Benny Thomasson

This man is one of the legends of Texas fiddling, and beyond that a musician of such great power and scope that he is often compared to luminaries such as Charlie Parker for jazz or Isaac Stern for classical music. Meaning that just the sound of his instrument, instantly recognizable from the first few bars he plays, creates an immediate sense of intensity in the music that lesser players would have to take a few moments working up a sweat to create, if they could. His musical reach is as big as the state he came from, extending out in the development of Western swing as well as providing a historical background of traditional fiddling. He is one of the best examples of so-called "fiddlers," who despite technical and musical differences are violinists just like anyone else, playing the violin in a virtuoso manner without the benefit of classical training. Without the standard he set, there would surely be no players of the Mark O'Connor variety. In fact, the white instrument the latter hotshot fiddler plays was given to him by Thomasson himself. He was one of ten children in a music-loving family. Both his father, Luke Thomasson, and uncle, Ed Thomasson, were well-known area fiddlers, and Benny has often recalled in interviews a memory of his father practicing a new tune, which eventually became the fiddle standard "Midnight on the Water." Local musicians hung around the house jamming and the way Benny tells it, back then a musician didn't have to look around for gigs. Anywhere Luke went, for example, somebody would ask him to play his fiddle. Keeping appointments or sticking to any kind of schedule would be impossible, because one never knew how long one of these spontaneous fiddle fests might last. Benny started playing fiddle at the age of three, but he did need his...