Appalachian Ayre

Appalachian Ayre is a dreamy meditation on the fascinating connection between baroque performance practice and early bluegrass. Growing up in Virginia, I was often struck by the way bluegrass players held their bows in the middle, rather than at the end, where classical players hold their bows today. This idiosyncrasy I also noticed when I first encountered period instrument ensembles.

Indeed the early manner of holding the bow, brought over by the early colonists from the Old World, remained frozen in time as bluegrass fiddling spread through America. There are also some melodic ornaments that connect these seemingly disparate genres, and the plektrum sounds of the theorbo are a predecessor to the banjo. Enamored of both Americana and Baroque music, I created this lyrical homage to both.