Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: (Adults, Small Fry, Junior Junior, Junior, and Twin Fiddling Round 1)

John Francis first attended the Weiser fiddle contest in 1967 as a young 12-year old fiddler.  Now, over 40 years later, John has become a fiddle contest “old-timer” --- he’s played the fiddle for over 45 years and participated in over 400 competitions nationwide.  During that time, John has won every major contest in the west including the National Grand Championship, 3 National Junior titles, multiple Western Open, NW Regional, Washington and California state titles, in addition to numerous local contests.  John has also judged at dozens of contests and counts as his most memorable the many times he’s judged the National Oldtime Fiddlers Contest.

John lives in Salt Lake City and works nationwide as a business consultant / executive recruiter / weed puller.


Judging Philosophy

One word may sum up John’s philosophy of fiddle judging:  “listenability”.  In judging competitions, John is looking for that blend of rhythm, timing, tone, intonation, instrument mastery, and musical originality tempered in fiddle tradition that makes him want to hear more of a particular fiddler.