Bio
Sami Braman (she/her) has been playing the fiddle since she was 6 years old, coming up amid the music festivals and jamming communities of the Pacific Northwest’s vibrant traditional music scene. She studied both classical and fiddle music with Seattle fiddler Ruthie Dornfeld. At 8 years old, she formed a band called The Onlies with her long-time musical buddies, Leo Shannon and Riley Calcagno, which plays at festivals and gigs around the country and whose traditional Old Time sound they further refined in 2016 with the addition of acclaimed folk musician Vivian Leva. The four Onlies are now the co-artistic directors of Fiddle Tunes festival in Port Townsend, WA.
The Onlies have released an EP and four full-length albums, and performed on stages at the Father's Day Bluegrass Festival, Pickathon, Berkeley Old-Time Music Convention, and Green Mountain Bluegrass Festival. In 2017, The Onlies won first place at the Clifftop Appalachian String Band festival’s Traditional Band Contest. In Asheville, NC they recorded an album,"The Ruglifters," with old-time music heroes John Herrmann and Meredith McIntosh, released in 2018. That group won first place in Clifftop’s 2019 Traditional Band Contest.
Sami is a buoyant, intuitive, and versatile fiddler who values deep understanding of the stories behind the tunes and seeks inspiration from marginalized artists. She most often plays old-time and bluegrass music, though often draws improvisational/compositional inspiration from Cape Breton, Irish, Norwegian, and Quebecois rhythmic dialects. At Whitman College, where she graduated in 2020 in music and English, Sami presented a senior honors recital that tracked the origins of folk melodies across both classical violin compositions and fiddle tunes. Upon graduation she was awarded the Vinson Award for music excellence.
Sami now teaches and performs across the U.S., primarily with The Onlies and Willie Watson (David Rawlings Machine, Old Crow Medicine Show). She and Willie just wrapped up a run opening up for Alison Krauss and Union Station on their Summer 2025 Arcadia tour. In previous years, Sami has appeared onstage alongside Watchhouse, Laurie Lewis, Bruce Molsky, Elvis Costello, Darol Anger, Critter Eldridge, Pharis & Jason Romero, Meshell Ndegeocello, and Altan. She has performed at festivals like MerleFest, Freshgrass, and Bristol Rhythm & Roots. In her tune-writing, Sami melds creativity with tradition, producing a number of tunes which have made their way into festival sessions across the country. Sami recently moved to Nashville, TN, to pursue music full-time. She has lent her fiddling to assorted recording projects by artists like Willie Watson, Jesse Appleman, and John Reischman. To all her projects Sami brings joyful energy, a driving bow, and an abiding love for the traditional music community which formed her.