a university, Aynsley said. John had served as primary author and editor for The Bluegrass Blog from its launch in 2006 until being folded into Bluegrass Today in September of 2011. This is an historic first, making her, We've just received the results from the 2015 Grand Masters Fiddler Championship, held September 26-27 at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville. rolled the radio dial and hit a certain country station, Aynsley would say, Stop, competing in the youth division of the Grand Master Championship. IBMA fiddle player of the year, Aynsley Porchak, gets inducted into the Daughters of Bluegrass at Christmas in the Smokies, 2019. It could take me a while, I said, before I knew - it could be days, could be weekscould be monthscould be years! By a miracle, that didnt scare James off, and it didnt take years after allin August, I drove to Galax to surprise him and tell him that I wanted to take him up on his offer to date. I don't think there's anything wrong with pullin pop into the genre with covers like this. Receive updates about CBA events and news. But the program had its beginning back in 1982 when Dartmouth-educated mandolin player Jack Tottle first started teaching courses in the music of the region through the universitys Center for Appalachian Studies and Services. She frequently makes obscure literary references, and even enjoys literary criticism. I feel God has blessed me with the ability to play, and so I want to give back to others through my fiddling, whether that means teaching fiddle lessons, performing on stage and making people smile, or just simply talking to an audience member after a show. When the students are done with their degrees, they get to have in their hands a product they can use for promotion, Boner says. Natalie and her music, so when I was 9 years old, I started taking fiddle lessons. He showed up at Timmy and Lakins one day and after wringing his hat in his hands for the first fifteen minutes of our talk, he eventually told me that he couldnt wait any longer to let me know his feelings. a little outdated, and I would love to be able to use my English to write more about Dan Eubanks, bassist with Special Consensus, and Aynsley Porchak, fiddler with Carolina Blue, will both join the team as adjust professors starting with the Spring 2021 semester. Click here if youre interested in buying an ad. At the end of every semester, ETSU bands perform at a Johnson City institution, The Down Home, which opened in 1976. Colleen Trenwith and the Hamilton County Bluegrass Band became household names in New Zealand. Everything was down an octave, but I learned every fiddle bit on the record. Aynsley Porchak began playing fiddle at the age of 9. It gives me a chance to be where the music is happening. She performs with the ETSU Bluegrass, Celtic and Country Pride Bands. When she couldnt fall asleep, her mom would One of those great bands is Carolina Blue from Brevard, NC. Near her home in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada, there was a classical program and a jazz program but no bluegrass. Maybe the newest great love story to emerge, is that of Carolina Blue's James McDowell and Aynsley Porchak, aka "Jaymsley." Supporting and inspiring the next generation to play and enjoy music. Morehead State University in Kentucky offers a traditional music program, directed by Raymond McLain, formerly with ETSU. Now she teaches fiddle at ETSU. I've never been more excited about . My Profile Not only did it come true, but Porchak quickly proved her tremendous musical talent by winning both the American and Canadian Grand Masters Fiddle Championships. But when severe weather led to the festivals She is a connoisseur of tea. Aynsley Porchak Fiddle. Aynsleys parents they took such an interest in this style of music as to start a degree program for Since they were here last, they have enjoyed three IBMA nominations and earlier this month, won four SPBGMA Awards for Entertainers of the Year, Bluegrass Band of the Year (overall), Vocal Group of the Year, and Album of the Year for I Hear Bluegrass Calling Me. Chat email or call (480)-624-2500. Southwest Virginia Museum Historical State Park Accepting Entries for Quilt Show, World-Folk fusion ensemble comes to Big Stone Gap, 'School of Rock' on stage in Jonesborough, Appalachian Music Project announces children's choir, 'Beauty & The Beast Jr.' is at Knoxville Children's Theatre, Southwest Virginia Museum hosts Wise JAMS, Bristol Virginia Historic Preservation Award Program Seeks Nominations, @Southwest Virginia Cultural Center & Marketplace, @University of Virginia's College at Wise. Valentines Day has us thinking about all the great love stories in Bluegrass: Kenny & Amanda Smith, Darin & Brooke Aldridge, Paul & Kelsi Harrigill, Little Roy and Mike Terryyou get the drift. The band has created a partnership, friendship, and family with the other band members; Reese Combs (bass), James McDowell (banjo), and Aynsley Porchak (fiddle). gratefully giving Him all the glory for all His many blessings.. Music is such a beautiful way to bring people together, and if I can make someone forget about whatever sadness they have going on in their life just for a little while through my playing, I feel like my job is done, she says. When they found out that it was the fiddle that I liked, they took me to watch some of the fiddle competitions close to my home, and I fell in love with the music I heard. The thought of their daughter playing the Opry certainly never crossed Aynsleys parents Patch was also recorded as the title track of a Grammy Award-winning album by another I slowed the record down to 16 2/3 speed. Aynsley Porchak wins Canadian Grand Masters. to talk to Buddy and then realized he hadnt introduced himself. However, when I arrived, I found that I was still able to musically interact with the other students, even though we lived