Paul Warren (May 17, 1918 –January 12, 1978) was an American

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

player best known for his work on a number of

Kitty Wells Ellen Muriel Deason (August 30, 1919 – July 16, 2012), known professionally as Kitty Wells, was an American pioneering female country music singer. She broke down a barrier for women in country music with her 1952 hit recording " It Wasn't God ...

singles, and his long tenure with Flatt and Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys.

Biography

Warren was born in Lyles, Tennessee to a father who played guitar and banjo, and a mother who played clawhammer banjo. Warren's fiddling style was heavily influenced by Fiddlin' Arthur Smith, with whom he played extensively offstage. In 1933, Warren joined Johnny & Jack and the Tennessee Mountain Boys, with whom he appeared regularly on the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

. During that time he recorded a number of sides with Kitty Wells, including '' It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels'' and '' Release Me''. He joined Flatt and Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys in 1954, after fifteen years with the Tennessee Mountain Boys. As a member of that band, he was often called upon in concert segments featuring traditional fiddle tunes, including a number of the Arthur Smith tunes which had been recorded by Flatt and Scruggs, such as "Pig in the Pen". When Flatt and Scruggs broke up in 1969, Warren decided to stay with Lester Flatt's band. In 1978 CMH Records released America's Greatest Breakdown Fiddler, credited to ''Paul Warren with Lester Flatt & the Nashville Grass''.

Legacy

Warren helped perpetuate the old-time fiddle style typified by Arthur Smith, and has been cited by a number of musicians as an influence, including fiddler Andrea Zonn and mandolin player

Roland White Roland Joseph White (né LeBlanc; April 23, 1938 – April 1, 2022) was an American bluegrass music artist, performing principally on the mandolin. He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2017. Biography White wa ...

. His son Johnny Warren continues to play his repertoire. In 2009 and 2011, Johnny recorded two albums featuring noted bluegrass musicians, ''A Tribute to Fiddlin' Paul Warren Vols. 1 and 2'' on which he played tunes for which is father was well known.

Awards and honors

Warren was inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, Paul American bluegrass fiddlers 1977 deaths 1933 births Hickman County, Tennessee 20th-century American violinists