Sherry McKenzie is an award winning State and National Champion fiddler, when she was eleven years old, Sherry experienced fiddle music for the first time. “I saw a fiddle player on TV,” she recalls, “and thought it looked really, really fun. My parents got me an instrument, and I started playing in the sixth grade orchestra in my hometown of Idaho Falls, Idaho and I just fell in love with the violin. The sound of it made me feel good.” Sherry has learned to play completely by ear. “My parents would get me records, like Benny Thomasson or Kenny Baker, and I would try to put those licks in the old-time songs I was playing. I entered the state fiddle contest (I placed next to last!) but that year I fell in love with the Texas-style versions of the tunes I heard. I went to the National Old Time Fiddle Contest in Weiser and remember sitting in the gym watching the open division and hearing the great Texas-style players for the very first time. Herman Johnson made a big impression on me – the way he stood, the way he played, even how he walked out on stage to compete, and I just thought he was so amazing.” That year Sherry also met Benny Thomasson and Dick Barrett. These three fiddlers philosophy and approach to fiddling still deeply influence her today. Sherry has completed Suzuki Violin registration at Texas Christian University, incorporating the pedagogical ideas of the method into her teaching. Along with her husband Joey, she is the founder of the Bob Wills Fiddle Festival & Contest in Greenville, TX. She is a sought after instructor at fiddle camps and Suzuki institutes across the US. www.fiddlesaregood.com