Tristan Clarridge is a California fiddler and cellist with five Grand National Championships from Weiser, Idaho, and three Grand Master Fiddler Championships from Nashville. He won his first Weiser title in 2002 and his most recent Grand Master title in 2023, 21 years later. Between contests he plays cello in the string band Crooked Still and co-leads the Bee Eaters with his sister Tashina Clarridge.
Why Clarridge matters
Clarridge showed that a contest champion can leave the contest stage, build a career in progressive string band music, and then come back and win again. Few fiddlers have won Nashville’s Grand Master title across a span that long. He also carried the contest fiddler’s precision onto the cello, where he plays rhythm and lead lines that most cellists never try.
Life and career
Clarridge grew up in a remote part of Northern California. The Bee Eaters’ band biography says he and Tashina lived in a tipi on the side of a mountain, never attended a regular school, and began music lessons at age two. In 1995 the Clarridge Family released a cassette, You Got to Have a Fiddle in the Band, with Sally Goodin, Sally Johnson, and Orange Blossom Special on it. That same year Tristan won the Small Fry division for fiddlers under nine at the National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest in Weiser.
He won the Grand National Championship at Weiser in 2002, 2003, and 2004, then again in 2006 and 2008. Tashina won it in 2005, the year between his titles. In 2006 he won the Grand Master Fiddler Championship in Nashville, with Tashina in second place, and he repeated in 2008 with Tashina again in second.
In January 2008 he joined Crooked Still on cello, replacing Rushad Eggleston. He played on Still Crooked in 2008 and Some Strange Country in 2010, both on Signature Sounds. He also toured with Darol Anger’s Republic of Strings and appears on that group’s 2006 Compass album Generation Nation. In 2008 the Clarridges formed the Bee Eaters with hammered dulcimer player Simon Chrisman. The trio released The Bee Eaters in 2009 and Oddfellows Road in 2011, then a record with Sean Watkins called This Is Who We Are.
He kept competing. He placed fifth at the Grand Master championship in 2021, then won it for a third time in 2023 with Billy Contreras and Jesse Maw behind him. He placed second in 2025 behind Jesse Maw. At Weiser in 2026 he took second in the Grand Champion division behind Tashina and won the twin fiddling division with her.
Playing style
On fiddle, Clarridge plays the Texas contest style he grew up in: long bow strokes, a breakdown played through several variations, a waltz with double stops, and a tune of choice that often leans toward swing. His 2023 Grand Master finals show a clean, unhurried bow arm and a tempo that never rushes.
On cello he does something different. He plays the cello as a rhythm and lead instrument in a string band, chopping on the off beats, walking bass lines, and taking fiddle-tune melodies in the low register. The Bee Eaters describe his cello as grounding the band under Tashina’s fiddle and Chrisman’s dulcimer. He plays both cello and fiddle on Oddfellows Road.
Influences and legacy
Clarridge learned through the West Coast fiddle camp circuit and the Texas-style contest world. Darol Anger was a mentor, and the Bee Eaters recorded Anger’s tune Gyrosmoke. He has toured with Mike Marshall, Bruce Molsky, and Natalie MacMaster, and recorded with Laurie Lewis, Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas, Jeremy Kittel, Hanneke Cassel, and Alex Hargreaves. In Crooked Still he plays beside Brittany Haas.
He teaches. He and Tashina co-founded the Shasta Music Summit, a camp in Northern California, and the Bee Eaters have taught at Berklee College of Music and other schools. Younger fiddlers like Miles Quale of Crying Uncle name him as a teacher. His five Weiser titles put him in a small group with Tony Ludiker, Luke Price, Lloyd Wanzer, and Herman Johnson.
Signature tunes and songs
Sally Goodin Sally Johnson Gyrosmoke Petersburg Interlude Oddfellows Road The Tree Climber.
Essential recordings
Still Crooked, with Crooked Still (Signature Sounds, 2008) The Bee Eaters, with the Bee Eaters (self-released, 2009) Some Strange Country, with Crooked Still (Signature Sounds, 2010) Oddfellows Road, with the Bee Eaters (self-released, 2011)
Awards and honors
National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest, Small Fry division (1995) National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest, Grand National Champion (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008) Grand Master Fiddler Championship (2006, 2008, 2023) National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest, Twin Fiddling 18 and over, with Tashina Clarridge Lindley (2026)
Watch and listen
Clarridge plays the final round of the 2023 Grand Master Fiddler Championship, the round that won him his third title. Watch the long bow strokes and count how many variations he plays on the breakdown.
Tristan and Tashina Clarridge play twin fiddles at the 2012 National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest. Listen to how the harmony part stays locked to the lead through every variation.
What to learn from Clarridge
Learn Sally Johnson in the Texas style. Play the plain tune first, then add one variation per pass, the way he does in a contest round. The technique to steal is his bow economy. He plays fast passages with long, connected strokes instead of a stroke per note, which keeps the sound smooth and leaves the left hand free to add the variations. Practice a breakdown with a slur across every two or three notes and keep the tempo steady. That is the sound judges reward at Weiser and Nashville.
Sources
Champions, National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Collection, University of Idaho Library Past winners, Grand Master Fiddler Championship 2006 results, Grand Master Fiddler Championship 2008 results, Grand Master Fiddler Championship 2021 results, Grand Master Fiddler Championship 2023 results, Grand Master Fiddler Championship 2025 Grand Master Fiddler Championship results, Bluegrass Today The 73rd annual National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest and Festival, Bluegrass Today Bio and press kit, The Bee Eaters Crooked Still official site Crooked Still, Wikipedia California Report: fiddler Miles Quale of Crying Uncle, Bluegrass Today The Clarridge Family, You Got to Have a Fiddle in the Band, Discogs Bee Eaters, Oddfellows Road, Discogs Bee Eaters, The Bee Eaters, Discogs Crooked Still, Still Crooked, Discogs Darol Anger’s Republic of Strings, Generation Nation, Discogs
Related players
See the fiddle players hub and the bluegrass fiddle guide for more contest champions. His sister Tashina Clarridge won Weiser in 2005 and 2026. Katrina Nicolayeff and Luke Price took over the Weiser title after his run, and Darol Anger and Brittany Haas share his string band world.