As a child growing up in rural Kentucky, Lisa Kahlden loved to check out records from her local library. The records she was drawn to were part of a collection from a label that began with a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. The label, founded in 1975, was called New World Music, and its mission was to produce a one-hundred-album anthology of the history of America through its music in celebration of the Nation’s bicentennial. “Each explored a unique genre or style of music,” explains Lisa. The albums were given to 7000 libraries and public institutions to create an educational foundation. “The albums had very extensive liner notes,” Lisa recalls, “and you could learn a great deal by reading about each track on an album.” At the time, she was listening to the albums and reading those interesting liner notes, but Lisa had no idea how they came to be. She just knew she liked listening to the music. “I grew up in a musical area where folks would pull out instruments and play when our family got together. I always loved music, and kind of thought that someday I may want to find work in the music business.” The folks at New World Records had a big surprise when they realized there was an unexpected commercial market for the records. “With the continued support of the Rockefeller Foundation, as well as the support of Frances Goelete, a philanthropist who was interested in investing in American composers, more records were recorded.” The company was founded by Herman Krawitz, who met Goelete when he was in the Metropolitan Opera. Goelete commissioned more symphonic and operatic works in his lifetime than any American citizen, financing the staging of many productions at the Metropolitan Opera. “None of the music produced by New World Records since the original 100 albums has ever been recorded before,” says Lisa. Over 400 albums have been released by artists with diverse musical backgrounds over the years. In addition to jazz, the recordings represent classical music, traditional music, including bluegrass, popular songs, and even experimental music. Much of the music is largely ignored by big-label record companies. New World Records began doing interesting cover art and continued their practice of including extensive liner notes. “The records took off,” Lisa says. “They had real commercial appeal.” In the meantime, Lisa had grown up and was working in the dot.com industry. Her work took her on the road a good bit, and she ended up in Ashville, North Carolina, where she visited a used record store. “They had some of the original 100 records. I had never really thought about who produced them – I guess I kind of assumed it was the Smithsonian or some other entity who did field recordings to preserve America’s music history. I read the name New World Records and started looking into the company.” Surprisingly, she knew someone who worked at New World Records in New York. Her friend told her there was an opening at the company, and in 2000, the company hired her to digitize everything in its collection. Lisa now serves as president and CEO of New World Records, and it is apparent she is proud of the work the company does. Much like a university press, New World works to preserve the “neglected treasures of the past” while nurturing the creative future of American Music. The 400 recordings they have produced represent 700 American composers. “In an industry obsessed with million-unit sales and immediate profits, New World chooses artistic merit as its indicator of success.” The company currently releases eight to ten new albums each year and accepts proposals from any source. “I have been involved with the company’s online streaming services, which are now available to libraries and public academic institutions.” A subscription service provides four shipments annually with the company’s new releases at a discounted rate. All New World subscribers may purchase recordings in the company’s catalog for a deeply discounted rate of $10 per disc. Lisa says Goelette’s legacy lives on with the recordings made at New World Records. “When he died, he left money to his estate for sponsorships and other projects with New World.” The New World Records website is like a master class in musical composers and American music history—a fascinating collection of essays, articles, and interviews on various people and topics available to read. And, of course, the album covers and liner notes of the first 100 album anthology are available for download. www.newworldrecords.org

Anyone who has ever been to an Old Crow Medicine Show (OCMS) concert knows that the high-energy band is as much fun to watch as they are to listen to. There is a kind of choreography on stage as members of the band switch from one instrument to another seamlessly between songs. Band leader Sketch Secor has an old soul and a penchant for old-time, jug band, and string band music. “I grew up without smartphones and technology. I’d see a poster in a record shop and think about it for weeks.” Ketch saw the Grateful Dead when he was 15, and that made a big impression on the budding musician. “I was fortunate to see many musical legends in the flesh. I suppose I’ve always felt like an old soul. I’ve pieced together my own experiences, and now I’m a first-hand account of my life’s pivotal moments.” The band had its beginnings in the fall of 1998 when a “monkey wrench gang of old-time string musicians” left their hometown of Ithaca, New York, with banjos, washboards, fiddles, and guitars bought in area pawnshops. “We were mostly still in our teens, and we played our way across the Canadian border to play on the street corners of downtown Ontario,” says Ketch. “It was a big adventure for all of us. We kept traveling and playing, from farmers markets in Manitoba to Indian reservations in South Dakota.” In time, the band developed its own special style—a little bit of country, a splash of bluegrass, punk rock showmanship, and an old sound made new and innovative. The band crossed the country from New York to Washington State and back again before deciding to move to the mountains of North Carolina in 1999. “We wanted to explore this musical heritage we had grown to love,” says Ketch. “That meant living where the music came from.” They live in Avery County, about 30 miles from Boone, where they played on the street corners. “We had a boot camp mentality,” Ketch laughs. “We worked farm labor jobs, and we planted the best garden. People from around the area came to learn how we grew such beautiful produce. We had no idea what we were doing, but we followed the Foxfire  books to the letter, and it worked. We also made some mighty fine corn liquor.” Ketch says they wanted to be as authentic as possible, including getting the accents right. Their big break came one day when they were playing on the sidewalk outside Boone Drug, which is where Doc Watson got his start playing in the 1950s. Doc’s daughter happened by and liked what she heard. She brought her father over to listen, and he joined them. Afterward, he told them it was the most authentic music he had heard in a long time, and he invited them to play at Merlefest in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Their performance at Merlefest caught the attention of Nashville, and a gig at the Grand Ole Opry followed. The band moved to Nashville and continued busking to pay the rent. Over the years, many have inspired and even mentored the band -- John Prine, Gillian Welch, and Marty Stuart, to name a few. “Marty Stuart has been a guiding light all these years and a beacon for me,” says Ketch. “I learned a lot about choreography by watching Del McCoury. He has a fluidity and expressiveness that is unmatched. I also prioritize multi-instrumentalism.” Garrison Keillor and Conan O’Brian were early adopters of the band’s music. Folks who had seen them in clubs as they played their way across the country and back sat up and took notice. The band opened for artists from Ricky Skaggs and Loretta Lynn to Dave Matthew Band and Willie Nelson. One of the band’s first big hits was a song co-written by Ketch and Bob Dylan. Dylan recorded the chorus of “Rock Me Mama” 25 years later; after hearing a bootleg sketch of the song, Ketch added verses. “Dylan and I entered a co-writing agreement and sent work back and forth via email. I never met him or even talked to him. But he did give me co-writing credit.” OCMS became a Grammy-award-winning band in 2011 and was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 2013. The band produced a trio of inspiring songs during the pandemic: “Pray for America,” “Nashville Rising,” and “Medicine Man,” featuring Keb’ Mo.’ Over 100,000 viewers tuned in for their Saturday night quarantine livestreams called Hartland Hootenanny , which featured artists including Billy Strings, Amythyst Kiah, Jim Lauderdale, and dozens more. Old Crow released Paint this Town  in April 2022 – their first album with all original material in five years. The album was recorded in their own Hartland Studios in Nashville and co-produced by Matt Ross-Spang, a veteran hitmaker. The album and title track were in the top five spot of Americana Radio’s 2022 Album and Single airplay charts. Their newest album, Jubilee , was recorded in late 2021 and early 2022 and also co-produced by Matt Ross-Spang. The album features collaborations with Mavis Staples and Sierra Farrell and the band’s first recording in twelve years with OCMS’s co-founder Willie Watson. The band plays an annual New Year’s Eve show at the Ryman Theatre. For the past couple of years, Mollie Tuttle has joined them onstage, with whom Ketch has written several songs. “I look at her work as a beautiful extension of my own.” Ketch says he enjoys working with young people and ensuring the musical torch gets passed on.

