Between sessions at Nashville’s famed Oceanway Studios, Ross Holmes took advantage of a free half hour and a microphone ready to record solo violin. “My engineer Austin Atwood said we had enough time to attempt one pass of Overture,” says Holmes, a celebrated fiddler from Nashville and Texas. “I was hoping for a reference recording, but the gods smiled. The entire experience was surreal.”
Overture is a virtuosic 15-minute work for solo violin, and part of Holmes’ contribution to the lineage of American folk music composed in the classical tradition. It’s the prologue to the 13-movement American Fiddle Suite, a work-in-progress for fiddle and orchestra in collaboration with DC-based composer, Aaron Malone. Eager to integrate the influence of groundbreaking crossover projects of the ‘90s like Short Trip Home, Appalachia Waltz and Uncommon Ritual with the spirit of populist American classics by Charles Ives, George Gershwin and Aaron Copeland, Holmes aimed for new heights.
“Overture is the recording I’m most proud of,” adds Holmes. “My heart and sincerity are reflected in this piece, hope for inclusivity and acceptance of all people as I hear it spoken through melody. The world is upside right now and we’ve all turned to the arts for escape and inspiration. This is my offering.”
In keeping with the aural tradition of his fiddle upbringing, Overture is composed, but not written out. He is, for now, the only person in the world who can perform the work. Here’s the scene: Overture begins at dawn and is the story of an American day. Nighttime is a movement of intrigue, not of repose. The opening theme is conceived as a secular prayer called ‘American Hymn,’ followed by variations. A new tonality enters, evoking Middle Eastern intervals as a tribute to America’s immigrant history and its melting pot ethos. The fiddle then takes a stroll through a Norman Rockwell-esque scene with allusions to Gershwin and Texas fiddle double stops. Fiery passages touch on European classical heroes before the piece revisits the opening theme, as if played by an American gypsy for dancers in full revelry around a fire.
Holmes’ fiddle has taken him around the globe, from the Silk Road in China and Carnegie Hall to the Glastonbury festival. Born in Texas, he grew up steeped in fiddle contest culture. His progressive acoustic band Cadillac Sky was signed to the label run by country music legend, Ricky Skaggs. From there, he spent years recording and touring with Mumford & Sons, Warren Haynes, Bruce Hornsby and is a current member of the history-making Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. In 2018, Holmes released his first solo recording, a set of Texas fiddle tunes treated with the nuance and interpretive bravado normally associated with sonatas and partita
