location. Events begin Friday with entertainment on the new front porch with Somethin’ Sassy of Tallahassee, Fla., and Wetland String Band of Jacksonville, Fla. Throughout the weekend, a silent auction will be held; FSFA will be live-streaming concerts, workshops and other events for those who prefer to participate from home, and kids’ activities and beginner jams will be conducted at the Peacock Lodge Friday and Saturday.

Convention entry fee is $40 per person or $75 per family. Concert tickets only are $10 each. Scholarships are available. Members will have a registration station set up for ticket purchases.

To book an overnight RV or camper site, rent a cabin or primitive camp for the event, call the SOSMP at (386) 364-1683 or go to www.musicliveshere.com. For more information about the event, go to www.floridafiddler.org. The SOSMP is located 4.5 miles south of Interstate 75 and 4.5 miles north of Interstate 10 at the Suwannee River off U.S. 129 at 3076 95th Drive in Live Oak.

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