Dave Zimmerman has lived in Pony for over 35 years. And counting. He and his former wife Janet started out in the historic Kay house and lived there for thirteen years with no running water. Their daughters Amanda and Frieda were born during that time period.

Dave worked in arts and crafts for 20+ years and as a consultant to inventors, a seat-of-the-pants engineer. Fifteen years ago he started playing the fiddle and its taken over his life. In a good way. He’s the president of the District 3 Montana Old Time Fiddlers Association. Dave owns 200 fiddles. And counting.

When he isn’t playing fiddles, he’s repairing them and other stringed instruments. He is a maker of fine bamboo bows. Dave’s been a d.j. at KGLT for 25 years and you can catch his show, the Monday Night Folk Show, on Mondays from 7 to 9 p.m.

Some of the pictures here feature Dave and Brian Rumsey. They make up the Left for Dead fiddle and banjo duo that plays an exciting array of Old Time, Folk, and Country Genres. Together they take you on an exciting journey of familiar and some not so familiar tunes with roots reaching back as far as the 1700’s and up to the present. Left For Dead plays at numerous Distilleries, Breweries, and events in Madison County, Helena, and Bozeman.

Dave and Brian are members and officers of District 3 of the Montana State Old Time Fiddlers Association, who’s mission is the preservation and performance of traditional old-time acoustic fiddle music throughout Montana.  Left For Dead enjoys playing traditional tunes, original tunes, and tunes by such artists as Tom Paxton, John Prine, Woody Guthrie, Hank Williams, The Dillards, Bob Dylan and many more.

You’ll find details of this year’s Pony FiddleFest linked here.