Week for kids at ETSU creates special music, memories
By Mark Rutledge
When 15-year-old Jamison Smith arrived at East Tennessee State University’s first ever Bluegrass Summer Camp in July, he had lost track of the one original song written at an earlier time in his young life. The camp ended on a Friday morning with a performance of three songs that Jamison wrote in a day — compositions regarded by camp instructors as “industry quality.”
“I enjoyed what we just heard there more than any band I’ve heard come out in a very long time,” Jeremy Fritts, a guitar instructor for both the camp and ETSU’s Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Roots Music Studies program, said after a band performance led by Jamison. “…It’s innovative because (Jamison) respects the old stuff and he digs back and he listens. And it’s fresh because he doesn’t have a problem putting his own stamp on it.”
The five-day camp attracted students ages 11-19 who came to the Johnson City campus from as far away as Oregon, Missouri, and New York. Although the summer event for fun and music instruction drew a number of prodigious young players experienced through festivals, contests, and perhaps family influence, the camp is for all skill levels. Organizers designed the week so that the mix of participants at different places in their musical journey can enhance the overall experience for everyone. The blending of skill levels worked particularly well after a strong response to the camp resulted in double the number of participants initially expected.
“We made our budget estimates, and we planned for around 30 students,” camp director Aynsley Porchak said. “As we started receiving registrations, we quickly found out it was going to be about twice that.”
Regarded as the leading institution for bluegrass, old-time and traditional Appalachian music instruction, ETSU’s program was founded in 1982. Throughout its history, many notable program alumni have gone on to successful careers in music. Industry professionals, both alumni and others, continue to occupy teaching positions within the program as well. Students from across the nation and abroad are attracted to the program for the music and the chance to study under instructors who are among the best musicians in the business. (Among current faculty members are guitarist Wyatt Rice, known for his solo albums and his work in his brother’s group the Tony Rice Unit; Tim Stafford, who fronts the band Blue Highway, and is serving the ETSU program as artist in residence through next year; and Mandolin master Mike Compton, a prolific recording artist and member of the Nashville Bluegrass Band.) The lineup of instructors for the camp likely drew some aspiring young players as well.
In addition to Fritts, camp instructors included Trey Hensley, 2023 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Guitar Player of the year, and Grammy-nominated as part of the musical duo Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley. Kalia Yeagle taught fiddle and band during the camp. Yeagle is assistant director of ETSU’s Old-Time program and a member of the former group Bill and the Belles, which toured and recorded for about a decade.
Porchak, a former national fiddle champion in both Canada and the U.S., plays professionally in addition to her job teaching fiddle at ETSU. Dan Boner, director of the ETSU Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Roots Music Studies program, and winner of several IBMA awards as a member of the Becky Buller Band, also helped teach during the camp. Johnson City singer, songwriter and recording artist Ed Snodderly teaches in the ETSU program and led songwriting workshops during the camp. Other instructors and camp counselors included former ETSU students, and current faculty members in the program.
Twelve-year-old fiddler Mary Sharpe came to the camp from Jackson, Tennessee, where she plays in a family band with her siblings and parents. She began on fiddle at age 6 and wants to keep playing for fun while she sets her sights on becoming an elementary school teacher. Her advice to other aspiring young players: “Keep practicing, go to jams and festivals, and always learn from others.”
Lily Ann Watters traveled from her home in Bridge Creek, Oklahoma to attend the camp. The 15-year-old said she fell in love with bluegrass after hearing a live band. “My dad plays indie, and my grandpa plays bluegrass,” Lily said. She said she loved everything about the camp and would like to someday teach at ETSU.
Noah Goebel of Elkton, Kentucky, is one of several exceptional young players who attended the camp. Among other awards, the 15-year-old is a two-time winner of the Grand Champion Fiddler title at the Smithville (Tennessee) Fiddlers’ Jamboree. After starting out with classroom violin instruction through sheet music, Noah began studying fiddle with the late Dan Kelly, who played professionally with many top acts in country music. Several details about Noah’s journey with the fiddle and his former teacher are strikingly similar to one of those “industry quality” songs written by fellow camper Jamison Smith, titled “Old Man Dan.”
“Dan (Kelly) was a big contest fiddler and won just about every (award) there was and played with all kinds of people,” Noah said from the camp’s final-performance stage, explaining the parallels between his journey with the fiddle, and the song written by Jamison. “…I’d say that (Kelly) probably did more for my fiddling than just about anybody that I can think of.”
Noah, Jamison, and several other campers had formed an impromptu band the night before the final-performance concert, jamming for hours and learning the songs written by Jamison.
“So, fast-forward to this week. Jamison’s writing these tunes, and he’s starting to write this song about this Old Man Dan who played the fiddle,” Noah said. “…And he started getting to the last couple of verses, and I said, ‘You know this is my story with my friend Dan Kelly who taught me how to play.”
