I found an old friend by doing an internet search, so the innerwebz really is good for something. You know you're a true musician when you look up fiddle players you've known and not old girlfriends. It was with excitement tinged by trepidation that I went to see him. He's almost 80 years old now, and it's true, you can never go home again. Time marches on and things are not as you remember them.
We played together in a band back when I was single, but I got the most enjoyment from simply sitting down at his house or wherever and just the two of us playing. We'd go into these dark dusty taverns in Southern New Mexico and unplug the jukebox and play. Bob Seger, Bob Wills, Fiddle Tunes, Motley Crue, whatever. Bikers, cowboys, Indians and Mexicans would eat it up, throw money in the hat and buy us drinks.
I took the family down to meet him, and we played all afternoon just like the good old days. Words cannot express how happy I was to be playing with Valentino again, if only for a few hours. I was out of practice, country music was never my forte, but it was awesome.
Valentino is a Pueblo Indian, born in Taos Pueblo, New Mexico. Blind from birth, his family sent him to the Blind School in Alamogordo where he learned to play the violin. He is the best damned fiddle player I've ever had the pleasure of knowing.
Here's a little montage...