photo by Sandlin Gaither field Sometimes, unusual combinations end up making a lot of sense.   Take Zoe & Cloyd's Klezgrass music. Natalya Zoe Weinstein is a classically trained violinist from Amherst, Mass., descended from jazz and klezmer musicians. (Klezmer is a traditional folk music originating among Eastern European Jewish communities.) John Cloyd Miller is a twelfth-generation North Carolinian who comes from bluegrass royalty: his fiddling grandfather, Jim Shumate, introduced Earl Scruggs to Bill Monroe, and he played with both.   While bluegrass makes up much of their set list and album material, the Klezgrass music they've developed that honors their ancestors sets them apart. “We just did the Gray Fox festival a couple of weeks ago,” Miller says. “Even though we only did probably a couple of klezmer songs in each set, people just were so excited to hear that kind of music. And even down south, for people that are not as familiar with klezmer, they really are drawn to it. They're like, ‘I've never heard that before!’ Not every band has that stuff in their repertoire. So, if somebody wants something a little bit different on their bill, we can provide that.” Weinstein was exposed to bluegrass music by college friends in Amherst. She attended an anthropology conference in Tacoma, Wash., where she was given a ticket to the nearby Wintergrass Festival. “It was so incredible to me. Somebody handed me a fiddle, and I played ‘Angelina Baker’ with people I'd never met before. And that was kind of the turning point for me. So, I moved to Asheville after I graduated from college just to kind of learn more about bluegrass and old-time music, to sort of be in the heart of it.” She said she met John, and they played some gigs and started hanging out. “And then I found out that his grandfather was a bluegrass fiddle player. And he just was super welcoming and always up for playing. Every time we'd go down, he'd say, ‘Did you bring your fiddles and your banjos?’ He was a huge influence on me for sure.”   She explained how Jim was basically self-taught and a super bluesy fiddle player who just slid into everything. “His timing was real syncopated and it was completely the opposite way of playing the instrument than I was used to. So, it really helped me to kind of loosen up and learn bluegrass from that side.” Miller plays banjo, guitar, and mandolin and sings and writes the duo’s original compositions. “I didn't grow up as a kid playing bluegrass instruments,” he says. “That's something I came to a little bit later in life, and I'm still working on. But singing comes a little bit more naturally to me. That’s my main form of expression.” One of Miller’s recently recorded songs, “Chestnut Mountain,” is a wistful account of a place his grandfather knew. However, his subjects include timely topics such as polarization, tolerance, and the environment. “I like story songs. I like songs about relationships. I just kind of write what I feel like writing. I write about the things that I'm interested in and the things that I'm passionate about and move me. And I'm an outdoors person. The environment's always been an interest of mine, as it should be to everyone.” Miller had never heard of klezmer music until Weinstein played it for him. Klezmer tunes are typically instrumentals and often feature elaborate and dizzying violin and clarinet passages. “The music really mirrors in a very overt way human emotion,” Miller explains. “It can be happy, it can be joyful and spontaneous, and all of a sudden, it can be really sad. It sort of dovetails with bluegrass pretty well because most of these songs are in a minor key. They're not unlike ‘Lonesome Midnight Waltz’ or ‘Lonesome Blues’ or something like that.” Weinstein and Miller are more than musical collaborators--they married 14 years ago. That’s a lot of time together at home and on the job. “You have to be able to find that balance between not letting the band take over your entire life,” Miller says. “We're definitely aware of trying to keep a balance between our private life with our daughter and fun stuff, and not just talking about the band all the time. That can be challenging. I think a lot of small business owners, no matter what they're doing, struggle with that.” Zoe & Cloyd perform both as a duo and with a band that features Bennett Sullivan, an inventive and mesmerizing musician who has incorporated bluegrass banjo into klezmer. Bassist Kevin Kerhberg rounds out the quartet. In the summer, Zoe and Cloyd can perform farther away from Ashville than usual. They’ve toured in Ireland for the last two years and were heartened by the warm response they received this year for their unique music. “We did everything from a fiddle workshop to a set at a kind of historic pub,” Weinstein remembers. “And we hosted a gospel hour in this beautiful centuries-old Protestant church. The Catholic priest was there as well. So, it was neat to kind of bring all these people together in this sacred space, no matter what their religious backgrounds were. And we did a Klezmer song there. That was pretty cool.”