Well I’m on the road all the time
I’m playin’ the dances on Saturday night.
With a tap of my foot, Dan’s fiddle in my hand,
All right boys let’s do it again!
“This is Dan Kelly’s fiddle in my hand right here,” Noah said as the young players launched into Jamison’s third song to end the concert for parents, camp counselors and fellow campers. When the song ended and band members were exiting the stage to rousing applause, there was a collective sense that something special had just happened. “I think we’ve seen a star being born here today on this stage,” Porchak said.
Leaving his front-row seat after the performance, Nicholas Hancock was moved to tears over what he had just witnessed. “I knew he had some talent,” Hancock said of Jamison. “I had no idea he had that in him.”
Having played bluegrass music for decades, Hancock spends a lot of time traveling to festivals and other performance gatherings where young, up-and-coming musicians are developing their chops. He contributes stories and photographs about those events to Bluegrass Today, a website dedicated to bluegrass news, reviews, airplay charts, and events.
Hancock, who lives in Bennett, North Carolina, had met Jamison, who resides about 90 minutes to the south in Pembroke, North Carolina, at a picking venue in the region. He is acquainted with several of the other campers and their parents as well. “My only true talent,” he joked, “is spotting true talent.”
Having helped facilitate Jamison’s decision to attend the ETSU camp, Hancock was nonetheless blown away by his songwriting, singing and stage presence during that final performance.
“What a surprise,” he said. “What a pleasant surprise! I recorded the whole presentation between tears. He just floored me with what he did.”
In the tradition of each final-performance ensemble assuming playful band names, the group called itself “Bluegrass, Swing, and Other Things.” Leading the performance like a seasoned professional, Jamison occupied the roles of lead singer, rhythm guitarist, and ringmaster — ad libbing comedic fillers between songs and introductions. Noah and other members of the band were among advanced players in the camp and knew well how to complement and highlight Jamison’s newfound talent for songwriting. Josiah Sheffield (guitar), Jacob Sheffield (mandolin), Grayson Canada (bass), Goebel (fiddle), Amelia Brown (Dobro), and Berkley Stewart (banjo), stepped up and delivered a performance worthy of larger venues.
Jamison said that a lot of credit for his ability to construct his new songs so quickly should go to Snodderly’s technique for songwriting instruction. “I was excited for Ed’s class,” Jamison said. “I could just look at Ed and tell that he was a different type of person. I was so excited to get into his class because everybody was telling me how great he was.”
A similar enthusiasm was evident among the campers as a group, according to Porchak. All of the final-day performances created a “level of joy,” she said, that communicated how successful the inaugural event had been. It was a bit of a relief, she said, because the camp had been talked about for years and was actively planned and arranged beginning 12 months ago. That’s when program director Boner, and academic director for the program, Nate Olson, approached Porchak about directing the camp.
“It’s one thing planning all of this out,” she said. “But when the students descend on ETSU and you have all of these musicians that have come from 15 different states… When you get them on campus, really cool experiences like what we saw with the (final) performance — that can happen! And that’s the fun stuff, the intangibles that you don’t know about before you start a camp. You can prepare for everything, but you can’t prepare for the chemistry and the jamming and the music that these kids can make when they get together.”
The chemistry comes not only from the kids with lifelong experience in a family of musicians. It’s created also by participants, like Jamison, who discovered their passion for bluegrass without necessarily being immersed in a community of traditional Appalachian music. Growing up in eastern North Carolina, Jamison attributes his love of music to his grandfather, David Emanuel, who sang to him from the time he was in a crib. “I tell everyone I’m just like my grandfather and I act just like him,” Jamison said. “So, I’ve always kind of been an old soul.”
Spending time with his grandfather often meant watching old episodes of “Hee Haw” and recordings of Grand Ole Opry performances. Otherwise, bluegrass was not a concept for Jamison growing up. “My first introduction to bluegrass was (the film) ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ and (musician) Dan Tyminski,” he said. “At the time, I didn’t even know it was bluegrass.”
He started playing banjo at age 8, but only became serious about it during downtime created by the pandemic. That’s also when he took up the guitar. Jamison came to ETSU knowing only one other person in the camp. He might not have grown up in a bluegrass community, but he belongs to one now.
“I never meet a stranger,” he said. “If you ever meet someone who’s an extrovert, I am that person. It was easy for me to meet all of these kids. And now all of us are texting each other all day.”
Mark Rutledge is communications coordinator for the Department of Appalachian Studies at ETSU and managing editor of Appalachian Places.
Anissa Burnett, public relations and marketing director for ETSU’s Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Roots Music Studies program, contributed to this article. For more information about ETSU’s Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Roots Music Studies program, and how to apply, visit the homepage.
Comentários