Texas fiddler Roberts wins second championship

Might as well make it a two-fer. 

 Granbury, Texas fiddler Ridge Roberts, 22, claimed his second Grand National Championship title in as many years on the final night of the 72nd National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest in Weiser Saturday, June 21.

 Taking into account the contest judges are hearing each contestant, one at a time, and scoring them as they hear them in each round rather than making side-by-side comparisons clears up any questions on “how they can ever decide” the winners.

 At the end of the night’s performances, the top two spots went to Texas fiddlers, with Dennis Ludiker, Austin, Texas (by way of Spokane), placing second. One of this year’s youngest fiddlers to try for the Grand National title and the 2024 second-place winner, Jesse Quintana, Lakewood, Colo., placed third; Tashina Lindley, Steamboat, Ore., fourth; and Celeste Johnson, Portland, Ore., fifth.

 Mature beyond his years, the clear-eyed, gracious Roberts told the Signal American there have been a few changes since last summer. 

 “I’m engaged,” he smiled. “That’s probably the most exciting news.”

 Even though there are a number of “fiddle family” couples who first met at the Weiser contest, Roberts said he actually met his fiance at a Super Bowl Sunday party.

 “It didn’t have anything to do with music,” he said. “She likes music, and she’ll have to come with me next year. Her name is Rachel…I always thought Rachel was a really pretty name, and when I met her, well, she’s a really pretty girl.”

 Last summer he was just moving into his own place, about a mile from his parents.

 “The other thing, pretty much the day after I got home I moved out of the house,” he said. “I’m still living in that same place. It’s nice and other than that, things are kind of the same. I’m just playing music.”

 “Just” may be an understatement.

 As the fiddler for The Western Flyers, a western swing band continuing to grow in popularity across the country, Roberts said the band is on the road quite a bit.

 “We were actually just in Montana about two weeks ago, and then we were in Georgia,” he said. “We’ll be doing our Oregon tour in about three weeks, a couple of times in July. And, then, we’re going to Japan in September, which is really exciting. The whole band, including Redd Volkaert, and it is going to be really fun. He’s a character to be around.”

 What comes up, over and over, from everyone in the fiddle community that continue to choose the Weiser annual rendezvous as where they will be each June, is the deep relational ties that were begun and held together by meeting in this place. To hear them speak of it in pretty much reverent tones can remind us there is something a little extra special about the place we call home.

 Roberts said he fully intends to be back in Weiser in 2026, and hopefully his Western Flyers band mate Joey McKenzie will be able to make a return with him. The 1983 Men’s division champion, McKenzie has spent decades backing up contestants at the NOTFC, most of the time finishing the week as one of the top five accompanists.

 “Joey has been really busy, but I’m going to get him back here sometime,” Roberts said.