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michael

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About Me


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I am a self taught musician that can play various stringed instruments from fiddle to upright bass. Not long after placing in the National Merle Travis Thumbpicking Guitar Contest in 2000, I developed an interest in old time fiddle music; learning over 200 tunes by ear in less than four years. Having won local fiddle contests in Greenup and surrounding counties and placing in other events around the tri-state. Find more about myself at http://www.geocities.com/kygarv7
In July 2004, a traditional arts grant I proposed was approved by the Kentucky Arts Council to start my official apprenticeship with master fiddler Roger Cooper in Lewis County, KY. Together, We have played at the Kentucky Folklife Festival in Frankfort along with other events sponsored by the Kentucky Arts Council.
In 2006, I launched KentuckyMemories.com to promote future projects related to our specific region's abundance in traditional fiddle music.
I had a great time going to IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) convention in Louisville from 2000-2004 and met a lot of great people. Other interests include Violin repair/restoration/setup, re-hair bows, etc. Really trying to specialize in bow work right now. ..

My Interests

Like a real hillbilly, I have pretty much learned everything on my own including PC Repair, Website Design, Html Programming, Audio Restoration and Archiving, Field Recording, Video Editing, Media Production and Photography. I'm a full time musician so that is really all I do besides working on other peoples violins and stuff.

I'd like to meet:

Other musicians with similar interests and any supporters of Old Time Music from Kentucky Memories.

Music:

In chronological order: Neil Young, Guns n' Roses(Age 5), Metallica, Slayer, (Age 9)Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, (age 11) Merle Travis (Age 14) Bluegrass and Old Time Fiddle (Age 17). Now I am Insane!Other Bands I REALLY DO listen to often;(Rock) : Alice Cooper, Faith No More, Guns n' Roses, Danzig, King Diamond, Megadeth, Twisted Sister, Control Denied, Old Metallica, Old Sepultura and many occasional others.(Black/Death Metal) : Arcturus, Amon Amarth, Beherit, Black Decease, Broken Hope, Cannibal Corpse, Death, Emperor, Deicide, Hecate Enthroned, Many lost JL AMERICA BANDS, Kataklysm, Rotting Christ, Primigenium, Saint Evil, Samael, Ulver and many occasional others.(Bluegrass/Acoustic) : Tony Rice, Doyle Lawson, J.D. Crowe, Bluegrass Album Band, Doc Watson, Mikey Cleaveland, Mountain Heart, Jim Hurst & Missy Raines, Eddie Adcock, Eddie Pennington, Merle Travis, Andrew Sisters, Django Reinhardt & Stephan Grappelli, Gerry Robichaud, Ed Haley, J.P. Fraley, Kenny Baker and many other fiddle and guitar heros.

Movies:

I tend to avoid movies because I hate knowing that for the next 2 hours of my life I'll be sitting and starring at a tv screen, but sometimes I will watch one with a friend. I was greatly affected by the Beavis and Butthead virus at age 10, shorting my attention-span to only within music video limits.

Television:

I enjoyed seeing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise revived and too bad that new He-Man series didn't work out. I use to watch Cartoon Network all day, but Adult Swim is getting ridiculous! Now I watch the 24hr NickToons channel. Probably more than anyone.

Books:

I like the Bible because it can teach you to live and prepare you to die. Also subscribe to GuitarWorld and GuitarOne magaizne, but as for recommending a book I would say "Flatland" by A. Square along with "The Fourth Dimension Simply Explained"

Heroes:

Axl Rose with Slash, Chris Barnes, Merle Travis, Chet Atkins, Steve Vai, Jason Becker, Kenny Baker, My Grandfather Bert Garvin...

My Blog

Teaching Guitar at ACTC in Ashland...click link for details!

    All is going well with my guitar class at OUSC and now the class I proposed for ACTC's lifelong learning courses will be starting on Mondays starting M...
Posted by michael on Sat, 26 Jan 2008 03:11:00 PST

Kentucky Muse: Mountain Music Gathering on KET

Kentucky Educational TV came to JP Fraley's Mountain Music Gatherin' this past September and filmed a documentary about old-time/mountain music highlighting it and fiddling in particular at the Fraley...
Posted by michael on Sat, 26 Jan 2008 03:24:00 PST

Greenup Old Fashion Days, 1st place

I wish I could say there were a hundred fiddlers competing, but this year's lineup consisted of only two local players! Myself and fellow Flatwoods fiddler Karson Glancy took first in our re...
Posted by michael on Sun, 07 Oct 2007 07:05:00 PST

After Seven Years, Ed Haley Champion Fiddler 2007!

    I first entered the Ed Haley Memorial Old Time Fiddle Contest in 2001, only about a year after I started playing fiddle. Since then I've won several 2nd, 3rd, even 4th place on one ...
Posted by michael on Sun, 16 Sep 2007 03:50:00 PST

New Ashland Daily Independent news article about me!

A fool for the fiddle Flatwoods man collecting honors for his talent Local fiddler Michael Garvin has placed second at the Hocking College Fiddle Contest in Nelsonville, Ohio. Garvin comes from a l...
Posted by michael on Wed, 13 Jun 2007 10:30:00 PST

Teaching at Cowan Creek Mountain Music School June 25th-29th, 2007

         The sixth annual Cowan Creek Mountain Music School, June 25 - 29, 2007 will bring together some of this country's finest old time musicians, along with stu...
Posted by michael on Tue, 27 Feb 2007 02:58:00 PST

New Releases from Musical Traditions Records (UK)

Check out these new releases from Musical Traditions Records:      I have been fortunate enough to be included in this exhaustive collection of songs, ballads and tunes from Kentu...
Posted by michael on Mon, 26 Feb 2007 03:33:00 PST

Book Publishing for "Sounds of the Mountain Soul"

  The Kentucky Music Hall of Fame and Museum along with Rockcastle County Middle School presents "Sounds of the Mountain Soul". A book publishing project compiling interviews with over 18 local a...
Posted by michael on Fri, 15 Dec 2006 03:07:00 PST

Offering Violin & Bow Full Service

This time two years ago, I had little experience re-hairing violin bows, but now I can promise great results. Feel free to send me some work! Specialties include Bow Hairing, Wrapping, Replacing ...
Posted by michael on Sat, 02 Dec 2006 11:10:00 PST

Ashland Daily Independent, Spotlight on me!

"All just for fun"   Self-taught fiddle player strives to be the best without forgetting his motto   Two things Michael Garvin has always had are toys and music. "From Legos and cassettes t...
Posted by michael on Sat, 11 Nov 2006 12:46:00 PST