Sheila Sapkota (Organiser / Teacher)

Although a science teacher to trade, Sheila Sapkota has played the violin/viola for many years. She also teaches at Selkirk Traditional Music Centre at the High School.

"I discovered fiddle music when I was sixteen years old (having studied classical viola for eight years). There was no turning back! Traditional fiddle was so lively and fun!

Since then I have played in many ceilidh bands and at venues, which have ranged from posh hotels to Orcadian village halls not to mention Himalayan hamlets.

Four years living and working in Orkney allowed me to work in schools and in communities and showed me how diverse and exciting traditional music can be.

Fiddle playing is fun and I believe lessons should be fun too. It is about meeting people and making music together as well as listening and learning different types of music. "

Karen Hendry (Administrator)

I started playing fiddle in 2005. I have always had a love of traditional music. I don’t come from a musical family; although there was always music around, in particular singing. I have never played any musical instrument or learned to read music. My not so secret vice is karaoke. I always thought I couldn’t play an instrument but Sheila inspired me to give it a go and now I wish I had learned years ago. The personal satisfaction I get from learning a new tune and the enjoyment I get from playing with others is enormous. Riddell Fiddles has also widened my circle of friends and opened up areas of music in the Borders I was unaware of. I aspire to be able to pick up tunes as quickly as my daughter, Kim who also learns with Riddell Fiddles

I have over 25 years office experience - administration, organising details, communicating information to people or anything ‘office based’ comes as second nature to me now and are skills I will never lose.

Riddell Fiddles has grown enormously and the administration has become onerous for one person (Sheila!). I can put my skills to good use helping with the administration involved in Riddell Fiddles and free up Sheila’s time to concentrate on teaching. I hope I can continue to do this in an unobtrusive and easy manner which will not detract from the fun that is Riddell Fiddles.

Donald Knox (www.donaldknoxguitars.co.uk)

Donald, originally from Kelso but now Hawick-based, came to folk music relatively late, his early musical influences being classical and rock. He played electric guitar in rock cover bands in the mid-1970’s before giving up performing to become a maths teacher. Dick Gaughan was an early folk influence but it wasn’t until a visit to Denholm Folk Club in 1996 that Donald started playing acoustic guitar exclusively, rather than electric.

Initially, most of his songs were drawn from contemporary American sources such as Guy Clark, Steve Earle, John Hiatt, John Prine and Nanci Griffith but more recently Donald has started to concentrate on traditional and contemporary Scottish songs.

He started playing as a duo with Adam Raeburn in early 2002 and recorded the CD Magic of the Music with him in the summer of 2003. At the end of that year Donald and Adam were joined by Pat Douglas (on guitar and vocals) and Andrew Brodie (on accordion), the group eventually settling on the name Carlenjig. In this line up, Donald plays mandola as much as guitar.

As well as playing for Carlenjig he is the resident guitarist for Riddell Fiddles, and teaches and builds guitars professionally.

Jimmy Nagle

A native of Jedburgh, Jimmy began to study fiddle at the age of 12 under the tutelage of his Jedburgh Grammar School music teacher, Mrs Jenkins. It was this sensitive woman, from Northumberland originally, who had the foresight not only to awaken Jimmy's interest in Scottish traditional music, but to send him for private tuition to 'an old fellow up the street': his own granddad, Tom Hughes. Before that time, and surprising as it may seem, he had no inkling that granddad played the fiddle.

Jimmy carries on the tradition on his granddad's old flat-bridged fiddle, which naturally lends itself to 'double stringing'. His own contribution is considerable: some 20 or so compositions which he mulls over for quite some time before they receive a public airing.

Catriona Macdonald (www.catrionamacdonald.com)

Catriona is a proud bearer of one of the world's great fiddle traditions, that of the Shetland Isles. A star pupil of the late Dr. Tom Anderson MBE, Catriona at once embodies the strength and spirit of her heritage and the freshness and diversity of a thoroughly modern performer. Her superb playing and great charisma, have established her world wide reputation. In 1991 her dexterity and presence became acknowledged on a wider stage, when she won the prestigious BBC Radio Two Young Tradition Award Her new album bold (peerie angel productions PAP001) sees her flourishing as a progressive performer in her own right, offering a wealth of exciting, original musical ideas whilst still firmly holding hands with the past, a part of the ever evolving tradition.

Amy Geddes

Raised in Galloway, Amy Geddes is now at the forefront of contemporary Scottish fiddle playing as a performer, teacher and composer. She has performed in Scotland and Europe with various artists including Tannas, the Scottish Step Dance Company and Savourna Stevenson and all female group Maysha. Her fiddle style has developed over the years through playing with a numerous musicians in an eclectic variety of musical styles including, for example, a performance on a tribute album to Brian Wilson and with a new piece of music for the Edinburgh Mela, working with Chinese and Pakistani musicians. Amy has an assured and unique fiddle style firmly rooted in Scotland yet enhanced by an increasingly broad wealth of musical experience. Amy is now based in Edinburgh and is a full time musician, performer and teacher.