Sue Draheim

Sue Draheim
Sue Draheim (photo taken in San Francisco, 2011)
Background information
Birth name	Susan Ann Draheim
Born	(1949-08-17)August 17, 1949 Oakland, California, United States
Died	April 11, 2013(2013-04-11) (aged 63) Berea, Kentucky
Genres	Folk-rock, Celtic, Old Time, Cajun, Zydeco, Classical
Occupation(s)	Fiddler, singer, composer
Instruments	Fiddle, violin, viola, voice
Years active	1967–2013
Labels	Arhoolie, Transatlantic, Island, etc.
Website	suedraheim.com/music

Sue Draheim (ⁱ/ˈdrɔː.haɪm/ DRAW-hime) (August 17, 1949 in Oakland, California – April 11, 2013 in Berea, Kentucky) was an American fiddler, boasting a more than forty year musical career in the US and the UK. Growing up in North Oakland, Draheim began her first private violin lessons at age eleven, having started public school violin instruction at age eight while attending North Oakland's Peralta Elementary School. She also attended Claremont Jr. High, and graduated from Oakland Technical High School in 1967.

Originally trained as a classical violinist, Draheim became involved in many other genres and recorded albums with groups representing Cajun, Old Time, country, Zydeco, folk jazz, Irish and British folk music. Early on in her career, Celtic fiddle became Draheim's major focus.

While Draheim was primarily a fiddler, she never lost touch with her classical training, and was a member of the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra and the Bay Area Women's Philharmonic as well as UC Berkeley's University Chamber Chorus; Draheim, along with fiddler Kerry Parker, also "augmented" the harp trio "Trillium". She also played in the US premiere of Frank Zappa's experimental orchestral piece A Zappa Affair. She was described by Gael Alcock, cellist/composer with whom she performed one of Alcock's pieces, as "fiddler extraordinaire".