JP Mathes and Fiddlin’ Leona and Friends

Fiddling Leona is a International TV personality (NETFLIX), performer, vocalist, classical violinist, food truck owner, and fiddler from Tokyo, Japan. Currently living in the Appalachian mountains of East Tennessee. She is a performer as well as a fiddle and violin instructor. Leona’s musical journey began at the age of four when she began violin lessons in Tokyo. During her childhood music was always part of her household, Leona’s father who has been a professional stage and studio guitarist in Japanese since the 1970’s. As a teenager Leona began to take notice that her father was listening to and she fell in love with American roots music. Leona knew at that point that she must somehow figure out a way to get to the United States and learn all about the fiddle

She has found a new home in the entertainment industry at NETFLIX. Leona is a featured cast member on the new International Netflix original series “Swap Shop”. The show features Leona as she searches for antique Americana items in the mountains of East Tennessee that she can flip for profit the next time she goes back to Tokyo. The show also features the people, landscape, and culture of her current home in the Appalachian Mountains of East Tennessee. The show is available world-wide only on Netflix. Season one drops on Nov 9th, 2021.

When asked what she envisions for the future Leona said, “ I want to take my experiences of performing and living in the U.S. and share them with the people of Japan and Asia. Because I know from experience that all across Japan there are people who love country music, and I want to help increase the awareness of this unique American art form.  If the younger generation in Japan or Asia can see someone like me performing American country music, I believe it would expand the interest in country, bluegrass, and American roots music more beyond its current status.”

JP Mathes