George Jackson: 'Coming Home To Dance Music'

We know the world is full of fiddlers.

- Bob Buckingham

If you live long enough, you learn not to be surprised by where they come from and you delight in where they are going. This young man is no exception.

New Zealand native George Jackson delved into old time music after finishing jazz school in Australia. He had also previously played bluegrass and Scottish music and had competed in highland dancing. At the Appalachian Old Time String Band Festival in Clifftop, West Virginia, he discovered the freedom in old time. He writes on his website that “I realized sinking into a great melody and a groove deeply with a group of people, leaving egos at the door, was more freeing than anything I’d experienced.” He said that old time music was “like coming home to dance music.”

Growing up in a somewhat gypsy way may have had some amazing effect on your life. Do you care to describe your upbringing?