Dirk Powell

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Dirk Powell (center) with his daughter Amelia Powell and Ric Robertson at MerleFest 2019 in Wilkesboro

Dirk Powell (* 1969 ) is an American fiddle , banjo and accordion player , music teacher and composer . He is considered one of the world's leading experts in the Appalachian style of banjo and fiddle playing in old-time music .

Life

Powell learned to play the guitar as a child from his father and the banjo and fiddle from his grandfather; He learned the piano at the age of eight and the harpsichord at the age of ten . His grandfather introduced him to traditional Appalachian music, which he soon played professionally. At the 1989 Folk Festival in West Virginia , he met Dewey Balfa and discovered Cajun music . After Balfa's death in 1992, he founded the group Balfa Toujours with his daughters Nelda and Christine Balfa , which recorded five albums. Christine Balfa later became his wife. With her he had two daughters.

He also founded the Fiddler trio L-7s in 1990 with Bruce Molsky and Rafe Stefanini . After winning the Mulate's Accordion Contest in 1994, Powell began teaching the accordion and made two instructional videos about playing the Cajun accordion . As a fiddler and banjo player, he recorded his debut album If I Go Ten Thousand Miles , which was followed in 1999 by Hand Me Down . He also toured with musicians such as Eric Clapton , Joan Baez , Rhiannon Giddens , Linda Ronstadt , Jack White and Loretta Lynn and entered Riverdance - The Show and the documentary The Irish Empire of the BBC on. As a film music composer and musician, he worked on several documentaries and feature films, such as B. Ang Lee's Ride with the Devil , Anthony Minghellas On the Road to Cold Mountain (Cold Mountain) and Bertrand Tavernier's Murder in Louisiana (In the Electric Mist) , with.

Discography (solo albums)

  • 1996: If I Go Ten Thousand Miles , Rounder Records
  • 1999: Hand Me Down , Rounder Records
  • 2004: Time Again , Rounder Records
  • 2014: Walking Through Clay , Sugar Hill Records
  • 2020: When I Wait For You , Vertical Records

Web links

Commons : Dirk Powell  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ biography | Dirk Powell | Home Page
  2. ↑ Biography dirkpowell.org. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
personal data
SURNAME Powell, Dirk
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American fiddle, banjo and accordion player, music teacher and composer
DATE OF BIRTH 1969