{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Ask A Kansan","title":"The Flint Hills Fiddler: The Melodies of Kansas with Derrick Doty | Kansas Fiddler","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3423,"description":"Ever wonder what the difference between a fiddle and a violin actually is — or why Kansas has such a rich but largely undocumented fiddling tradition? \n\nWe sit down with Derrick Doty, the Flint Hills Fiddler, a musician, historian, and music teacher based in Manhattan, Kansas. Derrick is the 2023 Kansas State Banjo Champion, a former barber in Council Grove who turned barbershop stories into historical research, and — perhaps most unexpectedly — a coffin builder. He treats us to live fiddle and banjo performances, shares the story of a John Henning banjo from 1880s Emporia that may be the first built for steel strings, and even serenades us with a Pete Seeger song updated with his own modern verses. Along the way we explore Kansas's musical history from territorial Free-Staters singing \"The Kansas Immigrant\" to the tune of Auld Lang Syne, the Exoduster banjo players who toured the state, and why traditional music still matters today.\n\nHighlights\n\nDerrick explains the real difference between a fiddle and a violin (spoiler: it's mostly about how you use the word, not the instrument itself)\nThe story of how \"Flint Hills Fiddler\" started as an email address and became a persona\nDerrick's great-grandfather fiddled for barn dances in Osage County, inspiring him to take up the instrument decades later\nLive fiddle performance on the podcast — a first in nearly 80 episodes\nWhy Derrick uses black horsehair on his bow instead of white (it grabs the string better and costs less)\nThe Kansas Immigrant: a poem by John Greenleaf Whittier set to the tune of Auld Lang Syne that became the anthem of Free-Staters traveling to Kansas\nHow 12 years of cutting hair in Council Grove turned a fiddler into a historical researcher\nDerrick is the 2023 Kansas State Banjo Champion, winning with \"classic banjo\" style instead of the more common bluegrass or clawhammer styles\nThe story of Link and Perry Lowery, Exoduster banjo players from Emporia who toured Kansas in the 1880s and '90s\nA rare...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/31uDhQmE-73zaqpWjXtwnyYffNMsUnDPiL6GtjTddEQ/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mNzBm/YzFkNDBkODVjNGM2/MzMwMGViYjhmZTY4/Nzc0Mi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}