Andrew Carruthers has lived and worked in Sonoma County for the past 25 years. His instruments are found in major symphony orchestras worldwide. But during the the covid lockdown Andy got bored with making traditional violins, cellos, and violas, and decided to make a fiddle out of all-Sonoma County materials, from glue to redwood (https://theredwoodviolin.org/).  Its top is redwood and the sides, back, and neck were harvested from Gravenstein apple wood. The Redwood Violin is recently completed, and Andy is offering it to local groups to perform and record with.  On June 24th at the Willowbrook Ale House in Petaluma it was the Bloomfield Bluegrass Band's turn.  We played the Redwood Violin first and then switched to one of Andy's violins made traditionally with a spruce top and maple neck, sides, and back. 

This video is a direct comparison (can you tell  the difference?): https://youtu.be/0UjU1R4iSro 

This video shows the whole band:  https://youtu.be/pRmzontnmFg