Patrick McAvinue is a Maryland fiddler who won IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year in 2017. He spent 11 years in Audie Blaylock and Redline, three years with Dailey and Vincent, and co-founded the Baltimore string band Charm City Junction. Since 2020 he has played fiddle in Country Current, the US Navy Band’s bluegrass group.
Why McAvinue matters
McAvinue is a bluegrass fiddler with a jazz degree, and you can hear both. He plays hard-driving breakdowns in the Kenny Baker line, then turns a swing tune inside out with chord tones a jazz horn player would pick. For a jammer he is a model of how to keep the traditional sound while adding real harmonic knowledge.
Life and career
McAvinue was born on April 4, 1988, in Hereford, Maryland. He started fiddle at age seven with classical training. At ten he studied with Amy Hopkins, a Peabody graduate, and he later took lessons from multi-instrumentalist Troy Engle. At 12 he formed a band called the Salem Bottom Boys. In 2004 he joined the Baltimore band Smooth Kentucky, whose members included Jordan Tice. He won the Delaware State Fiddle Championship three years running, from 2003 to 2005.
In early 2005, at age 16, he joined Audie Blaylock and Redline. He stayed about 11 years and played on seven Redline albums, including Cryin’ Heart Blues (2010) and Hard Country (2012) on Rural Rhythm. He cut two solo records for Patuxent Music while still a teenager, Grave Run (2006) and Rutland’s Reel (2008). In 2011 he finished a Bachelor of Music in jazz performance at Towson University, where he studied with pianist Tim Murphy, trumpeter David Ballou, and violinist Jeffrey Howard.
In 2014 he co-founded Charm City Junction with banjo player Brad Kolodner, Sean McComiskey, and bassist Alex Lacquement. The quartet mixes bluegrass, old-time, and Irish music and has released three albums, starting with Charm City Junction (Patuxent, 2015). The IBMA gave McAvinue its Momentum Instrumentalist of the Year award in 2015, and in 2016 the Strathmore arts center in Bethesda named him an artist in residence.
He joined Dailey and Vincent’s touring band in January 2017, taking the fiddle chair from B.J. Cherryholmes, and played fiddle and mandolin with the band. That fall he won IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year. He released Perfect Fit in 2019. In 2020 he enlisted in the US Navy, finished basic training at Great Lakes, and was pinned as a Musician First Class on October 13, 2020. He joined Country Current, the Navy Band’s bluegrass ensemble in Washington, DC. In June 2023 he released the six-track EP Fortis, with Scott Vestal on banjo, Seth Taylor on mandolin, Shaun Richardson on guitar, and Billy Contreras on a second fiddle.
Playing style
McAvinue’s bluegrass playing sits in the Kenny Baker school: long smooth bow strokes, clean double stops, and a big tone that fills a break without rushing. His Redline years included a full Bill Monroe tribute album, I’m Going Back to Old Kentucky (2011), and he learned to play breakdowns straight.
The jazz degree shows up in his note choice. On swing tunes he outlines the chords with arpeggios and passing tones, and Bluegrass Today’s review of Fortis singled out his ease within the swing and jazz idioms. He also plays mandolin, has recorded Irish music with Charm City Junction, and played on the soundtrack of the video game Civilization VI.
Influences and legacy
McAvinue’s first teachers were classical, and his college teachers were jazz players. In bluegrass he looks back to Kenny Baker, and the lead single from Fortis was Baker’s First Day in Town. He has played twin fiddles with Michael Cleveland and worked with Alison Krauss, Del McCoury, Béla Fleck, Marty Stuart, and John McCutcheon. Darol Anger has praised his grace and his responsibility to the music.
He teaches private lessons and has posted a daily fiddle tune series online, which Bluegrass Today covered as his Tune of the Day.
Signature tunes and songs
Rutland’s Reel Grave Run Fortis First Day in Town Lee Highway Blues Tennessee Wagoner.
Essential recordings
Grave Run (Patuxent Music, 2006) Rutland’s Reel (Patuxent Music, 2008) Charm City Junction (Patuxent Music, 2015) Perfect Fit (McAvinue Music, 2019) Fortis (2023)
Awards and honors
Delaware State Fiddle Championship (2003, 2004, 2005) IBMA Momentum Instrumentalist of the Year (2015) Strathmore artist in residence (2016) IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year (2017) Towson University Distinguished Young Alumni Award (2018)
Watch and listen
McAvinue plays Lee Highway Blues for Megan Lynch Chowning’s FiddleStar channel. Watch the length of his bow strokes on the shuffle.
McAvinue and Michael Cleveland play twin fiddles. Listen to how the harmony part stays locked to the lead.
What to learn from McAvinue
Learn Lee Highway Blues from the FiddleStar video. It is a jam standard, and McAvinue plays it with clear shuffle bowing you can copy at half speed. The technique to steal is his chord-tone break. On a swing tune, find the arpeggio of each chord, play those notes on the strong beats, and fill between them with a scale step. That is the trick behind his jazz sound.
Sources
Patrick McAvinue, Wikipedia Patrick McAvinue, IBMA award recipients Bio, Patrick McAvinue Patrick McAvinue to Dailey & Vincent, Bluegrass Today Patrick McAvinue joins Country Current, and the US Navy, Bluegrass Today First Day in Town from Patrick McAvinue, Bluegrass Today Fortis, Patrick McAvinue, Bluegrass Today
Related players
See the fiddle players hub and the bluegrass fiddle guide for more players. McAvinue builds on Kenny Baker and has played twin fiddles with Michael Cleveland. Other recent IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year winners include Becky Buller and Deanie Richardson.