Joe McHugh is a storyteller, fiddler, and award-winning public radio journalist who travels the world exploring the many roles the violin family of instruments play in society today. He has interviewed gifted musicians who play a variety of styles—classical, folk, jazz, and rock—as well as master luthiers, dealers, collectors, tone wood producers, insurance agents, museum curators, rosin makers, string designers—even FBI agents who have helped recover stolen violins. The Rosin the Bow archive of recorded interviews will eventually become a permanent part of the Smithsonian Institution’s collection of violin-related materials.

Episode 1 is the first hour-long program in the Rosin the Bow series produced for public radio that aired on KVMR-FM in Nevada City, California. As the first program in the series, it featured a number of shorter segments culled from longer interviews that will be featured in future podcast episodes. So stayed tuned and enjoy this journey through the life and times of a family of remarkable musical instruments and the exceptional people who make sure they continue to bring us moments of joy and enchantment.