Back in April, I talked about the youth scholarships that the Southeast Michigan Bluegrass Music Association (SEMBMA) was offering to young students who were interested in studying acoustic music, and how little response the Association had received from kids (https://luegra.design.blog/2023/04/29/youth-scholarships-available-from-sembma/). Well, SEMBMA’s annual picnic and Hall of Honor inductions was earlier this afternoon, and I was able to meet up with head of the Scholarship Committee to discuss the progress.
Prior to this weekend, we were sponsoring only one youth, Dante, on banjo lessons. Our scholarship assistance is helping to pay for lessons from banjo extra ordinaire Kristin Scott Benson, and he has performed on stage with a number of national bluegrass acts, including Appalachian Roadshow and The Kody Norris Show. Money well spent.
Well, the Scholarship Committee has recently received four more applications that we will be considering for sponsorship! One of the applicants is the young girl that I saw perform at last year’s Michigan Old-Time Fiddle Contest in New Boston (https://luegra.design.blog/2022/10/02/the-2022-michigan-old-time-fiddle-contest/). Her name is Belinda, and she is from the Grand Rapids area. It took some time to hunt her down, and her father finally got back to me a few days ago. I was extremely pleased that the family followed up on the suggestion of applying, and from looking at her background, she seem to be highly influenced by old-time music, naming Rhiannon Giddens as one of her influences.
We also received applications from another fiddle player, as well as two youngsters interested in pursuing banjo studies. One of these aspiring banjo players did show up to this afternoon’s picnic and participated in the jam session. While reading the application of the other young banjo player, she listed her three influences as Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and the 2nd South Carolina String Band. Wow! There is a name that I haven’t heard in a long while. The 2nd SC String Band goes back to my Civil War reenacting days. They used to perform at a number of national battle reenactments such as Gettysburg and Antietam (maybe someday I will talk more about those days and what I was doing musically then). I am impressed that this young lady not only knew about this band and the type of music that they perform, but claimed it to be an influence.
I am certain that the committee will approve some sort of assistance to all of the new applicants, as they all seem to be determined to learn more about bluegrass, old-time, and other roots-oriented music. It also motivated me to quit slacking off and pick up my guitar again. I do hope that all of them continue to educate themselves on this beautiful genre of music.
I leave you with a classic video from years ago when the Sleepy Man Banjo Boys appeared on The David Letterman Show some years back.
Chew on it and comment.
Luegra 