Fiddle

What's the big deal about a string quartet playing on a Tuesday night in Boston? Granted, this particular string quartet was anchored by superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma. And the rest of the lineup was a little unorthodox, not to mention bluegrass: fiddler Stuart Duncan, Nickel Creek and Punch Brothers mandolinist Chris Thile, and double-bassist Edgar Meyer. And they were playing at the House of Blues, where they were joined by vocalist Aoife O'Donovan. And NCM Fathom and Sony Masterworks were cinecasting the first of the evening's two sessions live to more than 400 theaters nationwide, including...

BECKLEY, W.Va. - West Virginia bluegrass legend Everett Lilly has died at age 87. His son, Daniel, said his father died Tuesday afternoon at his home in Clear Creek, W.Va. Everett Lilly and his brother, Bea, began performing professionally in 1938 on Beckley radio station WJLS. Everett Lilly played mandolin and later the fiddle. Bea Lilly played guitar. Banjo player Don Stover later joined them, and they played across the South as the Lilly Brothers and Don Stover.

YORK - Eliphalet Grover, a lighthouse keeper on Boon Island, Maine, in 1821 made a fiddle from wood roof shingles. At the instrument's scroll end, he carved the shape of a human head. Maybe it was an antidote to the keeper's lonely life on that small rocky outcropping. Or perhaps his artistry was inspired by the same "entrepreneurial spirit" and use of available materials that got him in trouble with the government. Soon after, Grover was dismissed for allegedly selling whale oil intended to operate the light, among other ventures.

FIDDLE WITH LOCAL FLAVOR: "Fiddle and Folk Music in the Sanctuary" will be presented at the Winchester Unitarian Society on Friday. Fiddler and singer LissaSchneckenburger, along with guitarist Bethany Waickman and accordion player Dan Gurney, perform new and traditional New England dance tunes. Raised in a small town in Maine, Schneckenburger began playing fiddle at age 6. She soon went on to study with fiddler Greg Boardman and play with the Maine Country Dance Orchestra.

NEW YORK - "I got the name of being a pretty good fiddle player," Joe Thompson once said. "I've even been to Carnegie Hall playing fiddle. " He also played at the Kennedy Center in Washington and at folk festivals from coast to coast, including one at the Smithsonian. The National Endowment for the Arts awarded him a National Heritage Fellowship. And he is credited with helping to keep alive an African-American musical tradition - the black string band - that predates the blues and influenced country music and bluegrass.

PICK OF THE DAY Fiddle unplugged Since graduating from Berklee College of Music about a decade ago, violinist Laura Cortese has proven she's more than just a virtuosic fiddle champion. Her recent Acoustic Project brings together other fine female folk musicians performing Cortese's original folk-pop songs (and some covers) as a fiddle-based string quartet. The ensemble featuring Cortese, Natalie Haas, Hanneke Cassel, and Mariel Vandersteel plays tomorrow. Jan. 10, 8 p.m. $18. Club Passim, 47 Palmer St., Cambridge.

Larry Unger and Eden MacAdam-Somer, performing as the duo Notorious in Framingham next weekend, don't limit themselves when it comes to music. Unger plays guitar, banjo, and bass with top contra-dance musicians, but he's equally at home presenting solo shows of finger-style blues and slide guitar, rags, and old-time tunes. MacAdam-Somer has played the violin with classical orchestras, jazz and swing bands, and bluegrass ensembles. She's also a proficient interpreter of Irish, Gypsy, and Sephardic music.

BECKLEY, W.Va. - West Virginia bluegrass legend Everett Lilly has died at age 87. His son, Daniel, said his father died Tuesday afternoon at his home in Clear Creek, W.Va. Everett Lilly and his brother, Bea, began performing professionally in 1938 on Beckley radio station WJLS. Everett Lilly played mandolin and later the fiddle. Bea Lilly played guitar. Banjo player Don Stover later joined them, and they played across the South as the Lilly Brothers and Don Stover.

LOWELL FOLK FESTIVAL At: various locations, downtown Lowell, Friday through yesterday LOWELL - There has been a folk festival in Lowell every year since 1987. And after 25 years, the organizers of the Lowell Folk Festival seem pretty much to have it down pat. So when there's a broken generator at one of the largest stages, it's nothing more than a bump in the road; somehow, somewhere, locate another one, swap it out, and accommodate the delay. The organizers seem to have their musical formula down pat, too. It's a mix of traditional music from America and around the world.

NASHVILLE -- Vassar Clements, a fiddle virtuoso and A-list studio musician who played with Paul McCartney and an array of others, died at his home yesterday after a battle with lung cancer, said his daughter Midge Cranor. Mr. Clements, 77, last performed Feb. 4 in Jamestown, N.Y., Cranor said. His work bridged a variety of styles, including country, jazz, bluegrass, rock 'n' roll, and classical. "When the rhythm is good, I can play it," he told The Associated Press in a 1988 interview.

