A Fine Fiddler At 86, Barrett’s Strings Still Sounding Sweet

EDGEWOOD—Coy Barrett’s hands have been wrapped around a fiddle and bow for more than three-quarters of a century.

Yet, the 86-year-old Barrett said he has never enjoyed playing more than he does now.

"I used to play in a lot of honky-tonks and thought I was having fun," Barrett said after finishing a performance at the Edgewood Heritage Festival last weekend. "I probably played every honky-tonk in Dallas for 60 years.

"One day, I took a look in the mirror and I thought, ‘Fella, you’re getting old and you better change your way of living,’" he said.

Barrett did just that and now plays at special events and on Sunday mornings at Caney Creek Cowboy Church just outside Fruitvale.

"I’ve been loving every minute of playing for the church. I thought I was having fun before, but I really wasn’t until I changed my life," he said.

Playing at the church next to Monk Arena is something of a homecoming for Barrett.

"My first school was Fruitvale Elementary. I went there in the fall of 1929, and went there for five years, then went to Edgewood school," he recalled.

Barrett started playing the fiddle when he was 9. He was a natural born musician in a family that already featured one of his older brothers playing guitar and another playing the piano.

"I was born with it. Nobody taught me how to play the fiddle," he said.

However, his interest in developing his musical skill was born from hearing a style of music that has surged in popularity in the last decade — bluegrass.

"Back in my days as a kid, it was just country music," Barrett said. "Our neighbors had an old Victrola, and I remember the lady used to turn that crank and play a record to let me follow (the notes) on the fiddle."

The home radio also was a key source for musical exploration at that time. Like so many other budding musicians for most of the 20th century, Barrett fell in love with the songs he heard on the "Grand Ole Opry" program.

"My family finally got to draw a pension of $12 a month. We bought a radio…I would play the fiddle parts along with the songs. I used to know all those numbers," Barrett said with a big smile.

Although technology is far different today, Barrett’s love for bluegrass and gospel music remains the same. He said he still listens to the music he loves most, only now it is on a DirecTV satellite music channel.

"It’s still good, too," he said, laughing.

So is Barrett whenever and wherever he plays. At the Edgewood Heritage Festival, Barrett, the Caney Creek Cowboy Church Band and singer Janice Wing entertained a big crowd gathered around the gazebo in Heritage Park.

"We were so happy and very fortunate to get him for this year’s festival," Pattizo Humphries, a member of the Edgewood Economic Development Corporation, said.

"He is simply a tremendous fiddle player and he has played in this area for such a long time, people know him and love to hear him play," she added.

Barrett said among his favorite songs to play are the bluegrass standard "Sally Goodin," gospel standard "The Old Rugged Cross," and a gospel song by Tom T. Hall entitled "Me and Jesus."

The latter two songs reflect an inner change Barrett said he is so glad he made.

"I think a lot more people would be happy if they started doing things for God," he said.