As the executive director of the Americana Music Association (AMA) for seventeen years, Jed Hilly’s responsibilities include producing the annual awards show and the AmericanaFest Music Festival and Conference. He loves his job because he is passionate about music and artist advocacy. Jed got his start in music in New York. He was in a band, and booking gigs fell on his shoulders. He learned he liked doing it and discovered he was good at the business side of things. Jed spent ten years at Sony Music Entertainment in New York, where he had many diverse experiences as the VP of digital asset management and marketing services. He then moved to Nashville to oversee Roy Orbison's estate before accepting the role of executive director of the AMA. “The AMA started 25 years ago, in 1999,” says Jed. “It started as a reaction to commercial country music not recognizing artists like Roseanne Cash, k.d. lang, Dwight Yokum, or Emmylou Harris. The AMA was formed to recognize all traditional American roots music, including blues, r & b, bluegrass, and contemporary American music.” Jed explained that in the mid-1990s, an FCC ruling allowed the consolidation of radio stations around the country. “There were a few owners with a lot of stations, and commercial country music was king. But there were people who wanted to shine a light on artists who would not otherwise have been heard.” In the Spring of 1999, a group of thirty or so people gathered to discuss how to get grassroots music played. They met again in the fall to organize. “A corporate facilitator helped them define their mission and what they were aspiring to do,” says Jed. “The mission was to foster growth for Americana artists. Before that time, people didn’t really know they existed.” When Jed started at the AMA in 2007, there were just over 790 members and not one major label. When Brandi Carlile won a Grammy for best Americana record for “By the Way, I Forgive You,” she described Americana as “the land of misfit toys.”  The incorporation of American roots music traditions from Gospel to traditional country to blues to rock ‘n’ roll is prevalent today. “The strength and beauty of Americana is its diversity,” says Jed. Since Jed joined the AMA, services have expanded greatly, and the music is gaining more traction. More music supervisors are discovering Americana music for film and television, and the music is being spread through social media. The Americana Music Association Foundation is a 501(c)(3) philanthropic organization that promotes educational purposes and maintains the integrity and continued existence of Americana music. The 23rd Americana Music Honors and Award Show was held in September. “It’s not just an award show,” says Jeb. “It is a very powerful show. There are no hosts – it’s very much about the community of musicians.” Held in the historic Ryman Theatre in Nashville, the show has featured entertainers including Robert Plant, Johnny Cash, Buddy Guy, Brandi Carlile, Milk Carton Kids, Shelby Lynn, and the Blind Boys of Alabama.

Marty Stuart personifies American music, from his modest Mississippi beginnings to his present star-studded life as a successful, award-winning singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His songs echo the remnants of Lester Flatt, Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, and Johnny Cash. Yet, he somehow managed to remain wholly authentic …to himself. He first picked up a guitar in Philadelphia, Mississippi, where Southern sceneries, cultures, and traditions helped mold him as an individual and budding musician. "I cannot remember a time in my life when music wasn't present," Marty said. "The first memory I had on this earth was being in my mama's arms, and she was holding me and crying. I remember what the fabric on her dress felt like." He described how the sun was dipping below the horizon, and the breeze carried the chime of church bells over East Philadelphia. His mama told him it was music, and the sound enfolded him like her embrace. In that treasured moment, he discovered music and what it could do. That connection forever shaped his life. "Right after that, she took me to a parade where some little backwoods circus troop came through Philadelphia," said Marty. The high school band was first in the long parade line, announcing the circus to the town. "I was standing on the corner, and the band came by with the power of the music again. I just started crying. So, I think that's who I am." At age nine, Marty started his first band with neighborhood buddies Butch and Ricky Hodgins. "At that time (1968 or 1969), young bands in that part of the country all played pretty much covers of British invasion music, The Beatles, The Stones, and The Who," said Marty. He explained how he could find nobody young playing country songs. "I loved country music more than any other kind, so we played songs by Buck Owens, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, and the Carter family. We just considered ourselves correspondents for all those stars in the backwoods of Mississippi, and that got me started.” Marty went on the road with the Sullivan family only three years later, a road as long and winding as the Pearl River near his Philadelphia hometown, running endless miles through ever-changing landscapes. Imagine this young boy of 12 spending long hours on a bus, nights in unfamiliar towns, and the pressure of performing night after night. The freedom of the road also meant the absence of home comforts, family, and the weight of responsibility far beyond his years. But Marty Stuart eagerly adapted to the rigors of this life and learned how to navigate the daunting realities of the complex adult world around him because of his love for music. "I didn't see any challenges," he said. "I always saw joy and beauty in it." His music grew organically from the pulsating sounds of bluegrass and country. Still, he pushed those genre boundaries by infusing rock and rockabilly to create his distinct mark on the music world, and he never approached his songwriting with a genre in mind. More than loving music, Marty lived it …and never looked back. "When you cross the state line into Mississippi, the sign says, Welcome to Mississippi, the Birthplace of America's Music." That encompasses many genres: gospel, blues, rock'n'roll, and country. "All those things are a part of our home, our musical heritage as Mississippians. It all kind of bubbles up, and I think that's what follows me to the pen, paper, and guitar. I can't quite help it. This is what comes out, and a long time ago, I made peace with that. I stand on it and use it as a license to make any music I want to be authentic." He's been called a child prodigy and a star, but as a historian who honors and preserves the roots of country music, he's earned the title "keeper of its flame." Reminiscing about when country bands played at the Neshoba County and the Choctaw Fairs, and gospel quartets and bluegrass singers came into Philadelphia to perform, he said, "I'm a fan. They represented a world I wanted to be a part of so badly as a kid." To Marty, it was the Wizard of Oz land, a fairy tale land. "I wanted to have any remnant or any souvenir of that world to take home with me, whether it was a signed record, the guitar player's guitar pick, an autograph, whatever. I took it home after somebody would play in our town, and it was like having Smithsonian treasures in my bedroom. That followed me to Nashville." PRESERVING THE COUNTRY MUSIC LEGACY: Marty's mementos varied from crumpled-up set lists to retrieving the makeup-stained tie from the garbage belonging to Lester Flatt, who Marty had joined in 1972. "In the early 1980s, all these older stars were kind of shuffled off to the pasture because times had