Bill Garlen porch picking with the amazing Marina Pendleton on old Doc Watson tune, 'Walk On Boy.'

Bill Garlen and family friend Marina Pendleton picking on the porch after Sunday dinner.

Marina Pendleton is a Texas-born, Oklahoma-raised, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter based in Las Vegas, Nevada. She is a versatile musician and entertainer who picks folk music on guitar, chops bluegrass mandolin, and plays Texas fiddle tunes with equal joy and passion. Marina’s debut album is a Western Swing love letter to the fearless, the free spirit, and the hopeless romantic. “I Don’t Want Money EP” is produced by Jenee Fleenor and is now streaming everywhere.

Marina picked up her first (tiny) fiddle at age two and began studying the Suzuki Violin method, along with her sister, Emma Jane. A few years later, dad Scott dusted off his guitar, mom Virginia picked up mandolin, and together they formed the Pendleton Family Fiddlers.

Marina's love of music flourished during eight busy years of performing with her family band. She played nearly 600 live shows before graduating high school. Highlights from those years include performing for Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, and Toby Keith, playing onstage with Lyle Lovett, Mark O'Connor, and Byron Berline, and making many TV appearances, local and national. Marina also won state fiddle titles in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Colorado, and placed in the top 2 at the 2008 Walnut Valley National Old Time Fiddle Championship in Winfield, KS.

Marina studied classical violin for over 18 years and played first violin in her university orchestra. She played the FIDDLE part in Front Porch Theatricals' professional production of Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's bluegrass musical Bright Star in Pittsburgh during the 2019 season. She won the Bluegrass Fiddle division at the 84th Annual Galax Old Fiddlers Convention in Galax, VA in August 2019; played fiddle in the 2019 IBMA band showcase; placed in the top 3 at the Walnut Valley Old Time Fiddle Championship in Winfield, KS in September 2019; and earned runner-up at the Texas State Fiddle Championship in November 2019. In 2021, she was selected as one of the original Freshgrass Festival Awards top 3 Fiddle Finalists.