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Gayel Pitchford didn’t set out to write a book. A teacher of both classical violin and country fiddling in Tehachapi, Pitchford just wanted to track down the recordings of fiddling legend Howdy Forrester. Most music fans, even country fans, have never heard of Howdy Forrester, but among fiddlers, his music is the gold standard. Largely forgotten, Forrester died in 1988. Unfortunately, only two tracks of his solo playing have ever been released on CD and much of what was written about him was either vague or inaccurate.
Forrester’s music and style of playing spoke to Pitchford. She had taken up the violin as a child to escape a cruel piano teacher who rapped her knuckles whenever she improvised on a song. Forrester’s style of music called for improvisation but unlike many other fiddlers, his improvisations made musical sense and were always in tune. Pitchford knew she had a model to follow.
The recently published “Fiddler of the Opry: The Howdy Forrester Story” is the result of five years of research, traveling and listening. Pitchford traveled to Tennessee, sifted through archives and met Forrester’s family. Even though she hadn’t planned on becoming his biographer, Pitchford knew what she wanted.
“I was determined to be accurate,” she said. 
The result is a book that is as scholarly as it is readable. It contains thorough notes, rare photographs, charts, dates and numbers. The highlight of the book, though, is the inclusion of lead sheets for 12 of Forrester’s tunes.
Pitchford had already transcribed one of Forrester’s tunes and she knew that it would be difficult but she decided that the results would be worth the effort.
But when she marketed the book to publishers she was told that the music had to go.
Pitchford wasn’t about to lose what she considered to be one of the book’s strong points. Using the same determination that had brought about her book in the first place, she refused to publish the book without the music. Finally, a Tehachapi area publisher, Viewpoint Press, published Pitchford’s book, music and all.
It turned out that Pitchford was right, Forrester’s tunes were indeed a powerful selling point.
Pitchford plans to market her book nationwide. With the revival of bluegrass and the growing interest in American folk music, the time is right to reintroduce music fans to a forgotten great.
Forrester is described as a humble genius, his music is dense but sweet and fun. Pitchford uses his music to teach her students and hopes that he will eventually be honored with an induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Gayel Pitchford’s book, “Fiddler of the Opry: the Howdy Forrester Story” won the 2008 IRWIN Award for Best Niche Marketing Campaign.