Hall of Fame bluegrass fiddler Jim VanCleve, and his lovely bride, Danielle Nichole, were married in the shadow of the Alps on September 12 in Gstaad, Switzerland.
Jim is the fiddler with Appalachian Road Show, and a sought-after producer and session player in Nashville. As the band was booked to play the big Country Night Gstaad show September 11-12, he and Danielle figured, what a perfect place for a wedding!
So on Saturday at noon (local time), they held the ceremony outdoors with a reception following. At 9:00 p.m. the band was onstage in front of a sold out house, opening for Dwight Yoakam.
Jim says that the people in town were so friendly when they saw a wedding was taking place.
“I felt like we had met half the town earlier that day, while we were out taking pictures. There were about 4,000 people at the concert that night, and it seemed like every one of them stopped us to say congratulations at some point. It was pretty special.”
He also shared some information about his new partner, and how they met.
“Danielle is a musician as well. She’s a great mandolin player and singer, and we’ve already played a few gigs together and had an absolute blast! We’re definitely going to do some more of that when our schedules allow it. Her whole family plays, and they’re seriously some of the very best folks you’ll ever meet.
She had a band several years ago out of Michigan called Hard Line Drive. They were really making some noise on the circuit, and were on the verge of a record deal with Rounder at one point. I believe that’s actually about when we first crossed paths. They played several festivals that Mountain Heart was on, and Danielle, her band, and her family had even been coming to Mountain Heart shows at The Ark in Ann Arbor before that.
We were really just acquaintances back then. It wasn’t until about three years ago that our paths crossed again, and thankfully, God placed us right where we were supposed to be, in so many ways, at exactly the right time.
She’s an incredible person, and I feel so fortunate that we found each other!”
What a beautiful tribute.
The happy couple is now back in Nashville, though perhaps a bit jet-lagged from the experience.
Many congratulations to Jim and Danielle VanCleve!
