Rayna Gellert | |
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MerleFest 2007, Photo by Forrest L. Smith, III
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Background information | |
Born | 15 December 1975 |
Origin | Indiana |
Genres |
Americana Bluegrass |
Instruments | Fiddle, Vocals |
Website | Rayna Gellert's website |
Rayna Gellert (born December 15, 1975) is an American fiddler and singer specializing in old-time music. She grew up in Elkhart, in northern Indiana. Her father is the traditional fiddler and banjo player Dan Gellert. Originally a classically trained violinist, she took up the old-time fiddle in 1994, when she moved to North Carolina to attend Warren Wilson College. She received a bachelor's degree from Warren Wilson College.
Gellert is a former member of the Freight Hoppers. From 2003 to 2009 she performed and recorded with the all-female old-time band Uncle Earl. In 2003, she was a featured performer at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. She has also performed with the dance company Rhythm in Shoes, the West African-influenced band Toubab Krewe, Abigail Washburn, and Scott Miller. She has toured throughout the United States, Europe, and Chile.
She has been a finalist at the Appalachian String Band Music Festival in Clifftop, Fayette County, West Virginia several times.