The Pocahontas County Opera House welcomes a new addition to its performance calendar with bluegrass fiddler and singer-songwriter Becky Buller on Saturday, March 28, at 7:30 p.m.
If you’re a fan of acoustic music, particularly bluegrass, and you haven’t heard of fiddler Becky Buller, there’s a good chance you’ve heard some of her songs. Her compositions have been recorded by Ricky Skaggs (“Music To My Ears”), Rhonda Vincent (“Fishers of Men”), Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver (“Be Living”), Josh Williams (“You Love Me Today”), and Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out (“My Angeline” and “Rest My Weary Feet.”)
Buller grew up in a very musical southern Minnesota family. The Bullers had a band called Prairie Grass with Gordy and Roxy Shultz for many years. Buller studied classical violin with both Patti Tryhus and Charles Gray and was in the Mankato Area Youth Symphony and even the Minnesota All-State Orchestra throughout high school. But her heart was always that of a fiddler.
She graduated in 2001 with a public relations degree from East Tennessee State University (ETSU) where she took part in their Bluegrass, Old-Time and Country Music program. That same year, Becky won first place in the bluegrass category of the prestigious Chris Austin Songwriting Contest at MerleFest in Wilksboro, North Carolina.
That same year, Buller hit the road to fiddle for Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike. She spent the next 10 years touring internationally, writing for, and recording with the group, producing several of Smith’s most recent records. In 2011, Buller decided to pursue a performing career of her own.
Buller was featured on the cover of the Spring 2012 issue of “Fiddler Magazine” and penned the title cut of Special Consensus’ album Scratch Gravel Road, which was nominated for the 2012 Best Bluegrass Album Grammy.
In 2013, Buller teamed up with Darin and Brooke Aldridge and their fine band. She can be heard on their current album Flying (2013) on the Organic Records label.
Since 2005, she has also been a member of the award-winning Daughters of Bluegrass, joining them in performance when sche- duling allows.
Buller has two solo records to her credit: Little Bird (2004) and Rest My Weary Feet (2000). She also released a duet album with Valerie Smith: Here’s A Little Song (2007). Buller is featured on several of Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike’s recordings as well as three albums from the award-winning Daughters of Bluegrass: Pickin’ Like A Girl (2012), Back To The Well (2006) and Bluegrass Bouquet (2008).
Becky’s newest solo album, ‘Tween Earth And Sky, was released summer 2014 on the Dark Shadow Recording label.
Tickets are $10. Youth 17 and under are admitted free of charge. Tickets are available in advance at pocahontasoperahouse.org and at the Fourth Avenue Gallery in Marlinton.
The Pocahontas County Opera House is located at 818 Third Avenue in Marlinton. Performances at the Opera House are informal, family-friendly and open to all. The entrance and main seating are accessible to persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities are encouraged to attend; special accommodations can be arranged upon request by calling 304-799-6645.
The Opera House Performance Series is presented with financial assistance through a grant from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts. Support is also provided by Pocahontas County Drama, Fairs and Festivals, the Pocahontas County Convention and Visitors Bureau, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Pendleton Community Bank, the Law Office of Roger D. Forman, Brightside Acres, Glades Building Supply and Burns Motor Freight.
