Vivian Tomlinson Williams

Vivian Williams ( Tomlinson; May 27, 1938 – January 6, 2023) was an American fiddler, composer, recording artist, and writer. She won national fiddling titles, including the National Oldtime Fiddlers Contest, and in 2013 she was inducted into the North American Old Time Fiddlers Hall of Fame. One of the first fiddle tunes Williams played is “Old Molly Hare”, which she got from a Mike Seeger album. When Bill Monroe played Washington State in the early 1960s, he hired Williams to play fiddle for two shows. Monroe said, “I have never heard a lady fiddler that could beat Williams, and a lot of men fiddlers can’t beat her".

Williams disclosed that she relied on her friend and local musician Paul Wiley (originally from Kentucky) to help her learn several Monroe tunes before he arrived in Seattle. Murphy Hicks Henry writes that Vivian Williams has a "well-deserved reputation as one of the top fiddlers in the Northwest". Williams was significantly influenced by musicians in the Darrington logging and milling community northeast of Seattle. Several musicians with Kentucky, North Carolina, West Virginia and Tennessee roots along with a few northern European immigrants gathered to play music frequently.

She fondly recalled a singer and guitarist, Gladys Lewis, who performed during informal stage shows. The typical jam session would place the women in the kitchen cooking/gossiping while the men played music in the living room. According to Williams, "The women musicians rarely played or sang in public I was apparently accepted because a) I was married and therefore not a threat, b) they needed a fiddle player, and c) I was a weird hippy city girl so normal expectations didn't apply".

Voyager Recordings Along with her husband Phil Williams, they created the Voyager Recording label in 1967. After extensive travel through Washington, Idaho and Montana, recording numerous old time fiddlers, she and Phil wanted to put their research into recordings. They could not find an established record producer to complete their project, so they started their own label. Williams describes Voyager "as a hobby that got out of hand".

Awards and recognition Williams has participated in and won numerous fiddle contests. She is a four-time winner of the West Coast International fiddle competition, three-time National Ladies Champion, seven-time Washington State fiddle champion, Washington State Senior champion, and 1999 National Senior Champion. She won the Smithsonian Fiddle Contest in Washington, D.C. Williams has been a winner at least eight times at the National Oldtime Fiddlers Contest and Festival in Weiser, Idaho, including three National Champion wins in 1966, 1967, and 1968.

Williams was inducted into the National Old Time Fiddlers Contest Hall of Fame, Weiser, Idaho, June 2013. She was inducted into the North American Old Time Fiddlers Hall of Fame, Osceola, New York, July 2013.

Death Vivian Williams died on January 6, 2023 at the age of 84. She had been suffering with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), aka Lou Gehrig’s disease.