If you’ve been part of any of the Drunken Fiddles retreats, you’ve probably had the pleasure of meeting Brooke Browning, where she’s usually in the middle of the action, playing in a jam or heading out on some adventure to explore the area. 

Growing up playing violin in orchestra, Brooke now performs locally with a variety of ensembles, including the Salina, Hutchinson, and Newton symphonies, the Wichita Grand Opera, and local Celtic band Knocknasheega. Additionally, she works as a clinician in area schools, helping young musicians strengthen their skills. 

This passion for music has been a big part of growing her Wichita chapter, which just completed its 13th session. As she shares, “My teaching philosophy is that everybody CAN and my job is to give them the tools to enjoy and express their love of music, whether with viola, violin, or cello.”

When asked what drew her to Drunken Fiddles, she explained, “What makes Drunken Fiddles different is that adults get to be beginners in a sa...

Greetings and salutations, Internet family! It's Ashley here again, reporting back after the conclusion of my last class of the session. 

We've Come A Long Way, Baby...
It's truly hard to believe it's only been six weeks since I first picked up my fiddle. I am pleased to report that I put my shoulder rest upside down only about 25% of the time these days and am generally less clumsy with my bow. Progress! 

The first tune we learned was Boil 'em Cabbage, which became the focus of my practicing for the first few weeks with my bow. I must admit that despite a shaky start, I really started to gain some confidence as my tone started to sound more consistently... not dying-cat-like. And the bowing started to feel more natural. (Perhaps there *is* a method to Laurel's madness in using this as the first tune - ha!!) This became particularly clear when I attempted You Are My Sunshine, tune number two. 

Every Journey Begins with a Flat (and Sometimes Sharp) Step
Whereas the Cabbage kept my left...

Hello, all! It's Ashley once again, reporting back after a full week of fiddle learning. I have been part of the in-person Kansas City session on Thursday nights, but also decided it wouldn't hurt for me to take advantage of the Zero to Fiddling course we launched this week. It feels like this two-pronged approach is going to give me the best chance of getting... proficient? We'll see how it pans out for me.

The biggest success moment of my week came in the in-person class, where we focused on bow technique. It seems to be pretty common knowledge among string players that perfecting this part of the playing process is extremely important, but also deceptively challenging. I learned about the "frog" and how my little pinky finger is pretty much the muscle of the whole situation. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of the clumsiness my fingers felt the first time I learned how to hold chop sticks. Getting the right pressure in the right places and letting the balance of it all work in my f...

Ashley here. I don't know that I've officially introduced myself, but I've worked in the background at Drunken Fiddles for a few months, helping with content and other various tasks. While my work doesn't directly require expertise in fiddling, Laurel thought I should try my hand at it - partly so I'd understand what it's really like to start and partly because she thought it would be fun. And so my journey began! She helped me track down an instrument and got me enrolled in the latest session in Kansas City. Class officially kicked off last night, so I thought I'd report back about how that went. 

A Blast from the Past
While I've never played a stringed instrument before, I have some musical background - from playing piano, flute, and singing. As the lesson kicked off, I could feel my brain reactivating the parts of itself that stored information like "what are the names of the notes?" and "I think that's a quarter note". These portions have been largely dormant for many, many years, ...

We've all packed up and boarded our (very delayed) flights home, so it feels like the perfect time to look back on the incredible time we spent together in Quebec City. 

This is the 4th international retreat Drunken Fiddles has hosted and it feels like they just get better and better each time. It's hard to recreate the magic that happens when people are able to step out of their day-to-day lives and connect over a shared love of music. What a gift that we can do this together! 

The Monastery
This year, our group gathered at Le Monastère des Augustines in the heart of Quebec City. This unique property was founded nearly *400* years ago by three nuns sent to the new territory by France to establish a religious center and hospital. We had the pleasure of playing most of our sessions in the vault of the building, which had served as an extension of the hospital over the years - especially in times of war. Rumors of potentially supernatural activity in the space were perhaps confirmed whe...

Look out! The Drunken Fiddles team has officially landed in Quebec City and we're so excited to kick off our 2026 conference tomorrow. Over the course of the next week, we're going to be digging deep into the Quebecois music tradition, bringing in several local expert instructors. Make sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok in order to get all the latest updates. Stay tuned!