Valerie Ryals

Texas Old Time Fiddling Music

Valerie was exposed to music as a child early on from both sides of her family. Her grandfather, O.G. Ryals, a fiddler like his father, used to sit with her at the kitchen table going over the old tunes one note at a time. On the other side of her family, her grandfather, Bishop, called square dances and held barn dances where the old-time fiddlers played lighthearted, creative music and reminisced while the younger folks, Valerie among them, watched, learned, and practiced.

Valerie remembers waking up to the sound of her dad singing and playing the guitar, but her curiosity and love of fiddling was sparked at the age of three when she discovered her mom’s fiddle under the bed. In fourth grade, at 9 years old, Valerie took an orchestra class in school. She started learning the basics of technique and how to read music in class. Her grandfather, O.G., saw how much she loved fiddling and supplemented her classical learning. She learned her first Texas Old Time fiddle tunes by eleven and won the Junior World Championship at thirteen. It is important to note that in the early days, there was little sheet music for the old tunes. Tape recorders were expensive. Texas fiddling had to be learned mainly by watching another fiddler and listening. At a young age, Valerie traveled countless weekends to concerts and fiddle contests. Her parents often drove three or four hours just so Valerie could learn one new piece of music. Valerie studied with the master fiddlers and is steeped in the tradition of Texas Old Time Fiddling. Like everyone in her family she became an accomplished musician on several instruments.

Valerie continued to add to her resume, winning first runner-up at the World Championship Contest in Crockett, Texas, twice winning the Texas Old Time Fiddlers Association Ladies’ State Championship, and performing on stage with Michael Martin Murphy, Red Steagall, the Chieftains, and other recognizable names. She has been an instructor with the Texas Commission of the Arts, the DFW WOW Suzuki Violin Institute, Texas Christian University’s Fiddle Workshop, at numerous fiddle camps for Johnny Gimble, Randy Elmore, Dave Alexander, and at other fiddle camps that were sponsored by various organizations such as the Texas Old Time Fiddlers Association.

Valerie was the first woman to serve on the board of the Texas Old Time Fiddlers Association. She performed for several years as a Texas master artist with the nonprofit organization Texas Folklife Resources. In 2009, she became the first — and still only — female fiddler inducted into the Texas Fiddlers Hall of Fame. (There are two other women who have been inducted into the hall of fame for their important contributions to Texas Old Time fiddling but neither were fiddlers.)

Valerie is among the musicians featured in a 2011 documentary about Texas Old Time fiddling by director Jason Hammond called “The Devil’s Box.” The fiddle was called “the devil’s box” because, in general, folks considered fiddle music and those that made it to be sinful. Valerie says, “I think this music is just heavenly, a gift from God.”

Valerie is committed to passing Texas Old Time fiddle music on to the next generations by giving lectures and performances, participating in master-apprenticeship programs, making recordings, and by teaching. She has developed her own extensive library by recording thousands of Texas Old Time fiddle tunes from hundreds of fiddlers and dutifully transcribing many of them into music-editing software so that they can be shared with her students and other musicians.

Valerie still resides in Burleson, Texas and maintains the music studio she established in the mid-1980’s. Working with her complement of teachers, she maintains a steady stream of students who are eager to play and learn. Her studio teaches all types of music, whatever the student seeks, but Valerie’s favorite style has always been, and still is, Texas Old Time fiddling music.