Michigan is fortunate as a state to have had the two earliest-born fiddlers ever to record, Jasper “Jep” Bisbee recorded by Thomas Edison and Col. John A. Pattee recorded by Columbia. Beyond that, the state was fortunate to draw the attention of early folklorists including Alan Lomax and Ivan Walton. More recently, folklorists like Paul Gifford and enthusiasts like Karl Byarski have contributed untold numbers of recordings to our collective knowledge of fiddle music in the state. Here are some essential links to great off-site collections of recordings:

• The Paul Gifford Digital Collection at UofM Flint’s library: https://digitalarchives.umflint.edu/digital/collection/p16210coll8
• Paul Gifford’s Personal Music site: http://www.giffordmusic.net/
• This is a collection of Edward Krantz (Thumb of Michigan) recordings:  https://missourifiddling.bandcamp.com/album/tunes-from-the-thumb-msotfa-120
• Library of Congress Alan Lomax Michigan and Wisconsin Collection: https://www.loc.gov/collections/alan-lomax-in-michigan/about-this-collection/
• The Karl Byarski Digital Collection at the UofM Flint Library: https://digitalarchives.umflint.edu/digital/collection/p16210coll6
• The George Pariseau collection at UofM Flint Library: https://digitalarchives.umflint.edu/digital/collection/p16210coll7
• Michael Loukinen’s film Medicine Fiddle contains footage of Dick Gravell, Coleman Trudeau, and Rene Cote: https://www.folkstreams.net/films/medicine-fiddle
• Eliot Singer’s Michigan fiddle section on his website: https://picaresquescholar.wordpress.com/michigan-fiddling-and-songs/