By Megan Westberg
The name Tatiana Hargreaves first came across my desk about a decade ago. We were still publishing Teen Strings at the time, and this promising young old-time fiddler contributed a “My Turn” article to the March/April/May 2009 issue. Her credentials, at age 13, were impressive—she had won several prestigious fiddle competitions, already recorded her first album (which included the talents of Bruce Molsky, Sarah Jarosz, and her brother Alex Hargreaves, among others), and taken part in the Ashokan, Mark O’Connor, and Alasdair Fraser fiddle camps. “I can’t imagine my life without music,” she wrote. A decade later, that still seems to be true.
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Hargreaves has since toured with Dave Rawlings, Gillian Welch, Laurie Lewis, Darol Anger, and Bruce Molsky; earned a BA in ethnomusicology from Hampshire College; and pursued the musical life as an educator and touring fiddle player. Her newest project is a collaboration with clawhammer banjoist Allison de Groot (of Molsky’s Mountain Drifters), blending fiddle, banjo, and vocals on a new recording titled Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves on Free Dirt Records. This tune, “I Don’t Want to Get Married,” was introduced to Hargreaves during her time at Hampshire College. It features two verses written by guitarist and vocalist Edna Poplin, who would often put a personal spin on traditional songs.