We had an unexpected treat today when Sammy Passamano with 615 Hideaway brought Hillary Klug down to the media room at World of Bluegrass to perform a mini showcase for us. Hillary played fiddle, sang, and accompanied herself buck dancing, supported by Cristina Vane on banjo and Evan Winsor on guitar.
Hillary has established a reputation as a bluegrass/old time entertainer through her viral videos on YouTube and Facebook, with some reaching more than four million views. She is a buck dancing champion, and combines the two skills in a pleasing and engaging fashion, earning her this substantial following. This tasty merging of techniques came about organically several years back when Klug was busking on the streets of Nashville. One chilly afternoon, with passersby passing her by, she added some footwork to help stay warm, and found that suddenly people were stopping to admire her performance. Ever since, she is known as the buck dancing fiddler with the long blonde hair.
Cristina is a noted performer on her own merit, working both in the old time and roots music world, and in classic rock and blues as well. Her debut project, Nowhere Sounds Lovely, is available online.
Evan is not only an accomplished Nashville multi-instrumentalist, he is Hillary’s fiancé.
Here is their impromptu take on The Cuckoo.
They also recorded a video of Cristina singing Way Down The Old Plank Road.
Well done all – and thanks for stopping by!