Q&A: Lilly Martin

Last Sunday, my low Belmont finals week spirits were revived when I opened Instagram and saw fellow Curb College student Lilly Martin doing a slide on the A-string in a “trap grass” fiddle lick and proceeding to do a complex improvised fiddle solo. I commented, “This scratched an itch in my brain” and opened my phone several hours later to hundreds of likes on the comment. The video was blowing up.

One week later, 1.1 million likes and nearly 6 million views have been amassed between Lilly and accompanying banjo player Casey Hall’s posts of the jam session across their respective accounts on Instagram and TikTok. Over the weekend, I had a chance to interview Lilly about her fiddling (see Instagram and TikTok accounts @lillyfiddles).

Louise: I saw your recent fiddle video with Casey Hall and as you’ve seen, was a fan. How old were you when you started playing fiddle? What sparked the interest?

Lilly: Yes, [I saw that comment]! (laughs) I started playing fiddle when I was six years old. There was a club for violin in my after-school program that I joined, and I got really into it, so my parents signed me up for lessons! 

Louise: Have you been in lessons since then? Or are you primarily self-taught, or a mix of both?

Lilly: I have! When I was 8, I started taking lessons with Crystal Plohman Weigman, who is a great fiddler in town. She taught me everything I know, for sure.

Lilly playing a house party with Pickin’ Patty and the Porch Revue this June, photo by Addison Claire 

Louise: Love it! And you’re based out of Nashville? How did that transition into the jams and gigs you often post about?

Lilly: I am! It’s a little wild, I just got plugged in with jams around town back in May. It has really helped me out with my playing. I can’t believe I didn’t get into it sooner since it’s everywhere in Nashville. It was weird at first, because it is a totally different mindset than playing a prepared song. Jams are mostly just improvising, so going regularly has made me a lot more aware of my instrument and what it can do.

Louise: I can imagine. What triggered the recent involvement?

Lilly: I decided back in the spring that I wanted to pursue music seriously, and I think going to jams is a good way to start establishing yourself in the scene. I started meeting super talented musicians at these jams who were gracious to let me play with them, and I kept wanting to come back, because jamming with them helps me improve so much.

Louise: Why did you decide to pursue music seriously? Did jams play a role in the story with Casey Hall?

Lilly: Casey was one of my first friends at jams! He’s a great guy. He’s had success in the past with social media and invited me to make a post with him. [Deciding to pursue music seriously started when I] met some people my age who were already doing it at the beginning of my senior year, and they really encouraged me to go all in. I think when the idea of graduating and not playing fiddle got too possible, I knew I needed to change plans.

Louise: Awesome! What exactly is trap grass? Casey’s account seems to be oriented around that sub-genre. What’s his angle on it? And just out of curiosity – you’re presently an audio engineering major – what had the original plans been?

Lilly: In full transparency, I’m not super sure what trap grass really is. For me, it’s bluegrass soloing language with just [a few] weirder bits added in. Casey took off with it after he saw someone else do it in a video from a few years back. He’s [an all-around great] banjo player. [As for the original plans,] I applied as a neuroscience major to [most] colleges! I have always done best in science classes, so it seemed like the best next step.

Louise: Cool! On the topic of genres – your most popular videos thus far have shown you engaging in fiddling across different genres. In a recent one, you’re playing in a jazzier style. What genres aside from bluegrass or sub-genres within bluegrass have you experimented the most with? What are you interested in right now?

Lilly: I play a little bit of Celtic music, and I like bluegrass best, but I am most interested in jazz right now. It’s a totally different way of thinking about soloing, and I really admire jazz musicians for that. I’m into Charlie Parker and Wes Montgomery right now… It’s all new to me. [Jazz soloing has] meant learning a lot more music theory (laughs)… [it] also means adding in more blue notes instead of just diatonic bluegrass, so it’s really helped me work on building tension in my solos.

Louise: How do you approach conveying emotion through creative expression with a string instrument when soloing? Where do improvisation and composition align and differ from each other there?

Lilly: I’m definitely still working on that! Right now, I transcribe solos by musicians I like and pick out small licks or patterns. When I’m soloing in a song I’m pulling from that bank of options. My goal is to start being able to generate melodic lines on my own.

Louise: Well, you’re certainly making good headway! Just looking through the comments on all four – which is impeccable – of the videos currently blowing up, everyone is talking about the opening fiddle squeal. What was that pulled from? Do you plan to entertain the people asking for an official release of what you and Casey were playing?

Lilly: (laughs) That lick from the beginning came from the new Carter and Cleveland album, when they trade solos in the song “With a Vamp in the Middle”. I’m not super sure about official releases! It’s fun to mess around with different kinds of music, but I don’t think I’m ready as a player quite yet for any sort of official release.

Lilly pictured with Michael Cleveland at a jam at Nashville’s The Station Inn

Louise: Totally understandable. And I love “With a Vamp in the Middle”! What do you anticipate for the future of your music career?

Lilly: I’m not quite sure yet! I know right now I’m working on getting plugged in with a band and gigging more regularly. Hopefully later down the road I’ll be able to put some music out as well.

Louise: Well, I wish you the best! Lastly, what advice, if any, would you give to aspiring or beginning fiddlers?

Lilly: Thank you! I still feel like I’m learning myself, (laughs) so I’m not sure what in particular is helpful, but for me, the best thing has just been getting out there and meeting people. I feel like especially in the bluegrass scene, people are [more patient] and [just] glad there’s someone who cares about learning the music.

Lilly will be playing the Country Boy Restaurant in Franklin, TN on Saturday, December 13 and Brown’s Diner in Nashville, TN on Sunday, December 21. Keep up with her on all platforms @lillyfiddles!