Joe Spivey is a Nashville fiddler who has spent more than 40 years in the studio and on Monday nights with the Time Jumpers. Discogs lists him on nearly 200 releases, from John Anderson’s Seminole Wind to Shania Twain’s The Woman in Me. The National Fiddler Hall of Fame inducted him in 2017, the same year as his Time Jumpers bandmates Kenny Sears and Larry Franklin.
Why Spivey matters
Spivey is the working fiddler’s fiddler. He is not a contest champion and not a bandleader. He is the player a producer calls when a country record needs a fiddle part that fits the song, and the player who holds down the twin fiddle chair in the best western swing band in Nashville week after week. If you want to hear how fiddle works inside a band instead of in front of it, his career is the study.
Life and career
Spivey started out on rhythm guitar and banjo before he settled on fiddle, according to his Discogs profile. His session credits begin in 1979. Through the 1980s and 1990s he became a regular on Nashville country records. His fiddle is on John Anderson’s Seminole Wind (BNA, 1992) and on a run of Anderson albums from 1986 into the 2000s. He also appears on records by Tracy Lawrence, Clay Walker, Kenny Chesney, Terri Clark, Shania Twain, Alan Jackson, Merle Haggard, and Dolly Parton, among many others.
In the late 1990s Spivey was part of a group of Grand Ole Opry staff musicians who jammed on western swing tunes in Dressing Room 6 between shows. That group became the Time Jumpers. They took a Monday night slot at the Station Inn and built a following there. Spivey played fiddle and sang harmony on the band’s live album Jumpin’ Time (Crosswind), and took solos on it. When the crowds outgrew the Station Inn, the band moved to 3rd and Lindsley on June 11, 2012.
Vince Gill joined the Time Jumpers in 2010 and stayed until 2020. With Gill the band signed to Rounder and released The Time Jumpers in 2012 and Kid Sister in 2016. The band earned Grammy nominations, including Best Country Duo/Group Performance for 2014 and Best Americana Album for Kid Sister in 2017. Gill won Best American Roots Song at the same 2017 ceremony for the title track Kid Sister. Spivey sings lead on I Hear You Talkin’ from that album.
Spivey still plays with the Time Jumpers every Monday at 3rd and Lindsley. The band’s current twin fiddle section is Spivey and Grand Master champion Justin Branum. He also keeps taking sessions, including twin fiddles with Glen Duncan on Joe Hott’s bluegrass single West Virginia Rail for Rural Rhythm.
Playing style
Spivey plays a western swing style built on the Bob Wills and Johnny Gimble tradition. In the Time Jumpers he spends most of a night as part of a fiddle section, so his playing is about blend: matching bow speed and vibrato with the fiddler beside him, and taking his turn on a solo chorus without breaking the groove.
On country sessions he plays the other way, in short fills and intros that sit under a vocal. His parts on the John Anderson records support the singer and never crowd him. The lesson in both settings is the same. He plays to the song, not to the fiddle.
Influences and legacy
The Time Jumpers call themselves a band full of historians, players who know the pioneers of their instruments. For a Nashville swing fiddler that line runs through Bob Wills, Johnny Gimble, and Tommy Jackson. Spivey’s section mates in the Time Jumpers over the years have included Kenny Sears, Larry Franklin, Aubrey Haynie, Hoot Hester, and Justin Branum. He has played alongside Vince Gill, Paul Franklin, Dennis Crouch, and Ranger Doug Green of Riders in the Sky.
Signature tunes and songs
I Hear You Talkin’ Seminole Wind (fiddle part) Kid Sister.
Essential recordings
Jumpin’ Time, the Time Jumpers (Crosswind, 2006) The Time Jumpers, the Time Jumpers (Rounder, 2012) Kid Sister, the Time Jumpers (Rounder, 2016) Seminole Wind, John Anderson (BNA, 1992)
Awards and honors
Grammy Award, Best Country Duo/Group Performance nominee, with the Time Jumpers (2014) Grammy Award, Best Americana Album nominee, with the Time Jumpers for Kid Sister (2017) National Fiddler Hall of Fame (2017)
Watch and listen
The Time Jumpers introduce Spivey in their own short profile. He talks about the band and plays.
Spivey takes a fiddle solo on Organic Country. Listen for the swing phrasing and the way he lands each chorus on the chord.
What to learn from Spivey
Learn the fiddle intro and fills on Seminole Wind. They are slow, they follow the melody, and they stay out of the singer’s way. The technique to steal is section playing. Find another fiddler, pick a swing tune, and play the melody in unison for a whole chorus. Match bow direction, match vibrato, and match where you breathe. Twin fiddles that lock together sound bigger than two fiddlers taking turns, and that lock is Spivey’s job every Monday night.
Sources
The Time Jumpers, about The Time Jumpers distill the essence of Music City into a single band, press bio (PDF) The Time Jumpers, Bluegrass Today 2019 National Fiddler Hall of Fame inductions, Bluegrass Today Joe Hott single released to radio, Bluegrass Today Vince Gill, Grammy.com Joe Spivey, Discogs John Anderson, Seminole Wind, Discogs The Time Jumpers, Jumpin’ Time, Discogs The Time Jumpers, Kid Sister, Discogs The Time Jumpers, Wikipedia
Related players
See the fiddle players hub and the fiddle guide for more Nashville fiddlers. Spivey shares the Time Jumpers fiddle section with Kenny Sears, and Aubrey Haynie also passed through the band. The swing side of his playing comes from Johnny Gimble and Bob Wills.