Dwight Diller

Dwight Diller was an American banjo and fiddle player and teacher. He was considered one of the most prominent exponents of the clawhammer banjo tradition. Diller lived in Hillsboro, West Virginia, and then Marlinton, and was an inheritor of the old-time music tradition of the Hammons Family of West Virginia. He conducted banjo workshops around the United States and in England. He released a number of recordings and instructional videos.

Diller was born in Rand, West Virginia, on August 17, 1946. He began playing the banjo at the age of 12, after hearing his grandmother play. He was soon playing with local musicians, and in the early 1970s he began to travel around the country, performing and teaching. He was a regular performer at the Vandalia Gathering, a major old-time music festival in West Virginia.

Diller was a master of the clawhammer banjo style, which is a traditional style of playing the banjo that uses the fingernails to strike the strings. He was also a skilled fiddle player, and he often played the two instruments together. He was a prolific recording artist, and he released a number of albums, including "Harvest," "Jericho Road," and "Trouble on Spring Creek."

Diller was a passionate advocate for old-time music, and he was dedicated to preserving the tradition. He was a founding member of the YewPine Cultural Traditions organization, which is dedicated to preserving and promoting Appalachian culture. He was also a recipient of the Vandalia Award, West Virginia's highest folklife honor.

Diller died on February 14, 2023, at the age of 76. He was a major figure in the old-time music world, and his influence will be felt for many years to come.