Hillary Klug - Role of the Performer

If you’ve ever tried to do two things at once, you know it’s difficult to keep them both going. The classic example is when kids try (and sometimes fail) to rub their stomach and pat their head at the same time. There are so many things you could try to multitask with, and Hillary Klug has found her passion: her unique blend of fiddling and dancing.

Hillary Klug was born and raised in a small town in Tennessee, only recently moving to Nashville. She had already been practicing the dance style of clogging for years when she took her first violin lesson at age 13. Her family really had no connection to dance or music, so Klug was out on her own. Even so, her family was very supportive. She found a mentor who taught her how to fiddle–different from what she learned at violin lessons–and soon fiddling became a core part of her identity. Later on, another mentor helped her shift her clogging into buck dancing, a similar style, and inspired her to carry on this tradition. Her mentors became like a second family to her and continued to motivate her. All of these moments led to one important day when Klug was 22 years old. She parked her car in a parking garage in Nashville for a fiddling contest, and only then realized she didn’t have enough money to pay the fee to exit. But she remembered that she could do street performing, so she played her fiddle, hoping for tips. It wasn’t enough though, nobody was listening. She started tapping her foot, then stomping, and soon enough she was dancing and fiddling with a crowd watching, giving her tips. In the following months she polished this new skill, and her career has been building ever since.

(Here is the link to the full interview–it’s a wonderful look into how she became the performer she is today.)

Songs played by Hillary Klug

This video is one I particularly enjoy because she explains the story behind the piece. Stories, just like music, are so special to pass down from generation to generation. She tells it with such enthusiasm and energy which leads perfectly into her performance. It’s simple and swift, and she uses buck dancing as percussion under the melody of the fiddle. However, she doesn’t just tap to the beat–her complex steps have their own rhythm independent from the melody. Because fiddles are usually played in a group, as we will see in the next video, I think it’s very clever to use dance to add more dimension to a solo. Some steps are lighter and some are louder to complement the shaping of the fiddle’s phrases.

Moving on to the melody, it is very characteristic of Appalachian fiddle music. The whole time she is using double stops–a technique where someone plays two strings at once, so the instrument sounds out two pitches. (To hear the difference, at the very end of the piece, she only plays on one string). This creates a drone in the background for the melody to dance on top of. I can’t tell how she tuned her fiddle, but it is common in Appalachian fiddle music to tune the strings to be different than the standard pitches (G, D, A, E) so that doing double stops will create a drone that works well with the melody. This performance showcases how Klug wonderfully combines two forms of art that both originated in Appalachia.

This next piece is an Irish fiddle tune, played by two fiddles, a viola, and two banjos. Though this is an Irish piece, she still uses Appalachian buck dancing for the percussion, which blends together well both musically and historically. Irish, Scottish and Celtic people influenced the creation of Appalachia’s distinct dance and fiddling style, so they are in a way related.

The percussion this time acts more as a driving force than a featured element (though, of course, the visuals of her dancing are a focal point). The same rhythm is repeated: many quick hits and then a pause. This piece doesn’t use double stops, instead using the banjos as accompaniment for the fiddle’s melody. It adds a rich bassline to contrast the higher notes, and it’s subtle, but just makes it feel more full.

Fiddle music is generally meant to be danced to, so I love the way Klug has combined these aspects into one performance. She’s part of a less well-known group of people who play and dance (and sing!) at the same time. With her videos, she is doing what she feels honored to do: pass on traditions. Especially since she has made her way into the mainstream, more people are hearing and learning about these styles of music and dance. Even with these traditional songs, she adds her own flair that has been influenced by her upbringing. It makes for a joyous performance that brings so many people together.

Sources

Binnicker, Margaret D. “Dance: Clogging and Buckdancing.” Tennessee Encyclopedia, https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/dance-clogging-and-buckdancing/. Accessed 13 Nov. 2023.

Clark, Jed. “Fiddler and Dancer: Interview with Hillary Klug.” Acousticult, https://www.acousticult.com/interviews/fiddler-and-dancer-hillary-klug/. Accessed 13 Nov. 2023.

“Hillary Klug - Cotton Eyed Joe - Triplets.” YouTube, uploaded by Hillary Klug, 29 Mar. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSSs4KUCEDE. Accessed 13 Nov. 2023.

“Hillary Klug - Fire on the Mountain - Traditional Appalachian Fiddle.” YouTube, uploaded by Hillary Klug, 19 Oct. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FybVapyAts. Accessed 13 Nov. 2023.

“Hillary Klug - Swallowtail Jig - Irish Fiddle Tune.” YouTube, uploaded by Hillary Klug, 24 Jul. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hgf4OThJLk. Accessed 13 Nov. 2023.

“Old-Time and Appalachian Fiddle Music.” Baba Yaga Music, https://babayagamusic.com/Music/old-time-fiddle-music.htm. Accessed 13 Nov. 2023.