The 2007 Blakeley Bluegrass Festival will be held Oct. 6 and will feature fiddler Tom Morley.

Festival coordinator Jo Ann Flirt said what’s most significant about this year’s festival is Morley.

“He’s outstanding, and we’ve been trying to get him here for several years,” Flirt said. “We’re just delighted he is coming.”

Morley has performed professionally in almost every style of music, from country, bluegrass and Celtic, to jazz, pop and symphonic.

He has shared the stage with such performers as Pete Fountain, Ray Price, Emmylou Harris and Riders in the Sky.

In orchestral performances, he has worked with a wide variety of acts, including Rod Stewart, Natalie Cole, Harry Connick, Jr., Yo-Yo Ma and Luciano Pavarotti. Before moving to the Gulf Coast in 1993, he worked for many years as a studio musician and performer in Nashville.

For five years in the mid-1980s, Morley was a member of country music entertainer John Anderson’s band, playing major venues throughout North America and performing on five of Anderson’s top-selling Warner Brothers albums, also earning a gold record for his contributions in the process.

As a jazz violinist, he performed on two European tours with the New Orleans Jazz All-Stars, and has had two CDs in national release. Along with Mobile flutist Andra Bohnet, he is a founding member of the Silverwood Quartet (a chamber ensemble with an eclectic repertoire) and the Celtic music group Mithril.

"Alongside all the other musical styles I have been known for playing lately, it's been lots of fun and a challenge to get back to playing bluegrass, country and Western Swing licks with musicians on the local Mobile scene over the past year,” Morley said. “I've had the pleasure of playing with some of the best fiddlers in the business over the years … so when the members of Lock, Stock and Barrel asked me to join them for the Blakely Blugrass Festival, I was happy to say yes.”

Morley will join Lock, Stock & Barrel for the opening set at 9:30 a.m. and again for a solo appearance at 12:30 p.m.