To shop, schedule a lesson or pick the brain of one of the most celebrated fiddlers of recent history, visit Byron Berline’s Double Stop Fiddle Shop in Guthrie, Oklahoma. Twice a month the music hall offers live bluegrass and western swing shows for $10. Can’t make the trip? Follow the shop on Facebook for fun videos from the legend himself. Photo by James Pratt
Fit as a Fiddler
“This is my Bill Monroe wall,” Berline says, gesturing to a collection of priceless pictures featuring a “Who’s Who” showcase of famous bluegrass artists. Following a rich career in Los Angeles, California, and Nashville,
Tennessee, life has called him home to Guthrie, Oklahoma. Now, walking through Berline’s Double Stop Fiddle Shop just off the main drag of down- town is like stepping into a corner of fiddler heaven. Out of many records and collaborations, Berline can’t choose a favorite.
According to the artist, it would “be like choosing one of my kids.” However, to the right of the shop door hangs his Grammy nominations for “Fiddle and a Song.” The album featured Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass music, Earl Scruggs, Mason Williams and another famous Oklahoman, Vince Gill. “I always knew he was going to be a big star,” Berline says of Gill, a Byron Berline Band member for three years. Berline likes vintage fiddles as evidenced in the first floor of the shop.
Most music stores will sell new instruments, likely made in China or Japan. At the Double Stop, fiddle fans can find pieces from all the way back to the
1600s, including a few special autographed pieces from his time in the film industry.
Being in California, Berline had the opportunity to record and do sound work for commercials and movies. Through this work, he developed a friendship with a well-known bodybuilder turned actor turned governor. Arnold Schwarzenegger needed to learn how to look like he could play the fiddle for the 1974 comedy, “Stay Hungry,” co-starring Jeff Bridges and Sally Fields. Berline received a call from Schwarzenegger’s agent asking him how much he would charge for such a task to which Berline responded, “Nothing.” Schwarzenegger came over to his house the next day and the two became fast friends.
After their first session, the actor said, “Byron, I’ve got to get you in this movie somehow!”
Berline came to visit the set, and they hired him right on the spot to go to Birmingham, Alabama, to pre-record the soundtrack and recruit other musicians. An autographed fiddle from the actor sits in the shop’s glass display case as a treasured memento from the experience. Taking the stairs to the second floor reveals a lobby showcasing Berline’s
“Like the old-timers would say, the sound gets into you like a rusty fish hook.” - Byron Berline, renowned fiddler
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WWW.OKL.COOP
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