Lewisburg band to play halftime show for NFL team Arizona Cardinals
The Dueling Fiddlers, a Lewisburg band, will play the halftime show of the Arizona Cardinals’ Dec. 27 game against the Green Bay Packers. The game will take place at the Cardinals’ home field, University of Phoenix Stadium, where all 65,000 seats have been sold out.
The Dueling Fiddlers is a rock band comprised of two concert violinists, Adam DeGraff and Russell Fallstad. Their unique brand of music – rock violin – has been heard across the world, from Los Angeles clubs to private parties in Italy. These days, TDF will typically be found on the stage of Fortune 500 corporate events and political functions. TDF have played for Senator Joe Manchin, former Senator Jay Rockefeller, and President Bill Clinton.
Friends since their college days at Northwestern University, DeGraff and Fallstad were each enjoying successful careers at the top of the classical world when they decided to try a little experimentation, blending their highly-trained classical roots with the aesthetics of rock and pop.
On Dec. 27, they will play a 6-minute mashup, written expressly for the Arizona Cardinals. The audience will hear AC/DC, Eminem, Guns and Roses, Metallica and Pachelbel
“It’s not a medley,” DeGraff clarified, “it’s a mashup. That means you’ll be hearing AC/DC on top of Eminem. It’s exploring how Guns and Roses relates to Pachelbel.”
The opportunity came about through the magic of YouTube. The Cardinals’ management was looking for ways to promote the team’s return to their classic black uniform after abandoning their current red uniforms. That led to a Google search for “Back in Black,” AC/DC’s well-known song from the early ‘80s. What they found was The Dueling Fiddlers’ YouTube video with over half a million views, AC/DC Back in Black. The NFL outfit was soon on the phone with DeGraff.
DeGraff laughed, “This is an example of how a band from West Virginia can put their stuff on YouTube and be found.”
For their upcoming stadium performance, TDF will bring in Morgan Weidinger to play bass. DeGraff explained, “For a venue this large, two violins will be too trebly. We needed bass to help the sound carry.”
Weidinger won’t be playing bass guitar or standup bass. Rather, the full-scholarship junior at Berklee College of Music, will play her violin run through electronics to sound like an electric bass.
“Her unique technique of bowing and hitting the violin at the same time sounds like a bass drum, snare and hat all at once,” DeGraff said. “She is literally the best musician I know – creative, humble and so calm on stage.”
Learn more about The Dueling Fiddlers at www.theduelingfiddlers.com or at www.youtube.com/user/theduelingfiddlers. TDF’s NFL halftime show will not air on Dec. 27 but will be available online afterward.
