Best Legacy Project in Nashville 2026: The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project
Upon his death in 2001, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and radio host John Hartford left an impressive legacy, including a catalog of more than 30 albums. Then there are his contributions to heaps of others’ records — that’s his banjo in “Pretty Polly” on Sweetheart of the Rodeo — and his song “Gentle on My Mind,” a part of the American pop lexicon. Hartford also left more than 60 notebooks full of fiddle tunes he came up with and wrote out by hand. A wealth of musicians have been involved in bringing them to life via The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project, yielding a book and two recorded volumes (the first in 2020 and the second in 2025). A trio of ace players — fiddler Rachel Baiman, mandolinist Sharon Gilchrist and banjo and guitar picker Ella Korth — have taken a further step by working up some of the tunes as repertoire for The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project: The Tour and hitting the road this year. At individual shows and festival gigs and in workshops, they’ve breathed even more life into Hartford’s legacy.
