Quick Q and A with Molly Mason
 by Kathy S-B  ·  17 April 2008

Jay Ungar and Molly Mason describe themselves as the “heart and soul of American roots music.” I couldn’t agree more. Both are simply magical performers and have so much to offer to those who appreciate acoustic music. Molly relates some of her thoughts about playing music and what it’s like running a fiddle and dance camp. Here’s a video clip of a rousing Jay and Molly show. It’s nearly impossible to listen to this music and not be moved in some fashion or another!

You’re a multi-instrumentalist, playing piano, guitar, and bass. Do you have one true love or are all your instruments special to you?

I love all three . . . though it depends what kind of music, and what else is going on. If someone is singing a country song and playing guitar, I’ll want to grab a bass. If someone is playing a New England tune on the fiddle I’ll want to sit down at the piano. If someone is singing a swing tune from the 1940’s I’ll want to grab a guitar.

The music that you and Jay play is simple yet so complex and so very evocative. It is such a gift that you are able to raise people’s spirits with your sounds and also compel people to pause and reflect and ponder. Have you always felt the power of music?

Music has always gotten my attention, ever since I was little. I was lucky enough to have four years of piano lessons as a kid, and I found guitar lessons on Public Television when I was 12 (the teacher was Laura Weber). I taught myself bass when I was in college, and just like the joke, I learned three notes and started getting gigs!

You’re playing this show at the me&thee with Ruthy and Michael. How does the addition of their particular style of music change your approach to a show?

When Ruth and Mike join us for the Family Band, we do a lot of the same material as in our duo show, but with a bigger band sound with double fiddles, banjo, percussion, uke and harmony vocals. We also feature songs that Ruthy and Mike sing, which include some of their originals.

According to your biography, one of the first musical collaborations that you and Jay had was a dance and music camp in New York. What was it like to start a camp like this? Has the mission of the camp remained the same all these years?

Actually, Jay and I have known each other since 1977, and our first collaboration was performing. First with singer Lyn Hardy (Ruthy’s mom), and then with the band Fiddle Fever. Jay started the Ashokan Fiddle & Dance Camps in 1980, and I began teaching there in 1982. He visited the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop in 1978, where I had been teaching since 1976 or so . . . and he taught at a dance camp called Pinewoods in Massachusetts at around the same time. He decided to try putting together an event with an equal focus on music and dance. In our first few years at Ashokan we didn’t realize what a strong and welcoming community it would become. It’s still a great place to learn and have fun, but the whole experience has grown deeper in a lot of ways.

It sounds as though you have both done your homework — researching old-time music to reinterpret or reinvent for today’s audiences. How do you go about finding music from the nineteenth century? Have you uncovered some rare items in your travels?

We have uncovered some interesting things! There are people out there who know far more about music history than we do. Working with Ken Burns on the Civil War Series really got me interested in historical music. When Jay and I started looking into Civil War music, we discovered that we already played a lot of the tunes for square dances. We hadn’t really made the connection yet. After working with Ken we both started reading and learning more about the history of American music. Check out the Sonneck Society, an organization devoted to the subject and also the Center for American Music, run by our good friend Dr. Deane Root.