Trio fiddling their way to Alton

Trio fiddling their way to Alton

Fiddleback performing as part of the ‘LIVE at Jacoby: Last Saturday nights' music series
March 18, 2010 5:42 PM
By VICKI BENNINGTON
For The Telegraph
ALTON — Three musicians with years of experience in a variety of styles came together in 2004 to form a new kind of group.
Fiddleback, a kind of grained maple wood often used in the construction of musical instruments such as the back and neck of a violin, became the name of the dynamic instrumental trio: Victoria Brannan and Andrew Driscoll on violins and Grant Krener on guitar. The group plays everything from hot fiddle to jazz, classical and — most recently — even a little rock.
Set to perform Saturday, March 27, at the Jacoby Arts Center, the program will feature a mix of original songs and familiar tunes, Brannan said.
"It will be a really fun concert with a variety of music," she said. "And we even have a few surprises."
Special guest bass player Terry Kippenberger will perform with Fiddleback, along with guest cellist Ranya Iqbal, who performs in a variety of styles — classical, jazz, rock, fiddle and gypsy.
"This is the first time we have incorporated a cellist, and I know it will really add something special to the sound," Brannan said. "Ranya can really jam. She has a different style and a real flair."
The diverse experiences of the three core group members help them to produce the unique sound that is Fiddleback. Guitarist Krener and violinist Driscoll come from jazz backgrounds. Violist and violinist Brannan is a fiddle player at heart. All have played in groups ranging from classical orchestras to rock and roll bands.
Brannan received a bachelor’s in music education from Furman University in Greenville, S.C., where she studied with violist Lenny Schranze. She continued viola studies with Victoria Chiang at the Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, Fla. She plays viola with Union Avenue Opera Theatre and New Opera St. Louis, and is a violin and viola instructor at Greenville College and Lewis and Clark Community College. Brannan plays a Blaze acoustic-electric five-string violin in Fiddleback.
Driscoll picked up the violin at age 6, and that was it. He studied jazz violin with Matt Glaser at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he was awarded the Stephane Grapelli Jazz Masters Incentive Award. He earned a bachelor’s degree in violin performance from Berklee and a master’s in violin performance at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, along with a Suzuki certification. He teaches the Suzuki method within the Greater St. Louis Suzuki Association. He plays violin in Fiddleback and the jazz fusion group, Bach to the Future.
Krener has been playing guitar for 20 years. He studied jazz guitar and music composition at Jefferson College and Webster University and earned a master’s degree in jazz studies. He is an adjunct professor at St. Charles (Mo.) Community College, where he directs jazz ensembles and teaches jazz guitar lessons.
Part of the group’s vision is to promote the re-establishment of the violin as a cutting-edge instrument in American music with songs like "Mambo Juice," with its jazz influence, Texas swing songs like "Big Day," bluegrass tunes like "Chasing Charlotte" and "River Run," and jazz ballads like "Waiting for You," with rock as their newest genre addition.
Fiddleback performs at a variety of venues, including concert halls such as The Sheldon in St. Louis, schools, libraries, and festivals such as the St. Louis Art Fair. Fiddleback’s newest album is a collection of 12 original collaborations written by the three musicians, ranging from soulful ballads to hot swing, with the goal of writing new, exciting music for strings.
The St. Louis Fiddle Ensemble also will perform at JAC in conjunction with Fiddleback. The ensemble is an eclectic group of students aged 9 to 20 who perform bluegrass, jazz and blues fiddle styles.
Driscoll and Brannan founded the ensemble to give students an opportunity to just get together and play.
"We realized there wasn’t really anything like that available," Brannan said. "It’s so important for young players to have a chance to just ‘play’ with other young musicians."
Driscoll has 11 years of experience as a string teacher, and Brannan has 12. So, when the two started the St. Louis Fiddle Ensemble, the students not only had a chance to play together but soon found themselves learning new techniques along the way.
The Fiddleback concert featuring the St. Louis Fiddle Ensemble will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 27, at the Jacoby Arts Center. Tickets cost $8, with a cash bar available. CDs will be available for purchase. For more information, visit www.jacobyartscenter.org or www.fiddlebackmusic.com, or call (618) 462-5222