Jay Ungar & Molly Mason

Their story began with a chance meeting in the late 1970s at the Towne Crier, where two musicians—each traveling a very different path—recognized something rare in one another. What followed became one of the most enduring and celebrated partnerships in American acoustic music.

He was a Bronx kid, shaped by ’40s and ’50s pop and traditional music found in Greenwich Village and the back roads of the South. She grew up in Washington State, drawn to fiddle traditions, Swing Era jazz, and classic American songs. Together, Jay Ungar and Molly Mason forged a sound that is warm, lyrical, deeply rooted, and unmistakably their own.

In the early 1980s, their collaboration expanded into the influential band Fiddle Fever, whose recordings are now considered classics. Around the same time, Jay founded the Ashokan Music & Dance Camps, now a world-renowned gathering place for traditional music and dance—programs that Molly would later help shape and lead.

A pivotal moment came when filmmaker Ken Burns discovered Jay’s composition Ashokan Farewell, which became the iconic theme of The Civil War. The piece earned an Emmy nomination for Jay, helped the soundtrack win a Grammy, and has since become an American folk classic—performed around the world by musicians across genres.

Beyond that singular work, Jay & Molly’s music spans romantic fiddle tunes, film scores, Stephen Foster songs, and dance music drawing from Appalachian, Scandinavian, Celtic, Klezmer, swing, and blues traditions. Their performances—heard everywhere from A Prairie Home Companion to concert halls worldwide—are intimate, masterful, and deeply human.

SAMPLE SONG

To hear Jay Ungar & Molly Mason live is to experience American music as a living, breathing tradition—shared with grace, humility, and joy.

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American Roots, Folk, Singer Songwriter

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