changed, and Urban Cowboy had come in and kind of replaced all of the great stars." That didn't work for Marty because he felt those old stars had raised him. "They were like family." Still, as a much younger musician, Marty was also part of this new world. "I was in Nashville one day, and I bought Patsy Kline's train case or makeup case for 75 bucks in the junk shop because nobody cared," he said. "That's what it looked like to me: nobody cared, and nobody was paying attention." And this became his mission, "to take care of and pick up those kinds of things, costumes, guitars, instruments, and manuscripts, personal effects of people that matter to me." He filled warehouses with around 15,000 artifacts but had no idea what to do with them. In the early 2000s, Marty returned to Mississippi. "I fell back in love with my state and its musical and creative legacy. I wanted to jump in and start doing my part and help tell the story to the world." During that time, B.B. King called Marty to ask if he and his band could put on a show in Indianola to help raise money for the B.B. King Museum. While there, B.B. pointed out everything going on in Mississippi, saying, "You know rock'n'roll is over there at Elvis's place, I've got the Blues covered, and there's the Jimmie Rodgers Museum that puddles along down in Meridian." At that time, there was only talk of a Grammy Museum coming to the Delta. On his way out of Indianola, Marty figured out what to do with his massive collection thanks to B.B.'s coaxing. "Country music needed a home in Mississippi and the land of Jimmie Rodgers, the Old Testament world of country music. When I left Indianola that night, I remember looking up at God and thinking but don't make me do this . It was gonna be like setting a spaceship down in the middle of nowhere and getting people to believe in it." THE CONGRESS OF COUNTRY MUSIC: The Congress of Country Music planned for Marty's Philadelphia hometown culminated from his perpetual love for country music, his determination to preserve its legacy, and "spending the day with B.B. King," he said. Every project starts somewhere. The Ellis Theater was the hometown theater where locals once gathered to watch the latest Elvis movies or classics like The Sound of Music  and Doctor Zhivago . "It was the silver screen in our town, but it had tired like most little theaters in little hometowns that had fallen into disrepair." The Arts Council of Philadelphia owned the theater and was trying to do productions there. Marty decided to do one of his out-of-town broadcasts from The Ellis. He took his Marty Stuart Show from Nashville to Philadelphia. He described it as "spit and glue, walking over broken glass and busted commodes in the alley and praying it didn't rain because of holes in the roof." But there was something about the place," he said, with praise and gratitude. "It sounded great, and one of the things we had not accomplished at the time was finding a permanent location for the Congress of Country Music." The concept had been floating around in the air, and Marty was searching all over Philadelphia to find the right spot. And it just so happened that his longtime friend Butch, that kid in his first band, was on the Philadelphia Arts Council. He called Marty one day and asked how Marty would feel about the Arts Council donating the Ellis Theater to the project and the Council being a partner. Marty thought it was a great idea because it could be the cornerstone to start the whole campus. "So, the first phase was to get the Ellis up and running and beautiful, get people to come there, and turn it into a legitimate stop along the way for touring bands. We've done every bit of that." Marty affirmed that a project starts with the vision, but it also depends on the quality of your partners and how much of your vision can feasibly be accomplished and sustained. "It was a slow sale from the start, and most people thought this ain't gonna ever happen; we don't need this around here, you know the deal. But one by one, they started coming around." And those people finally coming around  were from all around —Boston, Washington, California, Nevada, Florida, Texas—and then fans began pouring from five dollars to one million into the project, "seeing the worth in this thing not just for the cultural significance of what we're doing but also to see the rebirth, the second coming of a town that has had hard times in its past." Marty admits that has been his favorite part—witnessing his Philadelphia hometown return to life. During the shows at The Ellis, people show up, businesses stay open late, and streets are blocked off because of the crowd. "Those are good problems to have as you move forward. These things help develop the hope we all need, especially when our past has been so dark in many places," said Marty. "It really gives the world a sense of hope because it's somewhere in Philadelphia, Mississippi, and so this can happen anywhere. Everyone can come together, you know, across all lines, social, racial, ethnic, religious." Marty hopes Philadelphia will become an inspirational template for other small towns. One of Philadelphia's different dynamics is its triracial communities: Black, White and Native American. “One of the things that has been very important to me at any gathering is that a White prayer, a Native American prayer, and a Black prayer will be lifted into the air." When The Ellis opened, that's precisely what happened: the beautiful pageantry of the Choctaws and a prayer by Philadelphia Mayor James Young, a Black gentleman and "an amazing and incredible guy. Then there were all of us White kids," said Marty. Everybody in the community felt welcomed and embraced, and that's what this is at the foundational level. This matters more than everything else put together." Marty elaborated on the project's educational component and why it is critical to the Congress’s mission. "When I was so on fire as a young musician and my heart was just coming into focus and my passions and my dreams were starting to surface inside of my head and my heart, what I had access to in Philadelphia was a magazine rack at Hamill drugstore that carried the Country Song Roundup and a few paperbacks that pertained to music and the record rack at Morgan Lindsey Dime Store." His only musical classrooms growing up were the Lakeside Auditorium with its gospel singings and the Choctaw and the Neshoba County Fairs when musical acts came through. "If, as a kid, I could have had Dolly Parton or Wynton Marsalis, Dale McCrory, John Anderson, or Connie Smith, all the people we've had at the Ellis in the last year and a half; if Ricky Skaggs and Vince Gill had come to my town, it would have blown my head off. It would have been like watching the Old Testament characters of the Bible come to life." With funding in hand and architectural plans to start by the end of this year, Marty said the continuing challenge will be the location in the middle of a rural state. "Promoting and sustaining the place becomes the issue after getting beyond opening day and cutting ribbons, and the confetti dies down." Other challenges will be keeping programming current and interesting and keeping great events happening there, "where everybody looks at the place as a beacon of hope and light down in Mississippi." Marty hopes the Congress of Country Music will be a place where young musicians can develop who they really are before making their decisions in today's homogenized country music industry. "It used to be that if you were coming out of your hometown, you had to bring your culture with you to get a seat at the table. Now, you have to check your culture at the county line, blend in and be like everybody else. That leaves a lot of people's true selves behind."

