Richard Blaustein

Old time fiddler, banjo player and scholar. Born 1943. Died 2020. Blaustein was a professor of sociology and anthropology at East Tennessee State University. He received his B.A. from Brooklyn College in 1966 and continued his education at Indiana University, receiving his M.A. in 1969 and his Ph.D. in 1975 in folklore. Blaustein served as the director of ETSU’s Center For Appalachian Studies and Services. He wrote dozens of articles for academic journals and founded ETSU’s Appalachian magazine, "Now and Then". He taught old time fiddle and banjo at ETSU, and later formed the first ETSU Old Time String Band. Starting in 1982, Blaustein played fiddle for several years in the first configuration of the ETSU Bluegrass Band, and then with the local old time string band, the Dixie Dew Drops. He is heard on the ETSU group’s first album, East Tennessee, released in 1988 playing two of his signature compositions Possum In the Mash Barrel, and Boozy Creek.