Bruce Molsky

Visiting Scholar

Affiliated Departments

American Roots Music Program

Strings

bmolsky@berklee.edu

617-747-6521

Artist website

For media inquiries, please contact Media Relations

Courses Taught (2)

Old Time Fiddle Ensemble

ENST-253

Directed Study in Improvisation

PS-498

Career Highlights

Instruments include, fiddle, anjo, guitar, and voice
Leader of Molsky's Mountain Drifters, with Berklee alumni Allison de Groot and Stash Wyslouch
Member of Andy Irvine and Dònal Lunny's Mozaik, Transatlantic Sessions with Jerry Douglas and Aly Bain, Fiddlers 4 with Darol Anger, Michael Doucet and Rushad Eggleston, Rauland Ramblers with Arto Järvelä and Ånon Egeland
Recordings with Rounder Records, Compass Records, Tree Frog Music, and others
Feature pieces in Mother Jones, No Depression, Bloomberg News, Fiddle Magazine, The Old Time Herald, and others
Produced albums for Joe Walsh, Mark Simos, April Verch, Karen Tweed, and Tatiana Hargreaves

Awards

In 2015, produced "The Back of Winter" by new Berklee alumnus Adrianna Ciccone, which won her Instrumentalist of the Year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards

In Their Own Words

"We drill down on playing techniques unique to old time mountain music, in a nuts-and-bolts way so that students can use them in their own creative process. We listen to recordings of the old masters to feel the music the way that they might have. Learning to listen to recordings for the details is a skill itself that students can use in any style. Students come away with a repertoire of tunes and songs and a knowledge of where the music comes from."

"I spent my earliest years visiting old mountain fiddlers in the southern states, and was fortunate to have learned at the knees of some of the greats who are no longer with us. Their lessons in music and life, along with decades of study of old recordings, 25+ years of solo and band touring, studio production and teaching has given me a broad palette of experiences and playing techniques that I love to share with my students."