Violet and the Newsroom

Violet and the Diploma!

Hello, Clay here.

This is now officially a band made up of three Morehead State University alumni. Today, May 9, 2026, Violet graduates with a bachelor’s degree in traditional music following her four years of study at the Kentucky Center for Traditional Music. We are so, so proud of her.

Violet, Anabel, and I first met in August 2022 as three of the four members of the KCTM’s old time band, directed by Nathan Kiser. At the time, Anabel was a junior majoring in traditional music. I was a senior majoring in convergent media. I joined the group at the encouragement of Ash Culp, the fourth member of the old time band and a mutual friend of both of ours. Violet was a freshman in her first semester.

Five people stand in a recording studio covered in staggered sound panels. They all hold acoustic instruments and are crowded around a central mic. In the center is Violet, playing fiddle. The other four play (from left to right) ukulele, upright bass, guitar, mountain dulcimer.
KCTM’s old time band, fall 2022, feat: Ash Culp, Anabel Peterman, Violet Updike, Nathan Kiser, and Clay Wallace.

One of the first things I’ve noticed about Violet – which has only become more true the longer I’ve known her – is that she and her fiddle share a voice. There really isn’t an instrument more like the human voice than the fiddle and, yet, Violet’s fiddling is not so much a generically human voice as it is her own. Her phrasing – her breaths, pauses, and lilts – carry through in her playing. You can hear it especially in sung old time tunes like Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss or The Cuckoo. She slips between strings like they’re notes in her own register.

Clay, Anabel, and Violet sit close to the camera in a small classroom. Clay smiles, looking down at the dulcimer in his lap. Anabel smiles, holding the bass with one hand while the other is over her heart. Violet seems to be mid-laugh, a hand covering her face in a smile. She holds her fiddle with a tight grip on its neck.
Frame from the video we submitted to Bluegrass Pride, the LGBTQ nonprofit that awarded us the grant to buy our first (and current!) sound system.

While the heartbeat of old time music is undoubtedly the bass, its soul must be the fiddle. And the soul of the fiddle is the fiddler – the being who must listen well enough to catch the tune and carry it home.

Violet and Clay smile at the camera. Violet holds a hand-puppet of a possum and Clay holds a hand-puppet of a skunk.
Violet and Clay visit WMMT while in Whitesburg for Cowan Creek, 2025.
A few dozen people stand on stage at Cowan Creek Mountain Music School. A quilt backdrop hangs behind them as they play acoustic instruments. The back row plays banjo, while the row in front of them plays fiddle, and the rows in front of them play guitar. Violet is visible near the middle of the photo.
Violet was an assistant teacher for beginning fiddle at Cowan Creek, 2025.

Violet has carried us home so many times. She is full to the brim with heart and soul, while always being willing to listen and offer space to share. She is thoughtful, kind, and warm. It’s been an amazing journey to watch her refine her skills and expand her repertoire, and it’s a true joy every time she messages us with an “I was thinking we could play this tune I learned?”

Violet, we are so proud of you. Congratulations. You’ve worked so hard for this. We love you!

Violet throws a peace sign while lounging on a couch in a loft area with a drumset and other miscellaneous "backstage" items.
Violet, backstage (upstairs?) at Rebel Rebel in Berea.
Violet makes a face (mouth open, brows low) while hoisting up her fiddle and bow into the air. The fiddle is in her left hand and the bow is in her right hand. She is on a front porch, lit red.
Practice practice practice!!!

Hey hey, Anabel butting in too. It’s an honor and a privilege to know Violet. That’s my little sister right there! (Not actually but you know what I mean!)

I think Violet and I met each other at pivotal moments in our lives. It was her very first semester of college, away from home and getting a grip on studying music full-time; I was trying to figure out how to be my own person, too. We had our own lives and our own strife, and I like to think neither of us could have done it alone. And likewise, Violet had loved oldtime and folk music for most of her life, while I was still trying to figure out who in the world Doc Watson was. To say we learned from each other is an understatement, and I learned so, so much from Violet.

Violet singing at the KCTM finale concert on April 29, 2026. Photo credit Richard Rogers. We were too far in the back to get any good photos.
Photo credit Richard Rogers. We were too far in the back to get any good photos.

It’s absolutely surreal now to watch her graduate. Clay and I absolutely sobbed our eyes out when she sang Rainbow Connection at her final KCTM concert last month. I think everyone in that room was crying. I’d bet $10 the majority were. Violet has that infectious personality, on and off stage, that leaves you smiling before you can even realize it. She does it on purpose, that sly trickster. Always brightening days because she’s somewhat aware of the beautiful power she holds.

Violet, Clay, and Anabel hanging out at Morehead State Public Radio.
Very beautiful picture of Violet sitting at a picnic table, looking at the camera, on Morehead State's campus. A yellow flower is in the foreground.

The other day, Violet mentioned one of her professors told her something along the lines of, ‘if you knew just how good you were, you’d be so much more confident, and maybe a bit arrogant.’ I kind of agree- Violet’s awesome- but I think that underestimates her loving, joyful, humble, and still already self-assured nature. She ain’t a pushover, whether advocating for herself or others.

All that to say, Violet has every right to be so incredibly proud of herself for this monumental moment. We’re lucky to spend it alongside her.

(Still to come from the Newsroom – a post about where we’ve been this Spring and where we’ll be going this Summer. We’ve always said we were going to hit the ground running once Violet’s out of school, and we’re excited to get to it! We’ve got shows lined up just about every weekend – some solo gigs, some with dear friends, and some as festival guests. Check out our upcoming events page to see when we’ll be visiting you! And stay tuned here for our recap and look forward!)

Anabel, Clay, and Violet pose around a chalk wall with "Violet & The Newsroom" written on it. Clay and Anabel stand, circling the chalked band name with their hands (and Anabel with one foot). Violet poses lying on her side on the floor.
(We’ll be playing our third(?) show at girlsgirlsgirls Burritos May 22!)

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