Music teacher and performing artist Janet Feld has an encouraging concept of the role music plays in life. For her, music has many purposes and brings extra quality of life to people of all backgrounds and ages. She focuses on music—and encourages everyone else to do so as well—and the reason is encapsulated in her straightforward comment: “Everyone I know who plays music is happier.”   She explains the benefits for all. It delivers early brain-building oomph to tiny tots and lifelong neurological health to older folks. “There is nothing better for brain development and nurturing brain plasticity than playing music,” Feld explained. “Whether playing an instrument or participating in a general music class in school, it triggers a rockin', neuron-firing dance party in our brains…stimulates traffic between the two hemispheres…and nurtures cell regeneration.”   “One of the ways I like to think of playing music is as an Alzheimer's prevention program,” she added. Music has benefits that are increasingly more difficult to find elsewhere in today’s world, where seniors often live isolated lives.   “For the social aspect, taking classes can be great because then you're hanging out with like-minded souls,” she said. “Lots of people in my classes at The Passim School of Music over the years have made friends with each other and, from time to time, get together to practice and/or jam.” In addition to these in-person lessons in Cambridge, Massachusetts, she offers online classes at her website, Janetsplanetmusic.com .   “My oldest student at the moment is 74, and she just started playing the guitar last year,” Feld explained. “She's also started writing songs and is having a blast.”   While there are clear benefits for seniors, there’s even stronger data supporting immersing kids in music as soon as possible. But…how young is TOO young for music lessons?    “I've taught guitar and piano to kids as young as three years old,” she said. “Their parents weren't sure if they were old enough, but I agreed to teach them because the kids had been begging their parents.” For less-interested kids whose parents want to expose them to music nonetheless, Feld suggests waiting until age five or six.   “It's a good idea for parents to hire teachers for one lesson to make sure the teacher's style is a good fit before committing to a series of lessons,” she continued. “It's best for the child if the experience is fun and engaging. You want a teacher who assumes that if their students don't understand something, it's because they haven't demonstrated or explained it in a way that's best for the student.”   Even before formal lessons begin, parents can do a lot to prepare their children for a lifetime love of music.   “Starting when their kids are babies, it's great to attend programs like Kindermusik or Music Together because these classes nurture children's natural sense of rhythm and melody,” Feld advised. “These classes are not only fun, but they also prepare children really well to begin lessons down the line.”   What about instrument choice? Should they learn to play Feld’s primary instrument – guitar– or is there something else more appropriate for young kids?   “Any instrument is great for a beginner, as long as it's one the person is interested in,” Feld assured. “I teach guitar and piano and get my students playing a song at their first lesson. It's slow and awkward, but they come away from the experience knowing it's possible for them to learn.”   Feld has been playing music herself throughout her entire life. It wasn’t until she had her first experience teaching kids—at a summer camp—that she decided it had to be her life’s vocation.   “The first time I met with a group of kids to sing, I felt like I'd come home,” she reminisced.  “Having taught private lessons and general music to people of all ages since the 1980s, I know that the only thing that has to be true in order to learn is that you WANT to,” she explained. Even if a person believes they do not have talent – or have other “limiting beliefs” – they can still become adept. “My main mission is to help people over those negative belief hurdles so they can get to the fun zone as soon as possible,” Feld said.   One of Feld’s “fun zones” is onstage, where she has performed for decades. “I've been a performing solo artist since the mid-1980s, and at various times over the decades been in groups,” she said. “Being an artist is the foundation of who I am as a person, and teaching music completes the creative circle for me. I perform in clubs, coffeehouses and festivals, nationally and internationally.” Currently, she’s part of a trio called The Secret Sauce, featuring bandmates Esther Friedman and Jackie Damsky.    She teaches private lessons four nights a week, which leaves “plenty of space” for her “artist work.” That work even includes authoring a music education book (“Practicing Safe Music”) and mentoring other teaching artists. She said both give her “music teacher tribe” a “chance to steal from my toolbox and learn from my epic fails.” She continued, “This past year has been the most creative of my life, and that's saying a lot because I've had a very creative life.” And that is EXACTLY what music is about.

Scott Schwebel and Pat Evans, friends since the fourth grade, went out one day searching for a particular album. Driving around their hometown of Bakersfield, California, they hit up five record stores with no luck. Not only did the stores not have the album, but Pat also says no one even cared. By the time they returned to Scott’s house, they had decided to open a record store despite having no idea where to begin. With a tremendous amount of sweat equity and help from friends and family, World Records opened on June 12, 1982. Scott and Pat were just 22 and 23 years old. They kept their day jobs, not positive the store could support them. Three months later, Scott went to dinner with his fiancé and died in a wreck on the way home. Pat was devastated and not sure how he would move forward. He even went to law school, but in the end, he decided that he owed it to Scott to make their dream a success, and he quit his job as a financial analyst to focus on the store. “We both had a love of music and became aware of artists and music we had not previously listened to, including bluegrass,” says Pat. “We carry popular music, but we also carry harder-to-find selections. People enjoy discovering an artist for the first time in our store.” As record sales morphed into CD sales, then streaming became a thing, Pat began to wonder how he could keep the business afloat. The store moved to its second location, closer to CSU Bakersfield. In a 2022 article in SFGate.com , Pat told reporter Andrew Pridgen that he mapped out the new store with great intention. “I designed a store where we have every artist available to listen to. You walk in and there are four or five main rooms with each playing different music. And not just rock or country, but world beat, bluegrass, folk, and jazz – music that young people may not consider otherwise.” The new store became a popular stop for both locals and music lovers traveling between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Eventually, the store’s reputation grew, and touring musicians, agents, promoters, and A&R talent scouts began to stop at the store. Pat realized the local music scene was lacking. “Established artists would come to town and play in the Civic Auditorium, but the smaller acts who play at mid-sized clubs and outdoor venues were passing us by.” It bothered Pat, especially since Bakersfield was once a thriving town for music. In the 1970s, there were nearly fifty music publishing companies in Bakersfield, and the musicians' union had 326 members. The town also supported several small-to-medium-sized music venues. With country music royalty Merle Haggard and Buck Owens as full-time residents, Bakersfield’s Chamber of Commerce promoted the town as the Musical Capital of the West. Determined to bring back that reputation, Pat decided to host a concert. It was 1997, and Fiona Apple, a relatively unknown teenage piano prodigy, was touring to promote her debut album, Tidal . It was a good bet for Pat, as the album produced six singles and sold more than 3.5 million copies. Apple won a GRAMMY the following year for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. “Our next show in 1997 was Allison Kraus and Union Station,” recalls Pat. “We had to drag people to that show. People around here just weren’t familiar with her. When we brought her back in 2003, the show sold out.” Not all the shows are big-name artists. Pat says when a performer gets on the stage and half or more of the audience doesn’t know them, they have to give it everything they’ve got. “It never gets old watching an artist win over an audience.” The next step was to build a concert venue. Pat purchased a defunct furniture store that opened in 1966. He put his record store in the front of the 8,500-square-foot building, and he built a venue in the back. “The acoustics in the building were surprising. It’s like it was meant to be.” He calls it the best concert hall no one outside of Bakersfield knows about…yet. In addition to music performances, the venue is used for reunions, receptions, and other special events. The venue’s first show was on May 6, 2017, with blues legend Elvin Bishop. Soon, bands, including Spyro Gyra, Los Lobos, and artists Petula Clark, Tommy Castro, Herb Albert, and Petula Clark, came to play in the record store/music venue. Pat promotes his old-school shows with a mailing list and posters hanging in his record store. He sells paper tickets custom-made for each show. There is no ticket in your Apple wallet. You will not find a QR code, a text reminder, or a link on social media. Best of all, you will not see a service charge. Pat says that as a music fan, he hated to pay $30 for a $20 ticket. He sells concert tickets in the store and by phone, and if you don’t have your paper ticket, you can pick it up from the will-call window, most likely from Pat himself. “I work to bring in highly acclaimed artists in order to enhance the culture in my community. Building a venue was the step we needed to take to bring artists to this town. I love what I do, and I think every record store doing their own thing is fantastic.” www.shopworldrecords.com

