Photo: Isak Tiner (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Ken Waldman

Anchorage-based old-time fiddler and poet who performs work combining Appalachian-style fiddle tunes with original poetry, billed as "Alaska's Fiddling Poet."

From

Anchorage, Alaska

Active

1990s–present

Genre

Old-time fiddle, Spoken-word poetry

Genre

Folk

Biography

Ken Waldman is a writer and musician based in Anchorage, Alaska, known as "Alaska's Fiddling Poet." He moved to Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1985 and has made Anchorage his permanent home since 1998, drawing on roughly three decades in the state for poems, stories, and fiddle tunes. His signature performances weave together old-time Appalachian fiddle music and original poetry, with the poems often reflecting on the music itself and on Alaska.

Waldman plays old-time Appalachian fiddle, clawhammer banjo, and mandolin, and has released a series of albums of original and traditional Appalachian-style tunes interlaced with spoken poetry. He is also a prolific author of poetry collections and other books, including the memoir Are You Famous? Touring America with Alaska's Fiddling Poet. He has toured widely across the United States and internationally, performing at festivals, schools, and colleges.

In 1996 Waldman survived a small plane crash near Nome, Alaska, an experience he has written and performed about; he became a full-time touring artist afterward. His writing has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize in both poetry and fiction.