This Week at Folkways
? April 4, 2025 ?


Photo by Diana J. Davies

Remembering Tracy Schwarz

Join Smithsonian Folkways in remembering the great traditional American roots musician Tracy Schwarz (1938 - 2025), who died on Saturday, March 29, in Elkins, West Virginia. He was 86 years old.

Born in New York City and raised in New Jersey and Vermont, Schwarz first heard country music on the radio at around eight years old and began playing the guitar soon after. During his college years in the late 1950s, he took up the fiddle in the active bluegrass scene in Washington, D.C., and continued playing while serving in the U.S. Army for two years. By 1962, he joined John Cohen and Mike Seeger in the influential old-time string band the New Lost City Ramblers, bringing with him his skills in ballad singing and fiddling, as well as a deep understanding of bluegrass and Cajun music that would enrich the band’s repertoire.

Schwarz appears on numerous albums in the Smithsonian Folkways collection, ranging from solo releases to recordings by the New Lost City Ramblers, Strange Creek Singers, Tracy’s Family Band, and Les Quatre Vieux Garçons. He was an enthusiastic educator of traditional music styles and made several fiddle instruction albums, beginning with his 1965 Folkways LP Learn to Fiddle Country Style and later recording with Cajun musician Dewey Balfa.

“He fervently believed that anyone who was interested in learning how to play an instrument or sing, could, and his infectious enthusiasm and innovative methods helped generations of students around the world to develop their skills and appreciation of these intricate regional artforms,” his obituary states. We honor Tracy’s remarkable contributions through his many recordings with Folkways, which you can explore on our website.
https://folkways.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=21cdbe91fb363c7ead362b511&id=c6177e6953&e=23dafbc3a6

Above copies from Smithsonian-Folkways e-mail
Thomas.