Bob Kogut recently finished making fiddle number 291. “I am trying to think of a name for her,” he says. “It’s a quirky thing I do, where I have to name each fiddle I make.” The naming started with the seventh or eighth fiddle he made. “I sold it to a lady in Orlando. She called and said she loved it. “It’s a bella,” she said. “I’m going to call her Bella.” From that point on, Bob has been christening all his fiddles with a name ending in the letter A. At nearly 300 fiddles in, it gets harder to find new names. It makes sense to Bob, who says the old grand steamships- hand-built and riveted- were christened with a name. “The workers were proud of them and named them a woman’s name that ended in the letter A.” A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Bob’s early exposure to music was doo-wop bands on street corners, singing in four-part harmony. When he graduated from high school in 1967, Bob wanted to attend college, mainly to avoid going to Vietnam. “I didn’t get accepted into college, but I did get a letter from the government telling me to report for my physical.” Bob passed his physical, and he was drafted into the Marines. But before he could report for duty, he was hit by a drunk driver. “It was the worst and best thing that happened to me,” he says. A head injury left him with a hand tremor. “My doctor told my parents to go to a pawn shop and get me a guitar. He said that would help with the tremors." While he recovered, Bob laid on his back and taught himself how to play the guitar. When he got off his crutches, Bob joined a rock band. “We played at the waterfront bars around Philly.”  Bob never thought he would like bluegrass music. “But I got hooked,” he laughs. It happened when his brother invited Bob to join him on a trip to Sunset Park for a bluegrass festival. Bob was skeptical. “Then Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys stepped on stage with their matching suits and brimmed hats, and I heard Kenny Baker. He was just dripping with emotion and played beautifully.”  After the concert, Bob and his brother wandered around the camping area, where Bob observed mini jam sessions all over the grounds. “I asked my brother, ‘Where are the amps? Where is their sheet music?’” When he returned home, Bob purchased a student violin from a local music store. He learned to play, and over the years, he traded and changed fiddles, looking for the perfect-sounding instrument. He moved to Orlando, Florida, where he met violin expert Bob Bragg. Bragg sent Bob home with different fiddles to try, and he even taught Bob how to do some of the setup and small repair jobs. That led to bigger jobs, and soon Bob was working on fixing up old fiddles. Bragg encouraged Bob to make a fiddle. “He said I was already doing repair jobs that required the same skills as making an instrument.” Before he became a serious fiddle maker, Bob worked as a physical therapist. “I worked in an assisted living facility, and I would take my fiddle in on Fridays and stroll through the dining hall. People loved it.” Making fiddles is his passion, and Bob can’t imagine doing anything else. He moved to Western North Carolina in 1999 and set up his workshop in the basement of his home. “I love to have people visit when I’m working in the shop,” he says. “I have a corner where people jam. I never listen to recorded music when I’m working.” His attention to detail may have come from his early desire to be a car mechanic. As an Eagle Scout, Bob took up whittling. Now, he does elaborate carvings on the back plates of his fiddles. “I don’t do commission work,” he says. “I do what I want, and when it’s finished, it’s finished.” His fiddles are now owned by fiddlers across the United States and many countries worldwide. Bob keeps track of his instruments and their players. He moved to western North Carolina in 1999 after playing several gigs at Merlefest. “I fell in love with the area.” He has played fiddle with local bands, including The Neighbors and The Kruger Brothers. “I have a contradance band, and the Krugers love to join us when they are home. They call themselves the Wurst Brothers, saying they are the “best of the wurst.” Bob says he uses those performances to test out his newest fiddles. “Fiddle tunes were designed for dancing,” Bob explains. “The structure matches the dances.” In addition to making fiddles and playing music, Bob teaches violin setup and repair classes, demonstrations, and workshops. He is passionate about young musicians and does violin adjustments and setups for the Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM). “It’s an arts council-funded program for kids to learn to play instruments to preserve old-timey and bluegrass music. It’s a program that is well-supported by the community here.” Bob actively supports music and is now a sponsor of MerleFest. He donates one of his violins each year to be auctioned off. He is a board member of the Blue Ridge Artisan Center, where he serves on the standards committee. Bob’s work as a luthier was recognized with his induction into the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame in June 2021. As a musician, he is accomplished in bluegrass, old-time, jazz, swing, and Italian folk music, and he not only plays the fiddle but the mandolin, bass, banjo, and guitar.

The Mountain Dulcimer is a unique stringed instrument that reached out one day and grabbed Bing Futch’s attention when he least expected it. As a longtime teacher of this uncommon folk instrument, he strives to spread his love of music to kids and adult learners alike.   “I was working in parking control at Knott's Berry Farm theme park in southern California in 1986,” he reminisced about first becoming acquainted with the Appalachian Mountain Dulcimer. Walking through the park one day after a lunch break, he heard a musical instrument he’d never heard before. “When I walked around the corner to see the source, that's when I saw a lady playing it.”   She told him she could have him playing it after just five minutes of instruction. Coincidentally, that’s exactly how much time Futch had left of his lunch break.   “After strumming it and following her direction, I promised to return on Friday with my paycheck,” he said. “I purchased my first mountain dulcimer, a teardrop shape which I still own to this day. A month later I transferred out of parking control and into merchandise, so I could work at the dulcimer shop.” The name of that company was Cripple Creek Dulcimers.   “The mountain dulcimer is so unique, but it's diatonic, meaning that it doesn't have all the notes and chords that fully chromatic instruments do, so I was unsure what to do with it for many years,” Futch said. “I finally fully committed to it as my main instrument in 1999 when I formed the band Mohave.”   Futch said that the unique mountain instrument got him noticed. “While cutting my teeth as a performer in bars, clubs and resorts, the mountain dulcimer often bought me a second look when people walked into the place because it wasn't a guitar or something common like that,” Futch said. “So, I do think that playing the dulcimer helped me to stand out in the early years. Though there are quite a few players of the instrument out there, practically none of them are using the dulcimer as I do for writing and performance, so that has also helped me to stand out a bit from the pack.” The mountain dulcimer’s history in North America stretches back about 285 years, “and it's the only native stringed instrument created here. Settlers to this country often couldn't bring their instruments from overseas, or they got broken in transit, so the mountain dulcimer is the result of design work based on old-world instruments like the Swedish hummel, German scheitholt, Hungarian citera [zither], Norwegian langeleik, and other similar creations, but nothing like them at the same time.”   Initially, it had three strings, Futch explained, “with the frets running only under the melody string closest to the player. The other two strings served as drone harmony for the melody, and the instrument was played using a wooden dowel called a note and a plucked feather quill for strumming and picking.” The primary scale fret pattern locked the instrument into a particular tuning “and had to be re-tuned frequently to play with others in different keys.” He added that since then, more modern versions of the instrument, “including fully chromatic fretboards, have been created as its popularity increases.”   Futch began teaching the instrument at festivals in 2006 and has toured yearly.   “The folk music community is full of performances, but you're also expected to teach your craft, and some festivals feature more classroom time than stage time,” he explained.   In addition to teaching at festivals and folk music schools, the M.O.D.E. (Mastering Our Dulcimer Experience) includes four workshops and a concert. He’s on the road a lot, providing this across the country. He also created his line of instructional books.   “I've got a number of instructional books on mountain dulcimer, including ones focused on blues music and jam tunes with backing tracks to teach folks how to play with a band,” he said.   Futch also presents “educational and inspirational programs” in schools, libraries, churches, and for non-profit organizations such as Head Start, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, and Children's Miracle Network.   Futch recently made his entire back catalog of streaming and downloadable lessons available for a small fee on the online platform Patreon. He adds new content weekly. For more information on Bing Futch and getting started with the Appalachian Mountain Dulcimer, visit Patreon.com/BingFutch .

