The first weekend of Denver's National Western Stock Show sees fiddlers from across the state and around the nation descend on the city to prove their mastery at the .
The musicians mingle with cowboys and livestock, as they warm up in a corner behind the sheep in the junior barn. The competition itself is right next door, in the Beef Palace Auction arena.
Erin Haas, president of the , the group that runs the contest, says they鈥檝e been holding the fiddle championships in the same location for more than 20 years.
鈥淚nitially we were in the Hall of Education, in a booth, but it was such a popular stop that it was clogging up the rows with everyone watching,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o then they moved us in here, and we've been very comfortable ever since.鈥�
Haas is a fiddler herself, with decades of experience under her belt. She says the competitions bring together a community of people bonded by the music of the West.
鈥淲e call it our fiddle family,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檝e known some of my fiddling friends since I was a kid.鈥�
More than 70 fiddlers - some as young as 6-years-old - compete for cash prizes, silver belt buckles and, of course, glory. That includes Jesse Quintana, a 16-year-old from Lakewood.
鈥淥h, man, This is everything. This is what we fiddle for,鈥� Quintana said, moments after wrapping up a triumphant performance in the . 鈥淚 mean, competitions are always just so much fun.鈥�
Quintana said he鈥檚 been playing the fiddle since toddlerhood.
鈥淚 started when I was 2. I had a little 1/32-size violin,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 did one lesson as a classical student, but I didn't enjoy it too much, so I just switched to fiddle.鈥�
As physical objects, fiddles and violins are one and the same. The difference is all in the playing: specifically, the degree of formality and adherence to sheet music.
鈥淲hen you're on the violin, if you play notes that aren't on the page you made a mistake,鈥� said Vi Wickam of Loveland, 鈥淎nd when you're playing fiddle music, it's really about being stylistically connected to that music, and not about the specific notes you play. And there's a lot more freedom for improvising around the melody and really letting your soul hang out.鈥�
Wickam has been playing the instrument for more than 40 years.
鈥淲ell, if you ask my mom, when I was four years old, they gave me one of those little wind-up guitars that had the plastic strings, and I held it up like a violin,鈥� he said.
According to Wickam, in a contest like this, judges award points for both musical and technical perfection. He said the thrill of competing is like nothing he鈥檚 ever experienced.
鈥淵ou're kind of blocking the audience out when you're playing in a competition,鈥� He said. 鈥淵ou know that there are people listening, looking to pick apart what you did, and they're analyzing it, and they're listening for mistakes. What they're listening for is that whole package of the content and the execution.鈥�
According to Haas, contest-style fiddling got its start in the rural West.
鈥淧eople would get together to compete because it鈥檚 entertainment,鈥� she said. 鈥淩anchers and farmers would do it to take the load off. It was the music of square dances and then became a competition. When young fiddlers are competing, and there鈥檚 money on the line, they try harder. They want to beat their friends.鈥�
Serious fiddlers travel to compete on the national fiddling circuit, but the Colorado Fiddle Championships are a regional favorite.
鈥淚t's one of the bigger contests in the nation,鈥� Wickam said. 鈥淚t's a well-respected contest.鈥�
He says fiddle music is just another part of the cowboy culture that everyone comes to the stock show to celebrate.
鈥淚t's a beautiful style of music,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd wherever you have people, you will have people who find the style and like it, and it resonates with their soul.鈥�
