For those fiddle players among us, there is a new site custom tailored to you. It’s the Fiddle Hangout. The site just went live last Friday, June 22, 2007, but has averaged 2,000 visits per day since that time.
Springing from the same ground as the Banjo Hangout, the site incorporates a similar set of features that are sure to make it a favorite among fiddle players. The main page of the site will give you all the latest news, forum discussions, and contest/giveaway information. Moving on from there you can enter the discussion forums and join (or start) a conversation about any aspect of fiddle playing. You can set up your own homepage that includes blogging capabilities, photo albums, mp3 archives, etc. Other site features include: free drawings, classified ads, an event calendar, fiddle reviews, online fiddle lessons, and a links archive.
The site’s owner tells me that other content areas planned for the future include a sheet music (notation and tab) archive and an online store. For now, though, the focus is on building the interaction within the community.
…that’s the key to making this the world’s most comprehensive fiddle resource. I’m convinced that it’ll happen, because I think we’ve got a good structure in place that really encourages people to interact online.
One of the coolest things about the Banjo Hangout site that I’ve experienced is having people meet for the first time online, then having that relationship become a “real world” one where people are meeting up to jam, teach each other, help someone in need, or just hang out. I’m completely confident that the Fiddle Hangout will be instrumental in building those kinds of relationships among fiddle players as well.
If the site is to be judged either by it’s early success over the last few days, or by the success of it’s sister site, the Banjo Hangout, I would have to agree that the jumping place to be for fiddle players world over, will soon be the Fiddle Hangout.
