He was known as the Texas fiddle master, Gene Elders, passed Wednesday (3/20/24) afternoon.
According to his bio on his website. Gene Elders played fiddle and mandolin in George Strait’s Ace In The Hole Band since 1984 and he made that fiddle in “Amarillo By Morning” come to life. Gene also played on recordings by George Strait, Lyle Lovett, Joan Baez, Lucinda Williams and Dan Fogelberg, to name a few.
When he wasn’t on the road with the Ace In The Hole Band, Gene spent time working in his studio, composing for film and recording violin, mandolin, concertina, octave viola, octave mandolin, and full string sections for artists across the country and across the oceans. Gene was a bad ass to say least.
George made the sad announcement on his socials about his manager Erv passing away Wednesday morning and then another announcement Thursday morning about Gene passing away the same day on Wednesday afternoon. Losing two close friends in one day is a horrible experience for anyone.
George’s statement reads, “Hard to believe we lost two of our music family members on the same day. Our Ace In the Hole treasured band member Gene Elders passed away yesterday afternoon shortly after we lost Erv. All of our prayers go out to both families. Me and the band won’t ever be the same without our brother Gene. We loved him so much. Go play with Mike again Geno. We’ll come join you guys later.”