Legends and Legacies

Legends and Legacies is a lifetime achievement award given to recognize those individuals who have been instrumental towards the success of the Florida Folk Festival. The Stephen Foster Citizen Support Organization (CSO) developed the idea as a project to bring awareness to the history of the festival and to celebrate all those folks who have contributed to its legacy as being the longest continuously running folk festival in the country.

The names and recognitions of all the award recipients are in a specially designated area by the bell tower. The goal of the CSO is to recognize new honorees each year during the Festival.

Lloyd Baldwin

Lloyd has been playing and singing old time Southern music for decades. He specializes in fiddle tunes from the deep South, particularly Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. He has collected many rare and seldom-heard pieces from older fiddlers. He has performed tunes learned from the playing of Florida fiddler Arthur “Cush” Holston at the Florida Folk Festival many times. In addition to the fiddle, he plays banjo in the old clawhammer style and has been known to pick out a tune or two on the guitar. In 1976, Lloyd was a founding member of the Bucksnort Barndance Band, which was based in Gainesville, Florida, for many years. Lloyd has won fiddle contests at the Pioneer Florida Old Time Music Championships and the State of Florida contest at the Florida Folk Festival in both Rustic and Twin fiddle categories. He has been the Guest of Honor at the Pioneer Florida Championships and has judged many contests. He has served as president and vice president of the Florida State Fiddlers Association and is currently serving on the board of the revived Florida Old Time Music Championships.

Lloyd and his band performed for the first time at the Florida Folk Festival in 1977 and played several times over the following years. He has participated every year since 1990 under the name Lloyd Baldwin and Friends. He has frequently played for other events at Stephen Foster State Folk Culture Center in White Springs as a volunteer and as a paid performer. Most recently, he has conducted workshops at Rural

Folklife Days, and served as an instructor at the Suwannee Old Time Camp at the park.

During the 1990’s, Lloyd hosted an Old Timers’ Showcase at the annual Florida State Fiddlers Association annual convention. The Showcases featured several senior fiddlers from around the State of Florida. Many of the performances were captured on digital media, and he is in the process of preparing the recordings to be placed in the state archives.

Lloyd is a regular at festivals around Florida, such as the Spring and Fall Frolics at Barberville, and the Florida State Fiddlers Association annual convention. He coordinated and hosted the annual Old-Fashioned River Party at Manatee Springs State Park from 2014 until 2019. Over the years, he has played for dances through-out Florida, and in Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina. He currently plays with the Fish Camp Cutups along with longtime associate Marion Lasley on guitar.

Lloyd’s brother Brent, also a founding member of the Bucksnort Barndance Band, and Brent’s wife Inslee recently started playing music again after a lapse of 25 years. The trio now plays as “The Baldwins” with Lloyd on fiddle, Brent on banjo, and Inslee on guitar. Lloyd received the second Tom Staley Award in 2019 from the Florida State Fiddlers Association to recognize his dedication to supporting and