Vivian and Phil Williams have been documenting and performing Northwest folk music since their teens in the 1950's. They learned the pioneer dances as kids. As they discovered the Northwest manifestations of Appalachian, Scandinavian, and Celtic musics, along with the Northwest's unique style of old time fiddling, they expanded their concert repertoire and began recording regional artists on their Voyager Recordings label.
Vivian is well known in the U.S. and Canada for her fiddling ability. She performs regularly for old time dancing and is one of the leading old time and bluegrass fiddlers on the West Coast. She has won many fiddle contests in the U.S. and Canada, including: 1999 National Senior Champion (Weiser) and Washington State Senior Champion, three times Washington State fiddle champion, three times National Ladies Champion, four times winner of the West Coast International in Canada, and she won the Smithsonian Fiddle Contest in Washington, D.C., among many. She has judged many contests, including the National Oldtime Fiddle Contest, Weiser, ID.
Vivian plays primarily in the old time fiddle styles found among fiddlers in the Pacific Northwest, with a heavy influence of bluegrass. She is a noted composer of fiddle tunes, and her tunes have been recorded by many prominent folk and bluegrass musicians. They have been published in folk, fiddle, and bluegrass periodicals, posted on the Internet, and have been used in documentary movies on Northwest history.
Vivian and Phil have one of the few live square dance bands left in the Northwest, and play regularly with the Valse Cafe Orchestra Northwest ballroom dance ensemble, the Small Pleasures Contra Dance band, and the bluegrass band Williams & Bray.
