Violet Hensley. Black Eyed Susie

Violet Hensley - she captured our hearts! 93 and still sharp as a tack - we spent the day way up in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas with her and 21 of her family members - many of whom also play. She talked for 10 hours!! Played up a storm, and finally when her daughter Sandy needed to borrow her glasses, she slumped down like someone had pulled her plug. The glasses are like pop-bottles, and do well to keep her connected to life. Amazing stories of life in the early 20th century like when her dad said to her "it's a sin for a woman to play the fiddle"! She puts a rattlesnake in each of the fiddles she makes (73 of them to date) to keep the devil away. She said to us the difference between a fiddle and a violin is that a violin sings and a fiddle dances! Boy can that girl dance! This traditional tune "Black Eyed Susie" features from left to right Rick and Dyann Arthur, Violet's 2 daughters Lewonna Nelson playing the "jackassaphone" (yep, it's a jack ass jaw bone used as a percussion instrument)and Sandy Flagg on guitar, son-in-law Tim Nelson on banjo, Leader of the band: Violet on the fiddle, grandson Sterling Flagg on mandolin, and Ashlie Heuter, an apprentice fiddle maker and friend of the family also on fiddle.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Violet
• Hensley.
• Black
• Eyed
• Susie

[purrna2go]

I love this lady! Look at this - wonderful, just wonderful. Jeb, you had her as your granny, you are fortunate indeed.

[jeb4387]

she was my Granny when i was little, miss you! Big as life ,

[bodacious1942]

Where you want to be ?....it's where I AM, tha beautiful Ozarks & its wonderful people.

Thnx. Peggy.

[groundhogpeggy]

This looks like where I want to be!