Bill Poffinberger
Musician · Jefferson, Maryland
Best known for
Fiddle
Bill Poffinberger is a Maryland-based fiddler whose 1969 seat with Bill Emerson, Cliff Waldron, John Duffey, and Mike Auldridge on the seminal Rebel album "Bluegrass Country" and his founding chair in Cliff Waldron & the New Shades of Grass placed him at the heart of the late-1960s D.C.-area progressive bluegrass scene.
- Maryland-based bluegrass fiddler from Jefferson, Maryland (Frederick County); learned guitar and mandolin first as a youngster, then took up fiddle after watching his father play.
- Played with Lucky Chapman & the Ozark Mountain Boys from 1954 to 1962, recording sessions at Lucky Chapman Studio in Frederick, Maryland.
- Joined Bill Berry & the Bluegrass Travelers (also recorded as Bill and Paul - The Bluegrass Travelers) in the mid-1960s.
- Recruited by Bill Emerson and Cliff Waldron in 1969 for their D.C.-area band; appears on the seminal 1969 Rebel album "Bluegrass Country" alongside Emerson (banjo), Waldron (guitar), John Duffey (mandolin), Ed Ferris (bass), and Mike Auldridge (Dobro).
- Continued as a founding fiddler in Cliff Waldron & the New Shades of Grass after Emerson rejoined the Country Gentlemen in 1970, touring widely and recording multiple albums for Rebel before retiring from the band in the early 1970s.
- Contemporary reviewers praised his "smooth and original" fiddling and noted a clear Kenny Baker influence on his bluegrass breaks.
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Del McCoury and the Dixie PalsPlayed on recordings with Del McCoury and the Dixie Pals
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Cliff WaldronPlayed on recordings with Cliff Waldron
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Emerson and WaldronPlayed on recordings with Emerson and Waldron
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Bill Emerson, Cliff Waldron and the Lee Highway BoysPlayed on recording with Bill Emerson, Cliff Waldron and the Lee Highway Boys
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Del McCouryPlayed on recording with Del McCoury