By Kim Foley MacKinnon, Town Correspondent Tristan and Tashina Clarridge and their band The Bee Eaters will be part of the seventh annual A St. Patrick's Day Celtic Sojourn hosted by WGBH radio host Brian O'Donovan. The popular concert, this year with two performances, usually sells out and features a variety of Celtic singers, musicians, and dancers. O'Donovan hosts a weekly radio show called A Celtic Sojourn, which airs on Saturday afternoons. This is the first appearance at the concert for the Clarridges, who are six time Grand National fiddle...

NEW YORK - "I got the name of being a pretty good fiddle player," Joe Thompson once said. "I've even been to Carnegie Hall playing fiddle. " He also played at the Kennedy Center in Washington and at folk festivals from coast to coast, including one at the Smithsonian. The National Endowment for the Arts awarded him a National Heritage Fellowship. And he is credited with helping to keep alive an African-American musical tradition - the black string band - that predates the blues and influenced country music and bluegrass.

What's the big deal about a string quartet playing on a Tuesday night in Boston? Granted, this particular string quartet was anchored by superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma. And the rest of the lineup was a little unorthodox, not to mention bluegrass: fiddler Stuart Duncan, Nickel Creek and Punch Brothers mandolinist Chris Thile, and double-bassist Edgar Meyer. And they were playing at the House of Blues, where they were joined by vocalist Aoife O'Donovan. And NCM Fathom and Sony Masterworks were cinecasting the first of the evening's two sessions live to more than 400 theaters...

PICK OF THE DAY Fiddle unplugged Since graduating from Berklee College of Music about a decade ago, violinist Laura Cortese has proven she's more than just a virtuosic fiddle champion. Her recent Acoustic Project brings together other fine female folk musicians performing Cortese's original folk-pop songs (and some covers) as a fiddle-based string quartet. The ensemble featuring Cortese, Natalie Haas, Hanneke Cassel, and Mariel Vandersteel plays tomorrow. Jan. 10, 8 p.m. $18. Club Passim, 47 Palmer St., Cambridge.

LOWELL FOLK FESTIVAL At: various locations, downtown Lowell, Friday through yesterday LOWELL - There has been a folk festival in Lowell every year since 1987. And after 25 years, the organizers of the Lowell Folk Festival seem pretty much to have it down pat. So when there's a broken generator at one of the largest stages, it's nothing more than a bump in the road; somehow, somewhere, locate another one, swap it out, and accommodate the delay. The organizers seem to have their musical formula down pat, too. It's a mix of traditional music from America and around...

The following was submitted by Me & Thee Coffeehouse: Singer/songwriter Amy Black released her sophomore album entitled One Time on March 29, 2011. After a decade of success in the business world, Black is taking a chance and following her music dreams with this new release. The rootsy collection of revealing and authentic tunes was recorded with producer, Lorne Entress (Lori McKenna, Bittertown). Available digitally, the album's foundation is a traditional American roots sound but it's not without a dash of rock and soul.

By Kim Foley MacKinnon, Town Correspondent Tristan and Tashina Clarridge and their band The Bee Eaters will be part of the seventh annual A St. Patrick's Day Celtic Sojourn hosted by WGBH radio host Brian O'Donovan. The popular concert, this year with two performances, usually sells out and features a variety of Celtic singers, musicians, and dancers. O'Donovan hosts a weekly radio show called A Celtic Sojourn, which airs on Saturday afternoons. This is the first appearance at the concert for the Clarridges, who are six time Grand National fiddle...

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown was a musician who defied and denounced categorization. A leading bluesman a half century ago, he spent much of the rest of his career exploring country, jazz, Cajun music, and American standards. Considered a guitarist and singer, he began his career as a drummer and played the fiddle, mandolin, viola, and harmonica with equal ease. Mr. Brown died Saturday in Orange, Texas, where he had gone to escape Hurricane Katrina. He was 81. He had been battling lung...

The story is familiar: As arguably the greatest rock ’n’ roll band, the Beatles ruled ’60s culture. John Lennon was the smart one and the leader; Paul McCartney, the cute No. 2; George Harrison, the restless genius-in-waiting; and Ringo Starr, the funny reality check. In “Paul McCartney: A Life,’’ Peter A. Carlin offers a reconsideration of the dynamics of the band and McCartney’s role in it, arguing that Paul was as much a leader as John. But he also offers a complex portrait of an artist whose insecurities were fanned when he was in the presence of talented musicians with strong...