'Dull Chisel' by Garry Harrison - IACA MAP Final Performance 10/23/22

“Dull Chisel" is an original fiddle tune by Garry Harrison, played on the fiddle in AEAE tuning. Performers: Mareva Lindo on fiddle, Genevieve Koester on fiddle, Jay Desrosiers on mandolin, and Cliff Harrison on guitar.

This is one of several videos from Genevieve Koester and Mareva Lindo's Oct. 23, 2022, performance at the Galway Arms in Chicago, in culmination of their third year of work together under the IACA's Master Apprentice Program.

The night featured fiddle tunes and songs from a variety of Illinois musicians; some history behind the music; and original tunes by the late Garry Harrison, master fiddler and prolific collector of Illinois old-time music. The vast majority of the music featured was collected in the 1970s by Harrison and friends, visiting old-time musicians throughout central and southern Illinois. A large portion of the field tapes were collected in a book and three-CD set titled Dear Old Illinois.

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BIO: GENEVIEVE KOESTER
Born and raised in Charleston, Illinois, Master Artist Genevieve Koester was introduced to old-time string band music before she was born. She spent her childhood attending square dances and music festivals, and learned to play the fiddle from her late father, Garry Harrison (Indian Creek Delta Boys, Red Prairie Dawn), who was an influence in the world of old time fiddling from the 1970s until his death in 2012. Her mother, Gaye Harrison (Indian Creek Delta Boys), still resides in Charleston, playing and teaching Illinois old time music. In 2008 Garry, Genevieve, and Smith Koester earned 1st place in the Traditional Band contest at the Appalachian String Band Festival (Clifftop, WV.) with the band The New Mules. In 2009 they released the album Pride of America. A reviewer from the Old Time Herald said, “They’ve managed to unearth a completely new vein of material, including both songs and tunes, which has never before been commercially recorded.”

BIO: MAREVA LINDO
Mareva has deep roots both in her hometown of Chicago and around the Prairie State. She’s been steeped in folk music all her life, first with her family, then as the creator of The Archives Podcast at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Since 2019 Mareva has been apprenticing under Genevieve Koester to learn the traditional fiddle tunes and songs of Illinois, funded by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency’s Master-Apprentice Program. Mareva performs regularly with old-time string band Prairie State Ramblers, has toured nationally with vocal duo Spitzer & Mareva, and regularly plays for contra and square dances. She’s produced concerts, dances and festivals for years with fellow members of the Old Lazarus' Harp folk collective, including founding and running the Midwest Sing & Stomp festival 2016-2019.