French Acadian fiddler Gerry Robichaud of Moncton, New Brunswick and Waltham MA, caught me up with his flowing style, which rolls along with plenty of triplet ornaments and syncopation. Many are tunes Gerry learned from his mother. There are wonderful groups playing for contras on the West coast as well, including Jigsaw from Portland OR, and Hillbillies from Mars in the San Francisco area. Dances nationwide are listed in the Country Dance and Song Society 's Directory, and where there's a contradance, there are live musicians. Like the rest of life, what works, stays in use.
Crazes come and go with tunes, and always have.
The tunes that I remember and love the best are the ones I learned in person from my primary sources like Gerry Robichaud or Louis Beaudoin, rather than from a recording. Along with the tune, I also took in more of the context, the wholeness, of the music, played in the kitchen or at a party, with family and friends. There are lots of fiddlers and violinists looking for a place to play, as well as many dancers who also play. While there were only a few women fiddling for dances 25 years ago, women are now very well represented among dance musicians and callers. Backup instruments are anything you like - guitar, piano, bass are the basics.