Bob Wills was honored as the first inductee into the National Fiddler Hall of Fame at its inaugural gala on April 13, 2007. Rosetta Wills accepted the commemorative plaque on behalf of her late father, one of the most influential fiddlers of all time.
The event was held at Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Cain's is world-famous as "the Carnegie Hall of Western Swing" and "the house that Bob built" because of the KVOO broadcasts of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys during the 1930s and after.
The evening's entertainment began with Oklahoma Stomp, consisting of nine teenaged boys in a Western Swing band styled after the Texas Playboys. The band, a pilot project of the National Fiddler Hall of Fame's educational arm, plays the authentic musical arrangements used by the Texas Playboys.
The diversity of fiddling was highlighted during an exceptional musical program by Byron Berline, Shelby Eicher, Monte and Dave Gaylord, Jana Jae, Eric Ryan Johnson, Curly Lewis, Rick Morton, and James Tarver.
Accompanying these adult stars were up-and-coming teenage (or younger) fiddlers Jake Duncan, Eric Dysart, Chase Foster, Bubba Hopkins, Emma Jane Pendleton, Marina Pendleton, Seamus Ryan Johnson, Jake Simpson, Douglas Thompson and Michael Thompson.
Read the Tulsa World's coverage of the gala here.