SOLVED. Man playing violin in the forest [s]

[Shannon]

I started a series a few years ago and for the life of me can't remember what it's called. The only thing I remember about it is that it began with a man playing his violin in the forest. He wandered around for days and his strings broke, but he continued playing until he happened upon a village. From there, all I remember is that it turns out he could use magic. I know this is a really shabby discription, but is there any way someone remembers what this book was called?

[Krazykiwi]

Could this have been set in Appalachia or somewhere similar? It is definitely ringing a bell somehow. And possibly something to do with a river and a dam.

[Michele]

Why was he wandering in the forest with a violin? Amnesia, something terrible happened/shock, lost? Was he maybe a gypsy-type?

Name of the Wind has a scene like this I think, Kvothe wanders a bit. By Patrick Rothfuss.

[NoNameLoves2Read]

I'm with Michele, sounds exactly like . It's a trilogy but the 3rd book still hasn't been published yet.

[Michele]

Charles de Lint's books often have musicians/fiddlers and forests; you might take a look at his titles and see if anything rings a bell.

Do you recall if the violin-playing man was the central character for that book and/or for the series as a whole, or just a sort of intro scene-setting? Do you remember how long the book was (thin, medium, humungus)? Anything at all about the cover?

[Sophie]

I third The Name of the Wind.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Shannon shelved Name of the Wind on July 17, 2014 so we're going to call this solved.