As a fiddler, composer, singer, songwriter, visual artist, and community builder Hayden Stern has taken Seattle’s roots music scene by storm. He heads up no less than 20 different ensembles, all anchored by his dynamic fiddling, ebullient energy, and devilishly complex harmonic arrangements built on the fly. Stern draws freely from multiple traditions, expanding his original base of Scottish fiddling to Irish, Scandinavian, French-Canadian, Appalachian, and beyond. But for his newest work, he’s focusing on composing tunes himself, bringing his roving ear and keen focus on arranging to a live performance built to rouse everyone to dance. The interaction between performer and audience is what drives Stern, and he’s developed his skills as a performer for concert audiences and dance halls alike. “Playing for dances is conversational,” he explains. “It's a way of playing where you're really responding to the dancers and letting it be a dialogue. For concerts, the effect range is larger, I have a full color palette of feeling to work with from the stage. There's just different ways to sculpt the energy.”
Coming originally from Santa Cruz, California’s rich roots music scene, Stern grew up attending Scottish fiddle camps, immersing himself in tradition at an early age. Shortly after arriving in Seattle, he discovered contra dancing, and with it a new community of like-minded LGBTQ musicians and dancers. Quickly emerging as a leader in this community, Stern is now producing events like TransTrad Festival in Olympia, the first roots music festival to feature all trans and non-binary artists. For Stern, community comes first and he’s quick to credit his own influences in the scene. “In terms of the Northwest,” he says, “we're lucky to be having a fiddle renaissance here now. There's a lot of enormously talented players. I'm just really spoiled to get to play with really high level players all the time. I think that's pushed me to be better at my job and to build a level of skill that I might not have felt compelled to build otherwise.” With a new album on the horizon in 2026, and a slate of performances taking him from the Northwest to the Northeast and beyond, Stern shows no signs of slowing down. He’s driven by a passion for the dance and a compulsion to create new music that springs from old roots but has a far-reaching vision in mind.
They play in The Hayden Stern Band, Nobody’s Business (with Casey Murray and Helen Kuhar), Natterjack (with Alex Sturbaum and Ezra Jane Landsman), and The Orb Weavers (with Elise Snoey and Ezra Jane Landsman) as well as in other dance band permutations. They have an upcoming solo album, to be produced by Yann Falquet.
They currently have a thriving teaching practice with a particular focus on teen and adult students. If interested, check out lesson information.
They are currently especially interested in booking for contra dance weekends, individual dances, and other performance opportunities but welcome all inquiries at stern.hayden.e@gmail.com.
