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| This is an excerpt from the print edition of Dirty Linen magazine #98 (February / March 2002). The magazine is available on newsstands and by subscription. |
As has been said again and again, some things are just meant to be.
This statement certainly holds true for West Virginia old-time fiddler Jake Krack. At the age of 17, the prodigious Krack has already notched a lifetime of achievements: five critically acclaimed CDs, a CNN profile for the network's "CNN &Time" show, a New York Times feature, and winning places in numerous fiddle contests around the Mountain State. That's just a partial list; there have also been appearances on "Prairie Home Companion" as part of the "Talent From Towns Under 2000" contest, the syndicated radio program "Mountain Stage," and Washington D.C.'s John F. Kennedy Center.
Interestingly, for someone who has been hailed the future of West Virginian old-time music, Krack, along with his family, has resided in the state for only three-and-half years. But the immersion began long before that, while the family was living in rural Indiana.
Krack's fascination with the fiddle was sparked at four years of age when he became intrigued by the playing of his father Reed, who was learning the instrument. To satisfy the younger Krack's curiosity, the elder Krack constructed a cardboard version and substituted a balloon stick for a bow. Two years later, pops Krack acquired his son's first fiddle by trading a hand-carved limestone birdbath. After that, Jake just went to town, right?
Wrong. "It wasn't that easy," he said. Initially there were Suzuki lessons, but the family's interests lay in the earthy sounds of old-time music. Scouring high and low for a teacher, eventually the Kracks stumbled onto the venerable Brad Leftwich, a nationally known old-time fiddler who lived just 18 miles away.
Indeed, Leftwich was a monumental force in Krack's development. Not only did he learn old-time fiddle music — specifically the West Virginia variety — but also the tunes from noted fiddlers such as Melvin Wine. Yet the Kracks' investment in their son didnstop at making sure he was prepared for his next lesson. To assist in keeping time, Leftwich urged Krack's mother Dara to learn guitar to accompany her son.
"Well, it wasn't my idea," Dara said jokingly.
"Yeah, we just all ganged up on her," the elder Krack laughed. "But it has really thrown them together. What a nice relationship for the two of them to have." To this very day, "driving-beat" Dara still accompanies her son an hour a day in her usual relentless style. Also around this time, Reed began his transition into his career as a fiddle luthier by studying fiddle making at Indiana University.
Recognizing the family's budding interest, Leftwich suggested the Kracks see Wine perform at the Appalachian String Band Festival in Clifftop, West Virginia. There, Krack not only met his idol, the jovial 86-year-old fiddler, but also obtained his autograph and played a couple of Wine's tunes. Duly impressed, Wine invited the Kracks to come visit, but at the time the logistics seemed prohibitive.
Another year passed and Krack learned more of Wine's tunes from Leftwich. That year at Clifftop, Wine again made the same invitation and this time, the Kracks acquiesced, opting for a September reunion. "We went down to Melvin's and had a real good time," Krack said. "We all cried when we left. It was a real touching time."
This time, they wouldn't let another year go by before they got together. The next month, October 1995, the 10-year-old Krack took a class with Leftwich and Wine at Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins, West Virginia, courtesy of an Augusta scholarship. Another trip followed in November to attend Wine's wedding. By now the friendship was firmly cemented.
In 1996, the Indiana Arts Commission awarded Krack a $5,000 grant to travel and study with Wine. "By the end of that grant, we were getting pretty attached to West Virginia," said Krack. "We were making a lot of friends and were enjoying the terrain. So we started talking about trying to move here."
So, for the sake of their son's continued progress, in 1998, Reed and Dara Krack demonstrated their derring-do by pulling up stakes in their native Hoosier State and headed eastward to West Virginia. Not an easy decision to make, but the Kracks felt this was best for Jake's development, and it sure beat the grueling 400-mile hauls. Reed made his career transition by establishing Krack's Fiddle Shop, where he repairs and makes handcrafted fiddles, two of which Jake plays today. "He's certainly flourished since we've been here," said Reed. "Just like I thought he would."
This is an excerpt from an article in Dirty Linen #98 (Feb/Mar. '02). Read the full text in the magazine, available via subscription or on newsstands and in bookstores.