Randall Deaton recalls the long journey from his home in Eastern Kentucky for his pet project to come to fruition. “I started this project in 2012,” he says. And in July, the record he masterminded and produced was finally released. Silver Bullet Bluegrass  is Randall’s ode to Bob Seger and his Silver Bullet Band. “I have been a big Bob Seger fan for a long time,” says Randall. “We had a bluegrass record label,” he explains, Lonesome Day Records. In 2008, Randall had an aha moment, realizing that good songs can be transposed into bluegrass. That year, Ralph Stanley II recorded Elton John’s “Georgia” in his studio. Not long after that, a bluegrass group called Youngstown recorded Bruce Springsteen’s “Blue Moon Rising.” Randall started thinking about Bob Seger's songs and how those could sound played in the bluegrass style. In 2012, Randall says he did a track session for the album in their studio in Eastern Kentucky. “From that point on, pieces gradually fell into place.” Randall met Gary Nichols, who sang with the Steel Drivers, and said he would love to be involved with the project. “He introduced me to Jimmy Nutt, who had a recording studio, The NuttHouse, in Muscle Shoals,” says Randall. “That’s where Gary was from and where Seger recorded a lot.” When Randall asked for suggestions on who to sing “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man,” Gary suggested Bo Bice (fourth runner-up against Carrie Underwood in the fourth season of American Idol ). The song, made famous by Seger in 1968, was the first single released from the album; Bo did a gritty, rock-tinged bluegrass version of the song, which was produced and co-engineered by Randall as head of Lonesome Day Records, along with Gary. The track was recorded at Lonesome Day Recording in Booneville, Kentucky, and The NuttHouse Recording Studio. The second radio release from the album was “Long Twin Silver Line,” recorded by Carson Peters. “I was blown away by how good Carson is in the studio,” says Randall. “This is the convergence of a great song, a great vocalist, and great musicians creating a lasting record."   Carson grew up listening to classic rock ‘n roll and always enjoyed hearing Seger songs. Carson was sold when Randall approached him with the idea of cutting a track for the tribute project. “I loved the idea and jumped at the chance to be included with the great artists already on board,” he recalls. The two played around with the arrangement for the fiddle break in the middle, but Carson credits Randall as the brains behind it. As for the rest, Peters says, “I think (and hope) that the youthfulness in my voice and aggressive style of the fiddle playing suits this song well and gives it a nice spin.”    The third single, “Roll Me Away,” was recorded by Bill Taylor. The song features Bill’s smooth vocals along with a beautiful arrangement. The rest of the album has heavy star power as well, with Shona Tucker of Drive-By Truckers (“Hollywood Nights”), Tim Shelton (“Against the Wind”), Keith Garrett (“You’ll Accompany Me”), Jeff Parker (“We’ve Got Tonight”), Ward Hayden (“Betty Lou’s Getting Out Tonight’), Josh Shilling (“Main Street”), Tim Stafford (“Even Now”), Robert Hale (“Feel Like a Number”), and Larry Cordle (“Night Moves”).  “We also used studio musicians from Muscle Shoals, which added a real Muscle Shoals flavor to the album,” says Randall.   By 2015, the album was close to being finished, but Randall and his wife got involved in other things outside of music. “I shelved it, waiting for the right time to release it.” The Deatons purchased a campground in Michigan's upper peninsula, which proved quite time-consuming. Wanting to keep his toes in music water, Randall brought music to the camp in 2021. “We had Black Hawk the first year and Ricky Skaggs the next,” he says. By 2023, Randall was ready to get the Seger project back on track. They returned to the studio in early 2023, and Carson Peters did some tracks. Bill Taylor came in and recorded “Roll Me Away.” In November 2023, Randall started the process of releasing the record. “It’s the first record we’ve put out in nine years,” he says. The release date for Silver Bullet Bluegrass  was July 12. The album has broad appeal and should charm Seger fans and Bluegrass lovers alike. For engineer Jimmy Nutt, the recordings offered a chance to reunite with several players and singers in the studio. “I am so grateful to Randall for letting me work on this. It was an incredible experience.” For Randall, “capturing the power and essence of these classic rock songs in a bluegrass presentation was a challenge. But the result proves that the skills of top-tier bluegrass musicians and vocalists are unmatched. I hope folks enjoy listening to it as much as we all enjoyed making it.”

