“Erie Fiddler” is an instrumental by Andrew Marlin, the mandolinist and songwriter of the North Carolina duo Watchhouse, earlier billed as Mandolin Orange. It is the second track on his solo album Fable & Fire, released on 19 February 2021. The album was one of a pair of instrumental records Marlin made during the pandemic lockdown; Witching Hour came out two weeks earlier, on 5 February. A press release for the pair says both albums used largely the same group of friends and collaborators.
Fable & Fire was recorded at Echo Mountain Studio in Asheville, North Carolina, and produced by Marlin. The credits list Marlin on mandolin, Josh Oliver on guitar, piano, 12-string guitar and banjo, Jordan Tice on guitar and bouzouki, Christian Sedelmyer on fiddle, Clint Mullican on bass and Nat Smith on cello. Folk Alley’s review described “Erie Fiddler” as scampering along happily, with fiddle, mandolin, banjo and guitar chasing one another around spiritedly.
