Jesse Milnes, Becky Hill & Bruna @ the Purple Fiddle

Jesse Milnes and Becky Hill were brought together by their mutual love for the old-time music and dance traditions of West Virginia and the greater Appalachian region. They started playing together in 2012 in Elkins, WV, at social gatherings and square dances. The act consists of clawhammer banjo, fiddle, guitar, voice, and foot percussion, re-envisioning Appalachian clogging and flatfooting as its own instrument within the band. Their arrangements of traditional old-time tunes use percussive dance as the primary rhythmic accompaniment, akin to a drum-set. The collaborators have spent significant time in West Virginia learning from and interviewing master elder musicians and dancers. The goal of the project is to celebrate the traditions of Appalachian music and dance, while simultaneously pushing the boundaries of those traditions