hundreds of miles apart. But on the buildings third level, theres a different kind of activity altogether. Aynsley began playing fiddle at the age of 9. . Takes the music extremely traditional Bluegrass . They are: Bobby Powell, guitar; Timmy Jones, mandolin; Reese Combs, bass; James McDowell, banjo (who looks like a young Don Stover); and Aynsley Porchak, fiddle (wearing a 'pillbox' hat that reminded Dr Janie of those ladies used to wear to church). Word about her musical past spread quickly on campus, and by the time she had achieved sophomore status, she was hired as an adjunct faculty member. Aynsley Porchak began playing fiddle at the age of 9. After attending numerous contests and concerts, I started lessons at age 9, and I never looked back, she said. In fact, the fiddle player did not even intend to compete in the 2017 Canadian Grand Masters Fiddle Championship due to time constraints. appreciate the care that ETSU has put into its music programs. Aynsley, a native of Woodstock, Ontario, who is a senior at East Tennessee State University His image is repeated several times in a Brooks Gym hallway photo mural, near those of the Stanley Brothers, the Carter Family, and Bonnie Lou and Buster, a duo that played live on Johnson Citys WJHL-TV in the 1960s. She confesses to having a passion for boots. One of those is Aynsley Porchak. Each of the new instructors will offer private lessons on their primary instrument, Porchak on campus in Johnson City, TN, and Eubanks remotely by video from his home in Nashville. Dan Eubanks, bassist with Special Consensus, and Aynsley Porchak. Music program at East Tennessee State University. My jaw dropped, because Id already Formed in 2020 by Aynsley Porchak (fiddle), Lincoln Hensley (banjo), John Meador (guitar), Gracie Meador (bass) and Tim Laughlin (mandolin). Boner joined his first southern gospel group when he was eight, and by the age of 11, he was playing fiddle with the Strings of Gospel. Aynsley spends her time off the road as a private fiddle instructor, session musician, and author. Pennsylvania brothers Jacob and Joey Mosley grew up tagging along with their father, Jeffrey, to bluegrass festivals in southern Pennsylvania and northern Maryland. I texted Daniel right afterward with a picture of me holding the plaque, saying, Though, from a young age, Porchak dreamed of a competing in bluegrass; she never imagined it would actually come true. Thank you. There are similar themeslove, acceptance, and rejection.. In 2018, Porchak won the International Bluegrass Music Associations Momentum Instrumentalist of the Year award, for up-and-coming artists. Aynsley was taken to see influential Cape Breton fiddler Natalie McMaster. Aynsley managed to secure a couple of lessons with legendary session fiddler Buddy At a banjo pickers convention in New Zealand, Trenwith and her band met American folk singer Mike Seeger. She was Blessed to win the Grand Master Fiddler Championship in 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee, and in 2017, she also became the Canadian Grand Master Fiddle Champion, making her the first person to win both competitions. Aynsley began playing fiddle at the age of 9. This is a labor of love,but every dollar = a cup of coffee whileI work at keeping this resource up to date.Thanks for whatever you send my way! Practice, play, and perform at the Father's Day Festival. Through a woman who had come from Asheville, North Carolina, to New Zealand to study dairy farming, she found out about ETSUs offerings in bluegrass and traditional music. She plays in the ETSU As a student at East Tennessee State University, I am very aware of the soundscape that surrounds my place in the Bluegrass, Old Time, and Country Music Studies program. as well as Bobby Hicks, whom she has long admired. August 28, 2017 | by John Lawless. He introduced himself as Dan Boner, Director of the Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Country Music Studies Program at East Tennessee State University.. This eventually led to the Grand Master Championship and the Tennessee State Fiddle I started my BLUE degree at ETSU with the goal of someday being able to make an impact through teaching in higher education, so this is truly a dream come true for me. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), East Tennessean 2023 Readers Choice Awards, ETSU alumna receives Presidents Lifetime Achievement Award, Next on the queue: Netflixs Murdaugh Murders, Traveling exhibit visits Culp Center as part of Black History Month, Bluegrass features musical talent in showcase performance, Chanticleer vocal group performs at Martin Center, Pantsuit Politics co-hosts part of Festival of Ideas, Free pop-up shop continues to grow on campus, Access ETSU partners with regional music group for event, Baseball shuts out App State in 5-0 home win, HASCA President on what it means to be a leader. John Meador and Hensley have played gigs together although they performed with separate bands, (John with Kentucky Just Us and Lincoln with the Price Sisters), and Meador is married to . In this thesis, I demonstrate how analysis through literary criticism can provide a commentary on Appalachian song. of the fiddle players who influenced Aynsley the most as a young musician. His great uncle, Larry Boner, was a guitar-strumming preacher. Blue Added to East Public Relations /a > Aynsley Porchak fiddled for the now disbanded Carolina.. So did the divine right of kings. Ive tried dabbling in other instruments, like mandolin, but I keep coming back to the fiddle because its my true love. Let me start off by saying that the differences in driving from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Euclid, Ohio are almost polar opposites. Your donations to the Monroe Mandolin Camp are appreciated and will go to help teach students now and in the future. 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