Clint Holley has always had a thing for vinyl. “I bought my first record around 1979 or 1980,” he recalls. It seems you always remember your first. “It was Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall  album.” Clint says his parents were big flea market people. “They used to get my sister and me out of bed at 6 am to drag us to flea markets.” During those flea market forays, Clint discovered he could buy stacks of records for ten and twenty-five cents each. “I started buying records in the 1980s when CDs came out. Everyone was eliminating their record collections, and I started buying them.” He got into sound engineering by working in the historic Beachland Ballroom and Tavern in Cleveland, Ohio. “I ran sound for the bands that played there,” he says. “I learned on the job.” He spent a decade running audio at the bar during the 2000s. In 2009, someone opened a pressing plant for vinyl records in Cleveland. “His name was Vince Slusarz, and he put a help wanted poster up in the bar where I worked. I applied for the job, but he didn’t hire me. But because I had an audio background, Vince invited me to go with him to a studio that owned a machine called a mastering lathe.” Clint went home and told his wife, Bonnie, about the machine. “She told me I should buy one of the machines, and that started a year and a half odyssey to find out more about the machines, including their history, who owns them, and who sells them.” People had destroyed a lot of the equipment from the fifties, sixties, and seventies. Most of what was left was mothballed in warehouses, and most were in bad condition. His quest led him to a man in New Jersey who had stockpiled the mastering lathes when the record companies were getting rid of them in the 1980s. “His name was Albert Grundy. He was 82 at the time, and he had bought a lot of machines that he restored and sold. He called one day and told me he had one for me. He made me a deal on a Neumann VMS-70 lathe system, and I brought home my first machine in 2010 and set it up in my mother-in-law’s garage.” With Grundy on call as a mentor of sorts, Clint taught himself the craft of cutting records. “He talked me through a lot of things. It put me in touch with an older generation and a new one, too.” “I think there is a kind of bond that can’t be broken when people enjoy the experience of listening to music,” says Clint. “There’s something special about listening to an album and looking at the cover art and liner notes. There is a stronger connection with the music that way.” Clint established his business, Well Made Music, in 2010, where he serves as the Chief Mastering Engineer. “Back then, it was manageable. Now, it has exploded. “I would say it was an industry that wasn’t ready for its own success.” Clint explains that Covid hurt the vinyl industry to a certain extent due to supply chain issues. But it also helped. “People had more time at home to listen to music, and many used their stimulus checks to buy records. At the same time, artists weren’t touring, so they had time on their hands to create more music, which increased the demand.” Clint pressed mastered his first album 14 years ago. “It was a local Cleveland band called The New Lou Reeds.” He earned GRAMMY Awards as a lacquer-cutting engineer for Bobby Rush’s Porcupine Meat  (2016) and Otis Readding’s Live at the   Whisky A Go Go  (2016). Dave Polster joined Well Made Music in 2014 as a Senior Mastering Engineer. He learned the craft of vinyl record manufacturing and has spearheaded the digital mastering services at Well Made Music. “ We are privileged to work on Grammy award-winning projects,” says Clint. Dave worked as the lacquer-cutting engineer for Billy Strings’ Home  (2020) and Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway’s Crooked Tree  (2022). The clients for Well Made Music range from independent artists to record labels and pressing plants. “Each has their own challenges. Working with artists is more personalized, I suppose. I like to invite them in so they can see their record being pressed.”

Helen White was a musician and school guidance counselor in Sparta, North Carolina, in 2000 when she noticed a gap in generational learning, particularly music. “She didn’t see local kids at community events,” says Brett Morris, who serves as the executive director of Junior Appalachian Musicians, Inc. (JAM). “Not only did Helen want to preserve old-time and bluegrass music and dance for future generations, but she also cared deeply for people. She always believed music was a way for people to connect and to form meaningful relationships.”  Helen advocated for underserved youth, wanting to provide them with safe and healthy activities.  Playing mountain music gives people from Central Appalachia a sense of pride, and Helen introduced kids to traditional instruments, including fiddles, banjos, guitars, and mandolins, as well as to the culture of their local communities. “Helen was inspired by the former Mount Rogers Combined School in Grayson County, Virginia,” Brett says. “They didn’t have a marching band. Instead, the school’s music program focused on old-time music.” Helen founded Junior Appalachian Musicians, Inc. (JAM) in 2008 as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Her partner was well-known musician and luthier Wayne Henderson, whose name recognition helped promote the program.  JAM began to spread throughout Appalachia, with affiliates in North Carolina and into South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and West Virginia. “We have nearly sixty affiliates,” says Brett. “Some counties have several JAM programs. We also have some affiliates known as YAM (Youth Appalachian Musicians) instead of JAM. It can get a little confusing, but we are all working towards the same goals.” Brett says Helen wanted the program to be “effective, sustainable, and high quality.” Helen gathered people and funding to ensure the regional parent organization was strong and offered resources and help to others. Brett, a musician, has been with JAM for twelve years. She worked for Helen for a couple of years and then assumed her role as executive director of JAM when Helen retired. Sadly, Helen passed away in 2019. “She is sorely missed.”  Brett works from the JAM headquarters in Independence, Virginia. There is a satellite office in Knoxville since 2021. “That’s how our footprint has recently expanded into East Tennessee and adjoining areas,” says Brett. The organization continues to grow in its resources and locations.  The model for the program is simple: JAM is designed for children beginning in fourth grade, and the after-school program introduces old-time and bluegrass music through small-group instruction. “We provide instruments at no cost to the kids,” says Brett. “We have created a bit of a curriculum to avoid reinventing the wheel, although we want our teaching artists to rely on their local oral traditions as much as possible.” Instructors are encouraged to teach students to learn music by ear. Children not only learn traditional music, but they have opportunities to perform in small and large groups. Program offerings are enhanced with field trips, and visiting artists help introduce the rich music history unique to each local community. Advanced students also have instructional opportunities, and many JAM alumni become teaching artists and musicians.  JAM's funding comes from private foundations and donors. “We work with other arts organizations, including South Arts out of Atlanta.” Each JAM program is individually funded and operated. JAM affiliates are eligible to receive a wide variety of free support and resources.  In addition to the work being done in each affiliate, JAM creates new programs, provides resources for existing programs, and partners with many prominent festivals to feature performances and offer learning and networking connections to current students and program alumni. Festival partnerships include the Earl Scruggs Music Festival, IBMA’s Wide Open Bluegrass, The Old Fiddlers Convention in Galax, FloydFest, and many others.  JAM’s Traditional Music and Education Summit was held for the first time this spring in Little Switzerland, North Carolina, for nearly 80 JAM teachers and music education professionals. This professional development and JAM certification event for teachers provided methodologies and instructional skills. “Pre-covid, we had many regional day camps for kids,” says Brett. “We are just about back to normal now.”  JAM has a YouTube channel, and several instructional videos are available on its website . The JAM Songbook was created by Pete Wernick, an internationally recognized music educator and musician, along with JAM Ambassador Liam Purcell. The book is used in classes by JAM students and Wernick Method students. Perfect for all jammers, the book features 39 bluegrass/old-time standards, most with two-and-three chord songs that can be played in any key. Chord diagrams for guitar, banjo, and mandolin are included, as are positions for fiddle and bass.  Visit the JAM website at www.jamkids.org .