posting for Doc south blog

I had moved to Anchorage from Idaho in 1978 and had been teaching myself how to play fiddle for about a year. I was delighted when I found out Doc South and his family band were regularly playing music at The Bridge. I went for awhile and listened and then I started bringing my fiddle just in case I got brave enough to try and join in. I remember how surprised I was when I thought I could join a tune and then found I still couldn't play it fast enough to keep up.
Those jam sessions finally got me working on one of my most important lessons... how to play music with other people. Doc was always so welcoming and inclusive and encouraging.
It was at those sessions that I met a couple of other beginning fiddlers, Linda Milunzi and Marlene Miller, and we became life-long fiddling friends. We attended the first Talkeetna Folk Festival together and also the Alaska Folk Festival in Juneau.
Thank you so much, Doc, for all you have done to spread the joy of fiddling and folk music.

Marsha Schoeffler
Moscow, Idaho