West Marin Fiddle Camp 2024 Concert

Join us for a magical evening of music in the Commonweal Garden, celebrating the amazing West Marin Fiddle Camp.

Arrive at 6:30 pm, and enjoy a bowl of delicious gumbo (vegetarian option available), made by our Louisiana-native chef Kelley Courville.
As the concert begins, around 7pm, the talented teaching staff will perform on stages nestled throughout the Garden; participants will walk the grounds, finding music in the sweetest of places. As the sun sets we will find our way with a musical procession back to the fire circle and a joint concert with the musicians followed by a dance and jams with students and teachers alike.

This event will be completely outdoors. It gets chilly in Bolinas at night so bring a warm jacket.

Parking is extremely limited; please carpool. If coming alone in a car, please consider making a donation for parking (suggested $10).

This event is raising funds in support of this camp! Please consider making a donation with your purchase. Thank you so much for your support!

Read more about the world-class performers below.

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West Marin Fiddle Camp Summer 2024 Teacher Bios:

One of the brightest young talents to emerge in Cajun, Creole and Zydeco (Louisiana French) music over the last decade, Cedric Watson is a four-time Grammy-nominated fiddler, singer, accordionist & songwriter with seemingly unlimited potential.

Originally from San Felipe, TX (population 868), Cedric made his first appearance at the age of 19 at the Zydeco Jam at The Big Easy in Houston, TX. Just two years later, he moved to south Louisiana, quickly immersing himself in French music and language. Over the next several years, Cedric performed French music in 17 countries and on 7 full-length albums with various groups, including the Pine Leaf Boys, Corey Ledet, Les Amis Creole with Ed Poullard and J.B. Adams, and with his own group, Bijou Creole.

Cedric Watson & Bijou Creole resurrect the ancient sounds of the French and Spanish contra dance and bourré alongside the spiritual rhythms of the Congo tribes of West Africa, who were sold as slaves in the Carribean and Louisiana by the French and Spanish.

With an apparently bottomless repertoire of songs at his fingertips, Cedric plays everything from forgotten Creole melodies and obscure Dennis McGee reels to more modern Cajun and Zydeco songs, even occasionally throwing in a bluegrass fiddle tune or an old string band number. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he is also a prolific songwriter, writing almost all of his songs on his double row Hohner accordion. Cedric’s songs channel his diverse ancestry (African, French, Native American and Spanish) to create his own brand of sounds.

Cedric’s albums are a tapestry of pulsing rhythms and Creole poetry, and his live performances are unforgettable, all at once progressive and nostalgic.

“We don’t want to forget that one of the biggest contributions to our culture, music and heritage was made by the Native Americans. I find that the old Zydeco rhythms sound like a mix of African and Native American ceremonial rhythms. This mélange very possibly came about through the intermingling of the Native American population and the Maroons.” – Cedric Watson

United States • Canada • Haiti • French Guyana • Martinique • Jamaica • Mexico • France • England • Ireland • Whales • Germany • Sweden • Finland • Norway • Spain • Thailand

“To propel our Louisiana culture into the future seems to be quite a task, but if one lives for the music as Cedric does, the path seems effortless. These songs may well be early brushstrokes of a life’s worth of possibilities, not only for himself, but also for the identity survival of a culture.” -Michael Doucet

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Riley’s deep roots in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina come through in all he does, from his driving clawhammer banjo style to his slippery, soulful fiddling and powerful ballad singing. He’s known as a leading banjo player and maker, and teller of powerful stories, around the world. He’s performed and recorded with the likes of Willie Nelson and Allison Krauss.

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Over the last few years, musician, artist, and collaborator Nokosee Fields has proven himself to be one of the most provocative, significant, and capable voices in the North American traditional music scene. A quest for balance shapes his work, whether he’s reconciling the weight of tradition with his creative impulses; challenging the demands and vacuity of colonialist, capitalist structures and systems with the richness of his experience and upbringing as a member of the Osage, Creek and Cherokee Nations; or simply anchoring the beat in the rhythmic push and pull of the multiple bands in which he works. The great nephew of celebrated Cherokee fiddler Sam O’Fields, Nokosee carries a longstanding Cherokee fiddling tradition into the present. Through powerful live and recorded performances, he lovingly and playfully reimagines his tradition with immense skills and sensitivity as a performer of traditional fiddle music.

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Is a bluegrass/flat-picking guitar and mandolin player born and raised in Oregon, now residing in Colorado. She has played music all her life and with her sister Lela Miatke in the band Rainy and the Rattlesnakes.

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With Michigan roots and Nashville influences, Josh’s rich history of bluegrass and old-time music is a special treat. Josh is currently touring the country with the all-star Sierra Ferrell band and was a founding and former member of Lindsay Lou and the Flatbellys in 2011. We’re honored to welcome him to California this summer!
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Originally from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Oliver Bates Craven is a Nashville based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist currently touring with Sierra Ferrell.

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Grammy-award winner and member of the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame Peter Rowan is a singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades. From his early years playing under the tutelage of Bluegrass veteran Bill Monroe, to his time in Old & In the Way and his breakout as a solo musician and bandleader, Rowan has built a devoted, international fan base through a solid stream of recordings, collaborative projects, and constant touring.

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Riley Calcagno is a fiddle, banjo, and guitar player, originally from Seattle, Washington. He grew up going to fiddle festivals and camps on the west coast, where he soaked up old-time music as he ran amongst jams and learned from older masters of the style. At age 7, he co-founded The Onlies, a stringband that is somehow still playing and performing together. In 2018, the band released a collaborative record with mentors and friends John Herrmann and Meredith McIntosh as the band The Ruglifters. Riley also plays in the duo Viv & Riley with guitar player and singer Vivian Leva. They have released albums of original songs on Free Dirt Records in 2021 and 2023 that were featured by NPR, Rolling Stone, and No Depression. Riley is an experienced teacher and has a passion and patience for passing along tradition and technique. Along with the members of The Onlies, he is a co-artistic director of The Festival of American Fiddle Tunes. He currently resides in Durham, North Carolina.

Vivian Leva was born and raised in Lexington, Virginia by respected old-time musicians James Leva and Carol Elizabeth Jones. She spent all of her summers at regional fiddlers conventions and camps developing her singing, songwriting, and guitar playing from a young age. Since 2016, she has toured across the U.S. with her old time stringband, The Onlies, and has performed across the U.S., Canada, and U.K. with her duo Viv & Riley. She has also released three albums of original music to critical acclaim. Along the way, Vivian has taught at camps across North America including Nimblefingers, The Swannanoa Gathering,The Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, and Big Sur Fiddle Camp. She currently resides in Durham, NC.

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Riley Calcagno is a fiddle, banjo, and guitar player, originally from Seattle, Washington. He grew up going to fiddle festivals and camps on the west coast, where he soaked up old-time music as he ran amongst jams and learned from older masters of the style. At age 7, he co-founded The Onlies, a stringband that is somehow still playing and performing together. In 2018, the band released a collaborative record with mentors and friends John Herrmann and Meredith McIntosh as the band The Ruglifters. Riley also plays in the duo Viv & Riley with guitar player and singer Vivian Leva. They have released albums of original songs on Free Dirt Records in 2021 and 2023 that were featured by NPR, Rolling Stone, and No Depression. Riley is an experienced teacher and has a passion and patience for passing along tradition and technique. Along with the members of The Onlies, he is a co-artistic director of The Festival of American Fiddle Tunes. He currently resides in Durham, North Carolina. 

Host or Publisher West Marin Fiddle Camp