Jesse Maw is the 2025 Grand Master Fiddler champion. He won the open division at the contest in Franklin, Tennessee, representing North Carolina. He came up through the Texas-style contest circuit in Montana, won two junior titles at Weiser as a kid, and then spent years in swing, jazz, and old-time music before he took the top prize in Nashville.
Why Maw matters
Maw is a rare contest fiddler who ranks in both worlds. He places in old-time fiddle at Galax and Grayson County, and he wins Texas-style rounds at the Grand Master. Most fiddlers pick one lane. His 2025 win came over a field that included Tristan Clarridge, Max Francis, Billy Contreras, and Trustin Baker. For a picker, he is proof that the contest sound and the old-time sound can live in one bow arm.
Life and career
Maw grew up in the Flathead Valley of Montana. He started on fiddle around age five and learned the Texas contest style first. The University of Idaho’s champion rolls list him as the Junior-Junior (under 13) champion at the National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest in Weiser in 2004 and the Junior (under 18) champion in 2005, both times listed from Montana.
As a teenager he moved toward swing, jazz, and improvisation. His own site lists study with Mark O’Connor, Billy Contreras, Jimmie Don Bates, Christian Howes, and Didier Lockwood. He has also worked in microtonal and just intonation music, and he has taught at the Shasta Music Summit, the Crown of the Continent Guitar Festival, and Djangofest Northwest. Bluegrass Today’s 2015 Weiser report lists him at age 23 from Kalispell, Montana, in fourth place in both the Grand Champion and the adult swing divisions.
At the Grand Master Fiddler Championship, he finished second to Laura Waters in 2013 (listed from Montana), fourth in 2019, and third in 2024 (both listed from North Carolina). In 2025, at the Factory in Franklin, Tennessee, he won the open championship. The judges were Bobby Taylor, Loretta Brank MacKeever, Aynsley Porchak, Heather Risse, and Justin Branum.
He also competes in old-time fiddle. Galax results list him sixth in 2019 from Mount Airy, North Carolina, third in 2022 from Independence, Virginia, and eighth in 2023 from Asheville, North Carolina. He placed third in old-time fiddle at the 2024 Grayson County convention.
Playing style
Maw plays the Texas contest set of breakdown, waltz, and tune of choice with the long-bow approach he learned as a boy in Montana. His site describes a path from Texas style into swing, jazz, and improvisation, and that shows in his tune of choice rounds. His rag and swing tunes lean on chord tones and a loose, rolling bow rather than speed.
He also plays old-time fiddle in the Blue Ridge conventions, where the pulse for dancers matters more than the variation. His Camp Sumner recordings of Bitter Creek and Sally’s Hornpipe sit in that dance groove. That mix of contest polish and dance drive is the thing to listen for.
Influences and legacy
Maw names Mark O’Connor, Billy Contreras, and Jimmie Don Bates among his fiddle teachers. Bates is a Texas Fiddlers Hall of Fame member. Maw’s jazz study came through Christian Howes and Didier Lockwood. He has performed with O’Connor and Jerry Douglas.
His 2025 title puts him on a champion roll that includes Ridge Roberts, Trustin Baker, Katrina Nicolayeff, and Maddie Denton. He teaches private lessons in fiddle styles, swing violin, and improvisation.
Signature tunes and songs
Wild Fiddler’s Rag Say Old Man, Can You Play Fiddle? Bitter Creek Sally’s Hornpipe.
Awards and honors
National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest, Junior-Junior division champion (2004) National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest, Junior division champion (2005) Grand Master Fiddler Championship, second place (2013) Grand Master Fiddler Championship, fourth place (2019) Old Fiddlers’ Convention, Galax, old-time fiddle, third place (2022) Grand Master Fiddler Championship, third place (2024) Grand Master Fiddler Championship, Open Champion (2025)
Watch and listen
Maw’s winning round in the championship finals at the 2025 Grand Master Fiddler Championship. Listen for how he keeps the melody clear inside each variation.
Maw plays Wild Fiddler’s Rag on his own channel. Watch the bow stay relaxed through the syncopated rag rhythm.
What to learn from Maw
Learn Sally’s Hornpipe from his Camp Sumner recording. It is a hornpipe with a clear two-part shape, so you can hear where he adds a variation and where he leaves the tune alone. The technique to steal is his register shift. Play the A part low, then play it an octave up on the E string with the same bowing. Contest judges hear it as a variation, and it costs you no extra notes.
Sources
Grand Master Fiddler Championship past winners National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest champions, University of Idaho Library 2025 Grand Master Fiddler Championship results, Bluegrass Today 2024 Grand Master Fiddler Championship results, Bluegrass Today 2019 Grand Master Fiddler Championship winners, Bluegrass Today 2013 Grand Masters Fiddler Champions, Bluegrass Today Tara goes to Weiser 2015, Bluegrass Today 2019 winners at the Old Fiddlers Convention in Galax, Bluegrass Today 2022 winners at the Old Fiddlers Convention in Galax, Bluegrass Today Winners from the 87th annual Old Fiddlers Convention in Galax, Bluegrass Today 55th Grayson County Old-time and Bluegrass Fiddlers’ Convention report, Bluegrass Today About, Jesse Maw
Related players
See the fiddle players hub and the fiddle guide for more contest fiddlers. Maw studied with Mark O’Connor. He beat Tristan Clarridge and Trustin Baker for the 2025 title, and he shares the Grand Master roll with Ridge Roberts.