ED PEARLMAN – New Englander, master musician, educator and writer.
Ed Pearlman is based in South Portland, enjoys many styles of fiddle music, and is best known for Scottish and Cape Breton fiddling, often working with his son Neil, daughter Lillie, and his wife, dancer Laura Scott.He is one of the hardest working and most involved fiddlers in New England. Ed has taught in-person workshops and private lessons since the 1980s, and since 2014, has run www.fiddle-online.com, an instructional fiddle website offering many styles and techniques. He co-led music and walking trips to Scotland for 14 summers, and now writes weekly posts about them on substack.com, as well as weekly posts about learning fiddle. Ed has worked closely with many top fiddlers, wrote for Fiddler magazine for several years, and was the music columnist for Scottish Life magazine for 24 years. He directed the Boston Scottish Fiddle Club 1981-99, and the Roaring Jelly open contra dance band for several years. With son Neil on piano, (also a master musician and educator), Ed has toured widely and recorded 3 CDs – one with daughter Lillie on fiddle. Together, they published a book of 150 original tunes called the “Pine Street Collection”. Ed invented the popular Finger Finder, a slide rule for violin fingering in all keys.
Links for Ed Pearlman:
Scotland’s Music, Landscape & Events, by Ed Pearlman – Covering all aspects of Scottish music, plus photos, and stories of walks throughout Scotland, by a musician and long-time music columnist for “Scottish Life” magazine.