2022 Judges
Kelly Buckley (MT)
Born and raised in Spokane, WA, Kelly Buckley’s interest in music began 1986 with the piano, taking up the fiddle shortly after at age 10. Since then, Kelly has won numerous contests at the local, state, and regional level and placed as high as 8th at the national level (Young Adult Division). Kelly is a five-time Washington State Young Adult Fiddle Champion (1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2005) as well as a 3-time Northwest Regional Young Adult Fiddle Champion (2000, 2002, 2003) and has served as a judge at many contests including the Northwest Regional Fiddlers Contest, the prestigious National Old-Time Fiddlers Contest (Weiser, ID), and many smaller local contests. Little did she know, this is where she would meet, and compete against, her future husband, Taylor Buckley!
Kelly, Taylor, and their two daughters (Maggie & Abby) relocated to Missoula, MT, in August 2015. In addition to music, Taylor & Kelly enjoy hiking, golfing, camping, fishing, skiing & spending time with family & friends.
Dan Stewart (WA)
Dan Stewart has been fiddling for more than 35 years. Over the years, he has won a few local and regional contests, but more recently, he has grown to enjoy judging. He has judged the National Old Time Fiddler’s contest four times and many other Weiser-certified contests in the Northwest, as well. In addition to playing and judging, Dan has digitized old jam cassettes in order to preserve and share Texas-style fiddle music (these can be downloaded at: https://texasfiddle.blogspot.com). By day, Dan is a mild-mannered Professor of Entrepreneurship at Gonzaga University and business owner/partner at Dardan Enterprises.
Scott Sumner (OR)
Scott Sumner is originally from Weiser, Idaho and was introduced to fiddle music by his grandpa and his aunt and uncle, who would come to the National Oldtime Fiddlers Contest every year. Scott has been attending the contest in Weiser since 1965 – only missing a few years while he was working in Nashville.
Music has always been Scott’s passion. As a teenager, his dream was to play acoustic music rooted in American tradition such as Texas Style Fiddle, Jazz, Swing, Country, Bluegrass and Folk. Scott has studied music at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas in addition to studying jazz with Dave Balakrishnan in Northern California. His aspirations of a career in music ultimately lead him to Nashville, Tennessee. Scott enjoyed the opportunity to play on the stage of the Grand Ole’ Opry numerous times while touring as the bandleader for Tom T. Hall.
Scott returned to Idaho in 2000, and taught fiddle privately in the area as well as orchestra at Kuna Middle School and several elementary schools. Scott has his degree in music from Boise State University and is a certified music teacher and now teaches instrumental music to grades 6-12 in Milton-Freewater, Oregon.
Scott has also judged numerous contests including the National Oldtime Fiddlers Contest.
Lodging provided by Mon Rêve (monrevegarden.com)
