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Music Exploring Old Time Recordings and Artists < Back To List John Ashby The Free State Ramblers John Chilton Ashby (1915-1979, is one of the best-known fiddlers from Fauquier County, in northeast Virginia. He started playing fiddle when he was 11 years old, and had the advantage of learning from many family members, as the Ashby family boasts a musical heritage that dates back to well before the Civil War. Early Fauquier County history reveals that “The Ashby Boys” were playing for dances in the 1840-50’s. Some of the tunes that Ashby learned from his musical influences, and contained in his albums, include “Johnny Don’t Get Drunk,” “Rattlesnake Bit The Baby,” and the “Free State Hornpipe.” Ashby himself is credited with composing “Ashby’s Breakdown,” “Going to the Free State,” and the “Fauquier County Hornpipe.” John Ashby was known as a powerful and rhythmic long - bow fiddler. He considered rhythm and timing to be everything. So much so, that his son Skip remarked that he preferred his musicians to stay on the same chord and keep time rather than to change chords and lose the timing! Beginning in 1930, Ashby began playing in a group with his brother and a neighbor, and by 1937, the group became known as the Free State Ramblers. The Free State Ramblers gained an excellent reputation in the 1940s, winning competitions at multiple fiddlers’ conventions, playing for radio shows, and winning a national band contest in Cleveland, Ohio in 1946. In the late 40s, The Free State Ramblers opened many times for Patsy Cline and shared the same booking agent. During the early 1950s the band added Everett Ashby on electric steel guitar, influenced by the steel guitar craze in that period, and they played country and bluegrass mixed in with the Old Time fiddling tunes. Ashby’s son, Skip began playing in the band in the mid-50’s, and continues the tradition to the present day. Even with their success, Ashby still needed a “day job” to make ends meet, so he worked as a farmer and skilled carpenter. The Free state Ramblers took their name from the "Free State" of Fauquier County, Virginia (home of the Ashby family). It refers to an area of roughly 12 square miles located north and west of Warrenton that was known for its residents' defiance of authority and lawlessness dating back to colonial times. Disputes over property rights led residents to ignore rent and tax payments as they claimed ownership of the land they lived on. They declared themselves independent of the U.S. and even named a King. John Ashby’s uncle Charlie was King of the Free State in the late 19th century. Over the generations, stories were passed down about violence, fighting, bootleg liquor production, and tax avoidance in the Free State area. ( ed. note: Reads kind of like the early history of East Tennessee , doesn’t it?) In the 1970s, John made three albums. “John Ashby and The Free State Ramblers, Old Virginia Fiddling” was released in 1970 (County 727); “Down on Ashby’s Farm, Fine Old Fiddle Tunes” was released in 1974 (County 745); and the third album “John Ashby and the Free State Ramblers, Fiddling by the Hearth” was released in 1979 (County 773). In 2015 the Field Recorders Collective released an album (FRC108) of recordings made at a New York City concert in April, 1972. Toward the end of his life John received national recognition. In 1978 he won first place for old-time fiddler and best all-around performer at the Galax (VA) Old time Fiddlers Convention. He was also invited to play at the White House by President Jimmy Carter, but unfortunately had a heart attack and was not able to go. His niece described him as mild mannered, with a good sense of humor. She also said, “It was always so stunning to me, how very talented he was, and how much he was so low key about it! He would always take the time to help a young fiddler, if he was asked”. John Chilton Ashby (1915-1979 John Ashby Skip Ashby John Ashby's son, carrying on the tradition John Chilton Ashby (1915-1979 1/10 "Sugar In The Gourd" John Ashby and the Free State Ramblers John Ashby and the Free State Ramblers Video by The Daughter of the Stars Theater and Cultural Center "Snow Shoes" John Ashby and the Free State Ramblers Going To The Free State John Ashby and the Free State Ramblers 00:00 / 01:45