By Keri Luiz
Assistant Editor

The term “Americana” can mean a lot of different things when used to describe a style of music.

For Annie Marie and Fiddlaround, it might mean “all of the above.”

The Benicia resident and her group will fill 851 Music Studio in the Arsenal on Saturday with the sounds of fiddle tunes, swamp boogie, blues, Cajun, Zydeco, Latin and country.

In other words, Americana at its most eclectic.

“It’s good, honest, fun music. We have a good time at our concerts. If you like Southern music, if you like blues, if you appreciate a well-crafted song, you will have a great time,” Marie said.

Fiddlaround — Marie on fiddle and vocals, Maureen Coyle on accordion and vocals and Diane Dutra on bass, low hat and vocals — formed out of Marie’s old Zydeco band, Tee Fee Swamp Boogie. “I wanted to do different kinds of music,” she said. “When you play Cajun zydeco, you play for dancers.

“The idea of Fiddlaround is women playing music,” she said.

After some lineup changes shook up Tee Fee, the new band formed around Marie’s concept of an acoustic trio.

“When I first started playing music, I worked with a banjo band doing jazz swing,” the Houston native said. “I wanted to bring some of that stuff in. I wanted to bring in some blues from the Deep South. I especially wanted to have a venue where people could listen to music without the aid of pitch-shifting technology,” she said, referring to the heavy use of “auto-tune” technology that cleans up a singer’s voice.

“It’s so tempting when you sing and when you record to use this pitch-correcting technology. It gets rid of all the nuances,” she said. “If Ella Fitzgerald had used that technology, she wouldn’t sound like Ella Fitzgerald. Billie Holiday wouldn’t have had that kind of ‘oomph’ and mournful quality that her voice has.

“I worry that sometimes peoples’ ears are going to be used to hearing this kind of metallic and perfect sanitized sound, that we’re going to lose a huge piece of our heritage.

“We’re very dedicated to playing with as few effects as we can get away with. We will amplify, but we don’t use auto-tune, we don’t use choruses or anything.”

Marie began playing the fiddle at age 9, and got her first paying gig at 12. “I think I made four bucks,” she said.

“That’s what established the desire in me. I discovered that even though I was really shy — and if you see me perform now you would never believe it, but I used to be so shy — but I loved playing music for people. There’s nothing like a live performance, there’s this give and take between the musicians and the audience, and if you add dancers in the mix it’s even better.”

She left Houston touring with a folk group, and lived in many different areas of the Bay Area. But she fell in love with Benicia.

“Even when I go to Europe, I think, ‘Benicia is just as pretty,’” she said. “We’ve got the Carquinez Straits, and the restaurants, and the history. It’s just a great place.”

For fans who miss Saturday’s show — or who can’t get one of the in-demand tickets — Fiddlaround will return with a performance at the Rellik Tavern on Feb. 8.

“We’re considering the show on (Saturday) our kickoff to Mardi Gras season. Mardi Gras season usually starts in activity around Jan. 6,” Marie said. “Then it runs until Fat Tuesday, which is 40 days before Easter.”

If You Go
Annie Marie & Fiddlaround will play at 851 Music Studio, 843 Grant St., on Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15. Reservations are suggested; call Rhonda Hicks at 707-747-0320. For more information about Fiddlaround visit www.fiddlaround.com.