BANGOR – Think about the diversity of a folk festival and images of exotic instruments may come to mind. This year, expect to see a Greek trapezoidal string santouri, Spanish flamenco guitarra, Creole washboard, Cajun accordion, and hand drums from the American Indian Tsimshian people.

But think about the bedrock of folk festivals and one instrument stands out: the fiddle. In the United States, fiddle music is a standard by which many folk festivals are measured. American Indians, European adventurers and Anglo immigrants have fiddle traditions that are associated now with roots music in this country. In Maine in particular, the Acadians and Irish played work songs and family tunes that are still performed in authentic arrangements and modern variations.

During the last three National Folk Festivals in Bangor, fiddlers have been highlighted. This year’s American Folk Festival, which kicks off next Friday and runs through the weekend in the Queen City, will feature three generations of Maine Franco-American fiddling masters, as well as Swedish American fiddler Paul Dahlin and his group, Akta Spelman, from Minnesota.

“The fiddle is more emblematic of folk culture than any other instrument, and it was everywhere in Colonial and frontier settings,” said Nick Spitzer, host of the radio show “American Routes” and a board member of the National Council for the Traditional Arts. “There’s no doubt the instrument has a long and enduring tradition with music. It’s a bridge between cultures, classes and styles.”

Spitzer has attended the last three festivals in Bangor, and although professional and family obligations will prevent him from helping to launch the American, he was pleased to hear the lineup of fiddlers at this year’s event.

Erica Brown of Lewiston is among the performers who will be on a panel of fiddlers. She says that fiddle music not only reveals regional history, it provides a bridge between generations. As a girl, she listened to her French Canadian grandfather – her pepere – play the button accordion and harmonica, and she danced to the tunes.

“I’ve loved music my whole life,” said Brown, who will perform at The American. “When pepere would put down his harmonica, I’d pick it back up and put it to his nose. I was so small at the time, I couldn’t talk yet but that was my way of telling him to play more.”

By the time Brown was 6, she started to play classical violin. She had just started playing when her grandfather became ill. She visited him in the hospital with her instrument and entertained him with rudimentary versions of “Frere Jacques” and “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”

“My grandmother later told me that he was so proud of me,” said Brown. “I think that’s part of why I’m big into my heritage. It allows me to carry on a tradition I care so much about. Anything I can do to keep it going, I will.”

That includes teaching. At 21, Brown instructs other young fiddlers about the nuances of her own techniques, which include bluegrass, French-Canadian traditional tunes, Irish music and even some classical music.

While her grandfather was influential in both her personal and professional lives, Brown also studied with Don Roy, the dean of Franco-American fiddling in Maine. For Roy, who lives in Gorham, music is even more than a heritage; it’s a way of life. He began playing guitar at 6 and fiddle at 15. His mentor and teacher was Lucien Mathieu, his uncle. Roy and his trio, including his wife, Cindy Roy, and fiddler Jay Young, as well as Mathieu, who is now in his 80s, will be at The American.

The collective and cumulative experience among players, however, isn’t enough to make good music. It comes from a combination of talent, practice, exposure and passion, said the musicians.

“The music lives in and around me,” said Roy, a maintenance foreman for the Maine Turnpike Authority. “It’s in your heart and your head and in your eyes and ears and your feet. It’s a huge part of my life. Always has been. Always will be.”

That feeling connects fiddlers regardless of their cultural background, said Roy. He looks forward to hearing the music of Paul Dahlin, a National Heritage Fellow, whose own family plays in his Swedish folk music band. As a child, Dahlin, a violin repairman in Minnesota, learned tunes from the old country from his late grandfather, a Swedish immigrant. Now Dahlin, like Roy, teaches others the regional music of the province of Dalarna in Sweden.

“I think you’ll find most fiddlers think about the music the same way,” said Roy. “We have an appreciation and recognition that someone has hung onto what they were brought up with. It’s not that they can do it. It’s that they have to.”

And of Dahlin and his Swedish music, Roy, steeped in Franco-American traditions, said: “That’ll mix. I’ll be able to cross up with him pretty well.”

Alicia Anstead can be reached at 990-8266 and kandresen@bangordailynews.net.