Merna Lewis is a Colorado native with a rich musical heritage, unprecedented passion, and dedication, and she is a force behind the fiddle. Every melody born from years of tenacity, education, dedication and persistence. You don’t just listen to Merna play the fiddle, you feel her play the fiddle.
She proudly carries on the legacy of late Aunt Bettie Freel, well-known fiddle player/violinist and music teacher in the San Luis Valley, CO; and deceased Grandmother Virginia Marie Bond Riggenbach, violin virtuoso, The Juilliard School of Music graduate and teacher of violins at the Brearley School for Girls in New York City, and founder of Riggenbach School of Music in Alamosa, CO; as well as great-grandma Merna on piano and great, great-grandfather on fiddle.
Merna earned her Associate of Applied Arts Degree in Commercial Music from South Plains College, Levelland, TX in 2002. She moved to Nashville in 2003 and immediately ranked as one of the first call fiddle players for the lower Broadway Honky-tonks, which led to touring opportunities with Trent Willmon and Tanya Tucker and many regional artists, as well as studio recording sessions. You can hear Merna playing on many independent artist CDs and EPs.
She's a founding member of western music's newest Super Group, Gone With the West, along with Mary Kaye Holt, Micki Fuhrman, and Tecia McKenna, and is honored to play with such prestigious award-winning artists.
Instagram: @thebarefootfiddler
Facebook: @thebarefootfiddler
Talents: Musician
Nominations:
- 2023 Instrumentalist of the Year Nominee