A Tribute to George Portz

Born in 1952 to Kathaleen and Harold Portz, George was immersed into a lifestyle of traditional fiddling, with his grandfather Perry Biggs serving as his mentor. George flourished as a fiddler, following in the footsteps of both his grandfather and mother, and as just a teenager, George had become one of the nation’s leading fiddlers and promoters of "old time fiddlin'" and bluegrass music.  At age 16, he was the youngest State Champion in the United States, which landed him in the Fiddlers’ Hall of Fame in Weiser, Idaho.  George’s grandfather, Perry Biggs, won the 1969 Illinois State Senior Division Championship.  They became the nation’s only Grandfather-Grandson combo of champions.  Perry also had a distinguished Senior Fiddling career by winning multiple Senior Division State Titles along with Senior Championships at National “Open” Contests and Illinois State Fair titles.  In the years that followed, Perry’s daughter (George’s mother) Kathaleen Portz won the Ladies Division at the Illinois State Contest and George’s son, Jason, placed in the Junior Division.  They played at many events and contests billed as the nation’s only 4 Generations of Fiddlers.

By the time George finished competing in fiddle contests, he won another Illinois State Championship (1987) and was a 5-time Illinois State Fair Fiddle Champion, 7-time Western Illinois Fiddle Champion, and the 1982 National “Open” Fiddle Champion of United States.  George won more than 130 1st Place titles and amassed over 300 trophies.  George’s daughter, Kaitlin, began playing fiddle and competing in 1997.  In total, the five won over 500 awards for “Fiddlin” throughout their careers.

In 1973, George joined the famous Goins Brothers Bluegrass Band from Kentucky and toured extensively for the next 3 years.  George not only performed along-side of the nation’s top professional fiddle players, but performed in Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Band at the Smithsonian Festival in Washington, DC and for President Nixon in the White House. George also performed on WSM’s Grand Ole Opry numerous times during this period.  George was officially made a Kentucky Colonel for these contributions by the State of Kentucky.  George also performed for President Reagan at the Illinois Sate Fair in 1986.

Retiring form the ‘road’ and returning to Illinois, George started his famed Bluegrass Band, “George Portz & The Friends of Bluegrass,” which was in their 45th year of performing at the time of George's passing in 2023, with over 3,000 performances under their belt.  George organized his first Fiddle Contest at O’Fallon, IL in 1980 (now held in memory of George in his hometown of Shiloh, IL). George had several of the longest-running fiddle contests in Southern Illinois, including the Perry Biggs Memorial Fiddle Contest in Patoka, IL, Murphysboro, IL Appletime Festival Fiddle and Banjo Contest, Madison County Fair Fiddle Contest, and many more.  These contests have produced 19 fiddlers that have continued on with their “Fiddlin’" careers and performed on WSM’s Grand Ole Opry, including Alison Krauss, Liesl Schoenberger, Casey Driessen, Kim Bibb, Bobby Miner, Corrina Logston, Katie Kerkhover, along with 12 other outstanding players.

George followed in his Grandfather Perry’s footstep and not only performed all over the United States, organized hundreds of contests and festivals, but personally taught over 100 young folks in his music room in Shiloh – and he never charged a fee for doing this.

George played on many studio recordings for various groups and produced 5 CDs of his band.  Before his passing, George received a Legacy Award from State of Illinois Department of Aging for his lifetime of wonderful contributions for promotion of Fiddlin' and Bluegrass Music.  His passing has left a huge void in not only the lives of his loved ones but also in  the lives of any person who had the privilege to know him. One of his favorite things to say was that he didn’t have ‘fans’, only friends, because he thought of each and every person that followed his music in that way.  His laughter, his jokes, his music, and his legacy will live on as long as there are memories of him and his remarkable life.