The Case of the Charlie Daniels Tenor Fiddle

So I was in Nashville not too long ago, and before meeting our parents for dinner, my brother Dave suggested we stop by McKay Used Books. After rooting around the DVD section I had a prize find: an un-authorized tell-all of the real story behind American Idol. Score! 50 cents and it was mine.

But not so fast…since dad didn’t pick up the first time Dave called to confirm 6:30 pm instead of 7:00 pm, Dave suggested we take another 15 minutes to look around.

Dave: “Have you checked out the musical instruments section?”

Stephan: “There’s a musical instruments section?”

Dave: “They don’t usually have a lot of instruments, but it’s fun to look.”

So I looked–and I was shocked to find a cello-shaped viola case identical to the red one I use to carry A Roadkill Opera sheet music and gear for playing the opera at exhibits. Except this one was gray.

Photo of the red and the gray: twin cello-shaped viola cases set on the sidewalk in front of Lashof Violins in Gaithersburg, Maryland. — The red and the gray: twin cello-shaped viola cases set on the sidewalk in front of Lashof Violins in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Since I was exhibiting at the Gaithersburg Book Festival in about a week, I thought the case would be perfect for my table.

Photo of the gray, cello-shaped viola case from McKay's of Nashville made a fine tabletop display for A Roadkill Opera at the 2014 Gaithersburg Book Festival. — The gray, cello-shaped viola case from McKay’s of Nashville made a fine tabletop display for **A Roadkill Opera** at the 2014 Gaithersburg Book Festival.

Just one problem–the case had a viola in it. What should I do with it? Was it worth anything? I wanted to know. Fortunately, I knew a guy: Mike. Like me, Mike has a day job, and he also has a passion for bluegrass music. But Mike is not like me in respect to this: he’s got chops, and plays guitar, mandolin, and fiddle, among other things. And though he lives in West Virginia, Mike was in Nashville that day and agreed to take a look at my mystery viola.

Mike checks out the mystery viola while Chuck looks on. Mike also pointed out some mysterious marks on the instrument.

Mike concluded that the viola was in pretty good shape and had a good tone. He also noticed that the back of the instrument had been marked with a permanent marker.

Photo of mark on the back of the instrument. Looking on the internet, the mark appears similar to some signatures of Charlie Daniels. — Mike noticed this mark on the back of the instrument. Looking on the internet, the mark appears similar to some signatures of Charlie Daniels.

Once home in Maryland, I looked on the internet and found Charlie Daniels has a signature that looks similar. Since Mike said it was a decent instrument and maybe it had been signed by Charlie Daniels, I figured it would make sense to ask the pros from Dover–that is, Jen and Alicia, the master luthiers at Lashof Violins. When they agreed to take a look at it, they said to leave it for a week, and they placed the instrument in one of their humidy-controlled cases.

Alicia placing the mystery viola in a house case while it is held for evaluation at Lashof Violins.

That would allow me to use the gray cello-shaped fiberglass viola case for a tabletop display and the red cello-shaped fiberglass viola case for more visual impact in front of my table. The red really pops in the sun!

Photo of DJ Choupin hawking If You See Roadkill, Think Opera, at the 2014 Gaithersburg Book Festival. — DJ Choupin hawking **If You See Roadkill, Think Opera**, at the 2014 Gaithersburg Book Festival. About 22,000 people were estimated to attend the May 17 event. Note the viola cases book-ending the table display.

When I came back to Lashof Violins to see what they had found out, there were some real surprises…which I will reveal in my next post.