Okay… this video stuff is weirdly seductive for some reason. Here’s a tune from the Mississippi Sheiks. There are tunes they do where the accompaniment is more straightforward and the guitar clearly takes a backup role relative to the voice and the fiddle. In Livin’ In A Strain, the division of labor isn’t so clear - the voice definitely drives the tune, but Lonnie’s fiddling seems to move in and out of Walter’s vocal and fingerpicked guitar accompaniment. It’s definitely not straight backup as I’m predisposed to think of it. It’s got texture, I think:

What could be more fun?

The Girl I Love Got Long Curly Hair

The Jazz Fiddler

Black Mattie

Too Long