In the mid 60s when the civil rights movement was changing the way America thought about itself, Dr. Billy Taylor accepted an invitation to address Public School 81X in the Bronx. A musician and educator, Dr. Taylor played an instrumental version of the civil rights anthem “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free,” and throughout the presentation he made the music present, relevant and powerful to his audience. Dr. Taylor communicated more than notes, more than melodies. He revealed the essence of what those notes and the melody meant. For Bruce Molsky, it was a seminal moment. In one slim hour the boy who would grow into an internationally acclaimed “old-time” musician and educator, realized not only did he want to be a musician, but he could be one.

Molsky got a guitar at the age of 10 and began taking lessons, picking and practising folk and blues music. Later, aspiring to play bluegrass guitar, he became part of the folk scene around Ithaca, New York, which provided balance to Bruce’s demanding studies at Cornell University. He soon added the banjo and fiddle to his instrumental capabilities and in 1973 Bruce encountered authentic, old-time music for the first time at the Galax Fiddler’s Convention.

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