Texas String Drive - Jimmie Don Bates

.."Texas String Drive" Awesome! 

(my personal favorite pick!)

you can' t help but enjoy this, REALLY!

Texas String Drive brings to you an eclectic mix of acoustic

music from a broad range of influences such as Texas style

and Irish fiddling, country and western, bluegrass, swing

music, and even a few originals.  The music is very diverse

 ranging from slow waltzes to fast breakdowns.

Jimmie Don Bates of Austin, wanted to create a band that

 incorporated contest style fiddling with emphasis on

twin fiddles and banjo.  The band started through music at a

fiddler’s jam session hosted by Artz’ Rib House. Jimmie Don

met banjo player Rolf Sieker and began to jam, creating

two-part harmonies for the fiddle and banjo. Roberta Rast,

Bob Pool and James Wright  joined the group shortly after,

adding twin fiddle and rhythm. Texas String Drive was

named to represent acoustic music from Texas and the

drive or groove that fiddlers try to achieve when jamming

 and competing in fiddle contests. 

Texas Old Time Fiddling traditionally has been

 passed down from one fiddler to another from

one generation to the next. For many years,

sheet music and recordings were hard to find.

Lovers of the music attended contests,

performances and jam sessions to learn from others,

incorporating various styles and textures into their music.