“Coleman fiddles everything with both power, subtlety, and rock-solid rhythm and brings out the beauty inherent in these great melodies.” – Bluegrass Unlimited review of Red Squirrel Chasers’ 2016 record Shakin’ Down the Acorns

“Stephanie Coleman’s fiddle is an extension of her entire being. Her playing is otherworldly, yet deeply rooted in tradition.” – Aoife O’Donovan

Stephanie Coleman is a Brooklyn-based old-time fiddler widely regarded as one of the premier players of her generation. Her spacious phrasing and tonal depth shape a sound Folk Alley describes as “achingly mournful.” Raised in the Chicago area, she learned fiddle from her father and came of age within Chicago’s Old Town School orbit, where rural dance traditions took root in an urban setting. Performing for local barn dances, she absorbed the rhythmic pulse of old-time music. By age eleven she was winning national fiddle contests, and at thirteen released her first recording, I’m Little But I’m Tough. Decades of immersion in traditional music — including time spent studying and documenting elder musicians in the American South — have shaped a style that is deeply rooted yet distinctly her own.

Coleman toured extensively with the groundbreaking stringband Uncle Earl and has since brought her singular fiddle voice to major venues and festivals including the Kennedy Center, Roskilde Festival, Winnipeg Folk Festival, and Philadelphia Folk Festival. Her duo work with celebrated banjoist Nora Brown — highlighted by an NPR Tiny Desk Concert and the EP Lady of the Lake” — has introduced her playing to a wide national audience. In addition to her performance career, Coleman has contributed music journalism and documentary work to NPR and other national radio outlets. She holds the record for the most ribbons won at the Appalachian String Band Music Festival in Clifftop, West Virginia. Coleman now appears as a solo artist whose performances shape traditional repertoire into something intimate and immediate.