6-09-2023 4:07am

HEREFORD FIDDLER

First Day in Town from Patrick McAvinue

By John Lawless, Bluegrass Today

Patrick McAvinue has been among the most accomplished bluegrass fiddlers for several years, with time touring in acts like Audie Blaylock and Redline, Charm City Junction, and Daily & Vincent. We’ve also heard his fiddle on other artist’s releases, and on a number of film and video game scores.

An educated musician, Patrick received a Bachelor of Music in jazz performance from Towson University in his native Maryland, and has been honored by the IBMA as Momentum Instrumentalist in 2015, and Fiddle Player of the Year in 2017. In 2020 he joined the US Navy band, Country Current, with whom he currently tours and performs.

Patrick’s debut solo album, Perfect Fit, was released in 2019, and he has another completed, Fortis, set to hit on June 23. It’s a six-track EP that features collaborations with Scott Vestal on banjo, Shaun Richardson on guitar, Gaven Largent on reso-guitar, Seth Taylor on mandolin, and Ethan Jodziewicz on bass. Fiddle whiz Billy Contreras also joins McAvinue on one track, and vocals are shared by John Cowan and Chris Jacobs.

A single from Fortis has been released, Patrick’s romp through the Kenny Baker classic, First Day in Town. Following a brief rubato introduction, he and the band get right to it.

Pre-orders for Fortis are available online now, as either a digital album ($5) or on CD ($10). Both include an instant download of First Day in Town.

Patrick McAvinue, originally from Hereford, Maryland, holds a Bachelor of Music in jazz performance from Towson University, where he studied with pianist Tim Murphy, trumpeter David Ballou, and violinist Jeffrey Howard. Prior to joining the United States Navy Band in Washington, D.C., he was a Nashville-based session and touring musician.

In addition to releasing his own music, he has performed with artists such as Dailey & Vincent, Trace Adkins, Alison Krauss, The Oak Ridge Boys, Lee Greenwood, Jimmy Fortune, Marty Stuart, Bela Fleck, Del McCoury, Michael Cleveland, Audie Blaylock, Melissa Aldana, Rodrigo Leao, and John McCutcheon, among others. Patrick's playing can be heard on numerous film and video game soundtracks, most recently on Sid Meier's Civilization VI.

His awards include the 2017 International Bluegrass Music Association's Fiddle Player of the Year, the 2015 IBMA Momentum Instrumentalist of the Year, and Towson University's 2018 Distinguished Young Alumni Award. In the United States, McAvinue has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the Grand Ole Opry. Internationally, he has performed at the Country Gold Festival in Kumamoto, Japan; the Gstaad Festival in Gstaad, Switzerland; the Country Rendezvous Festival in Crappone, France; the U.S. Embassy in Quito, Ecuador; Die Dreikönigskirche in Dresden, Germany; Koppernik Theatre in Prague, the Czech Republic; and the Norsk Country Treff in Breim, Norway.

Patrick is a roller coaster of pure, uncut fiddle nirvana. - Country Music Pride

McAvinue is one of the most in-demand players on the local music scene—and beyond. He has performed all over the world...his talents are audibly virtuosic. - Baltimore Style Magazine

To me the most awesome thing about Patrick's playing is that he is not afraid of taking chances. Every time you hear him play he will play something different, but yet equally as exciting as the last. - Michael Cleveland

He absorbs from any genre, but even more important, he can figure out how a certain style can impact what he plays in a different context. - Fiddler Magazine