Charlie Higgins

{{Short description|American old time fiddle player}} {{about||the British comedian|Charlie Higgins (comedian)|the American saxophonist|Chuck Higgins}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Charlie Higgins | image = | caption = | image_size = | birth_name = Charles H. Higgins | alias = Uncle Charlie | birth_date = {{birth date|1878|02|26}} | origin = Near Galax, Virginia, U.S. | death_place = | death_date = November 25, 1967 (aged 89) | instrument = Fiddle | genre = Old-time | occupation = | years_active = circa 1900–early 1960s | label = | associated_acts = | website = }}

'''Charlie Higgins''' (February 26, 1878{{snd}}November 25, 1967) was an American old time fiddle player from Galax, Virginia.<ref>{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | title = SSDI Details | work = Social Security Death Index | publisher = Asbury Park Press | year = 2008 | url = http://php.app.com/ssa/details.php?recordID=24025210 | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2009-10-25}}</ref><ref>

{{cite book | last = Blue Ridge Music Makers Guild | authorlink = | title = Music Makers of the Blue Ridge Plateau | publisher = Arcadia Publishing | year = 2008 | location = Mount Pleasant, SC | pages = 36 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 978-0-7385-5410-5}}

</ref> Higgins said that he was influenced by other old-time fiddlers including Emmett Lundy and Fiddlin' Arthur Smith.<ref>

{{cite book | last = Reiner | first = David | authorlink = |author2=Peter Anick | title = Old-Time Fiddling Across America | publisher = Mel Bay Publications | year = 1989 | location = Pacific, MO | pages = 83 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 0-7866-5381-7}}

</ref> His style of playing was said to be very innovative and creative. Higgins played regularly with Wade Ward, Dale Poe and other old-time musicians in the Galax area. Recordings of Charlie Higgins are few, and limited to field recordings made between 1959 and 1961 by folklorists Alan Lomax, Peter Hoover and John Cohen. At the time of these recordings Higgins was over eighty years of age, and apparently was not recorded during his prime. However, he was still good enough at age 82 to win first place at the 1960 Galax Old Fiddler's Convention.<ref>{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | title = 1960 Winners | publisher = Old Fiddler's Convention | date = 2009-08-09 | url = http://www.oldfiddlersconvention.com/1960win.htm | doi = | accessdate = 2009-10-25}}</ref> Higgins died in 1967 and is buried with his wife Mallie at the Coal Creek Community Church in Galax, Virginia.<ref>

{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | title = Higgins, Charles H & Mallie H | work = Headstones | publisher = MyRootsPlace.com | date = 2008-07-20 | url = http://www.myrootsplace.com/showmedia.php?mediaID=12848 | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2009-10-25}}

</ref>

==Discography== {| class="wikitable" ! Year ! Title ! Label ! Number ! Notes |- |1962||''37th Old Time Fiddler's Convention at Union Grove North Carolina''||Folkways||FW02434||1961 field recording<ref>{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | title = 37th Old Time Fiddler's Convention at Union Grove North Carolina | publisher = Smithsonian Folkways | year = 1962 | url = http://www.folkways.si.edu/albumdetails.aspx?itemid=332 | doi = | accessdate = 2009-10-25}}</ref> |- |1997||''Southern Journey. Vol. 2: Ballads and Breakdowns''||Rounder||1702||1959 field recordings by Alan Lomax<ref>

{{cite web | last = Keefer | first = Jane | authorlink = | title = Folk Music - An Index to Recorded Resources | work = Folk Music Performer Index - Hig to Hil | publisher = Folk Music Index | url = http://www.ibiblio.org/keefer/hp07.htm#Higgcha | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2009-05-11}}

</ref> |- |2001||''there is no eye: music for photographs''||Smithsonian Folkways|| SFW CD 40091||1961 field recordings by John Cohen<ref>{{cite web | last = Stradling | first = Rod | authorlink = Rod Stradling | title = there is no eye: music for photographs | publisher = Musical Traditions | date = 2002-10-01 | url = http://www.mustrad.org.uk/reviews/no_eye.htm | doi = | accessdate = 2021-05-08}}</ref> |- |2004||''Uncle Charlie Higgins, Wade Ward & Dale Poe ''||Field Recorders' Collective||FRC-501||1959 field recordings by Peter Hoover<ref>

{{cite web| title =2004 CDs| publisher =Field Recorders' Collective| url =http://www.fieldrecorder.com/docs/store2004.htm#| accessdate =2009-05-11| url-status =dead| archiveurl =https://web.archive.org/web/20090211001234/http://fieldrecorder.com/docs/store2004.htm| archivedate =2009-02-11}}

</ref> |- |}

==See also== *Old-time music

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.folkways.si.edu/albumdetails.aspx?itemid=332 Audio sample of "Blackberry Blossom" (1961)] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110711000558/http://www.fieldrecorder.com/assets/mp3s/20_501_CharliesBrkdn_HigginsWardPoe.mp3 MP3 Audio sample of "Charlie's Breakdown" (1959)]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Charlie}} Category:20th-century American fiddlers Category:People from Galax, Virginia Category:1878 births Category:1967 deaths Category:Musicians from Virginia Category:Old-time fiddlers