Signup for Vi Wickam’s Fiddle Tune a Day: www.vithefiddler.com I have played Cripple Creek forever, but I didn’t play it very cool until I added some licks from a Benny Thomasson transcription. Of course, I added my own stuff in there too. I even included it on my recent album, Long Time Comin’. Tonight, I was asked by Andy May to join him playing at a fundraiser for rebuilding after the High Park fire. I was honored to be asked, and happy to be a part of the event. I don’t know how much was raised for the rebuilding fund, but there was a big jar full of money when I left. And, the audience seemed to be enjoying themselves. I would say that the night was a big success. Cripple Creek Song History By Richard L. Matteson Jr. If you’ve ever learned the banjo, chances are you’ve played Cripple Creek. A meandering or a crooked stream is referred to as a “cripple” creek. The most famous Cripple Creek is a town in Colorado. Gold was discovered there in 1891 and the mining town that sprang up was considered by some to be the source of the song. Folklorist Alan Jabbour, of the Library of Congress found that the oldest Appalachian fiddlers he collected from could recall the first time that they had heard “Cripple Creek,” leading Jabbour to speculate that the title might have something to do with the Cripple Creek, Colorado, labor troubles. I believe that the Cripple Creek location in our bluegrass song is Cripple Creek, Virginia, a small community located in Wythe County at latitude …