If you go
The next music and history show with Matt Evans is Wednesday, June 7 beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the shop, 2248 Dayton Blvd.
Eric and August Bruce can’t stand to see people with a desire to learn music unable to do so because of their financial situation.
August Bruce has taught music for more than 20 years, and although Eric Bruce isn’t a full-time teacher, the Chattanooga firefighter shares his wife’s passion for music. That’s why they offer free lessons for fiddle and other bluegrass instruments on Sundays at their shop, Fiddlers Anonymous, so anyone with a passion to learn can do so.
For nearly two years, the Red Bank couple ran the weekly school out of their one-car garage. For the last eight months, they’ve had a storefront on Dayton Boulevard for their music lessons and instrument sales. They said they have been getting dozens of students at each Sunday session, and it keeps growing.
“I think Chattanooga has a lot of room to grow musically,” said Eric Bruce. “We’ll have parents who bring their children in for a free lesson, and after a few weeks they’ll go, ‘Boy, I’d like to try this, too!’ It’s great to see so many people find a passion for the music.”
Their Sunday classes also include a potluck dinner and a bluegrass jam session for as long as people want to play, up to 10 p.m. Hearing the sweet sounds of banjos, upright basses and fiddles playing through the evening has been music to the Bruces’ ears.
Also new to Fiddlers Anonymous is a music and history show the first Wednesday of each month with Matt Evans, an English instructor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The hourlong show starts at 6:30 p.m. and includes live music and the history of the instruments and music featured.
The store’s open mic night and free art show on Mondays has also garnered attention, Eric Bruce said.
“I’ve been really surprised since we opened. I guess we just had our heads buried in bluegrass, but there’s so many talented singer-songwriters around here,” he said. “There are amazing musicians all over town, and I really think music in Chattanooga is on the upswing.”
The shop also offers discount instruments and instrument repair services, in addition to regular paid lessons for a variety of instruments. No equipment or prior knowledge is required for the free lessons each Sunday.
For more information, contact Fiddlers Anonymous at 994-7497 or find the store’s Facebook page.