Standing next to cages of chickens, turkeys and other feathered friends, Nathan Sima practiced his fiddle.
“He said they cheer him on,” said mom Qian Hong.
The 7-year-old from Fort Collins came back to the Colorado Fiddle Championships this year as the defending champion of the Small Fry division.
Hosted at the National Western Stock Show, the two-day competition brings contestants old and young from across the country, and Nathan is among the youngest.
He performed a four-minute medley of “Soppin’ the Gravy,” “Old Shep” and “Smith’s Rag” to a crowd of about 100 people early Saturday morning.
Strangers stopped him as he walked backstage to congratulate him on a great show, although he stays modest.
“I think I did OK,” Nathan said. “But I wish everyone good luck.”
He picked up the fiddle two years ago and competes across the state year round, hoping some day for a chance to fiddle at the National Championships in Weiser, Idaho.
He also plays the piano, speaks Mandarin Chinese and is a chess champion.
“He just loves the music and he is very concentrated,” said Hong, who has learned some simple fiddling through her son. “This generation of kids is so competitive and outgoing; I tell him to go for it and I’ll just follow.”
Larry Struble, on the other hand, is competing in the Grand Senior division for those in the 60-plus age group.
Struble said he first competed in fiddling when he was 9 and is a former violinist with the Denver Symphony.
“I love music, all kinds of music,” said the 68-year-old, who also teaches fiddling.
He played “Billy in the Lowground,” “Kelly’s Waltz” and “Black and White Rag” on a 200-year-old Italian violin.
“Good instruments are hard to find,” he said. “I am very lucky to have it.”
Struble says he participates to spread the culture of fiddling.
“Before the days of Internet, we had music instead of TV,” he said. “The arts get put on the back burner, but it needs to be nurtured at home.”
This year, there were 90 contestants across the 11 divisions. Each contestant plays a hoedown tune and a waltz tune, along with a third tune of choice, according to Claradene Stewart with the Colorado Old Time Fiddlers’ Association, an organizer for the event. The tunes are distinctively Texas-style old-time fiddling.
Judging criteria includes difficulty, musical expression, rhythm and timing, and tone and intonation, with the total prize money equaling $10,000.
“This is for people to come and listen to the musicality,” Stewart said. “We’re a big fiddlin’ family.”
Sally S. Ho: 303-954-1638 or sho@denverpost.com
