Glen Duncan remembers the first time he heard Kenny Baker:

In 1976 my Dad and I went to Bean Blossom for a Sunday show, really to see Ralph Stanley. (Bill) Monroe was on the show, but we’d seen Bill so many times that when Bill came on we were actually leaving. I got to the back of the place by the concession stand when they kicked into Uncle Penn. What happened next would forever change my life …Kenny Baker was playing fiddle and I thought it was the best thing I’d ever heard. He had such a great tone and just enough blues to go that stately sense of phrasing.

I’d been ruined. From that moment on I threw myself headlong into being a Professional Fiddler.

For more than 20 years, bluegrass patriarch Bill Monroe introduced sideman Kenny Baker onstage as “the greatest fiddler in bluegrass music.” Monroe wasn’t exaggerating simply because Baker worked for him. Few musicians have had the impact on bluegrass fiddling as has Baker. He is arguably one of the greatest–if not the greatest–traditional bluegrass fiddlers of our time. Contemporary fiddlers Stuart Duncan, Blaine Sprouse and Jimmy Campbell have all incorporated much of Baker’s style into their own playing.

His jazzy, swing-like arrangements of traditional numbers, silky smooth long-bow technique, and ability to write original, fresh tunes have made him a favorite on the bluegrass circuit for four decades. Before recording for OMS Records, his long series of solo albums for independent County Records had an immeasurable impact on Bluegrass fiddling. Many of Kenny’s albums were sold at record tables at festivals, and according to historian Charles Wolfe, his records often outsold Monroe’s.

On “Spider Bit the Baby!” Kenny performs 13 fiddle tunes, many either written by himself or co-written with Bill Monroe. At age 76, his intonation and lively playing style remains as powerful and inventive as ever. Instrumental backing is provided by top session artists including mandolinist Aubrey Haney and twin fiddle work by Blaine Sprouse. The end result is another classic fiddle album by this classic fiddle player.