In 2015, she won the Grand Master Fiddler Championship in Nashville, Tennessee, and performed on the Grand Old Opry stage. Magazine every week in your inbox. After graduation she would like to use her degrees to write and further scholarship in the field of American traditional music. Aynsley Porchak Fiddle. Banjo breakdowns ring out. 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. Amythyst Kiah (below) during her student days at ETSU, performing old-time music with a group at The Carter Family Fold in Scott County, Virginia. Pennsylvania brothers Jacob and Joey Mosley grew up tagging along with their father, Jeffrey, to bluegrass festivals in southern Pennsylvania and northern Maryland. A violin in Porchaks possession that is too precious for public performance belonged to her great-grandfather, Cazmir Porzak, who left Poland in 1913 when he was 16 with only the clothes he was wearing and his treasured instrument. 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. After visiting the campus, Aynsley enrolled at ETSU in the fall of 2013, and she still One of those is Aynsley Porchak. While playing local bars and restaurants like the Chuckey Trading Company, Chesney earned his Mass Communications degree from ETSU in 1990. rolled the radio dial and hit a certain country station, Aynsley would say, Stop, In fact, the fiddle player did not even intend to compete in the 2017 Canadian Grand Masters Fiddle Championship due to time constraints. This is Aynsleys second year teaching at the Monroe Mandolin Camp, and she is excited to share her love of old-school bluegrass fiddling with her students! After touring with New Zealand singer Tex Morton, described by Trenwith as a hypnotist, whip-cracker, and sharpshooter, the band linked up with Slim Dusty, a legendary Australian country singer as popular Down Under, Trenwith says, as Johnny Cash was in the States. In order to further hone her craft, Aynsley enrolled in East Tennessee State University's Bluegrass, Old Time, and Country Music Studies degree program in 2013, and . She frequently makes obscure literary references, and even enjoys literary criticism. I shocked myself, because I didnt think Id make the top 10, she continued, adding she recalled, noting that they invited the stranger to pull up a chair. As I argue, one particular duo of Appalachian musicians, the . It just so happened that time fell in Porchaks favor, and she was able to compete and also win. Soon the band was invited to perform on television. Her thesis topic is the music of the Louvin Brothers, Charlie and Ira, from the Sand Mountain region of northern Alabama. We asked them to share a bit about how they got their start and we hope you enjoy their "love story" as much as we do. placing seventh.. In 2008, ETSU opened its own recording laboratory. Get recommendations for other artists you'll love. She also played in 2016 on the Grand Ole Opry. 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. Not only would I like to teach that someday, I would love to be able to use my English Monroe did two 15-minute sets, and we played in one of his sets. It gives us a venue to showcase our students to the public. Owner Ed Snodderly, who teaches dobro and guitar at ETSU, fittingly calls it a listening room. She applied successfully for a Public Performance Scholarship and enrolled. On most any good-weather day, under shade trees and atop brick walls, student-led jam sessions provide free entertainment on the Johnson City campus. Aynsley began playing fiddle at the age of 9. She accepted Paul Trenwiths invitation to join the Hamilton County Bluegrass Band as well as his marriage proposal. Near her home in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada, there was a classical program and a jazz program but no bluegrass. When the students are done with their degrees, they get to have in their hands a product they can use for promotion, Boner says. Her love of classic cars (she Thanks to Ken Perlman for the news that the American Banjo Camp (of which he and Peter Langston are co-directors) will take place online by Zoom on 11 and 12 September 2021. She was introduced to bluegrass in her early teens, and quickly fell in love with the music. Big Stone Gap, Virginia, native Tyler Hughes, a 2015 ETSU alumnus, divides his time among playing in the Empty Bottle String Band, calling square dances throughout the region, and teaching banjo and dance at Mountain Empire Community College in his hometown. All three are alumni of ETSUs Bluegrass, Old Time, and Country Music Studies Program. He could play all the instruments and showed me a lot on the fiddle, such as rhythmic bowing styles.. Contact Us. 2023 Arts Alliance Mountain Empire. ~ Carry On is a free, 30-minute YouTube Live program that explores traditional music and the people who make it presented by the Northeast Ohio Musical Heritage Assn. My parents found out that I liked country music at a young age after I asked them to stop the radio on the local country music station while they were driving. She also played in 2016 on the Grand Ole Opry. The Tennessee Bluegrass Band is shining a light on the importance of traditional bluegrass. ETSU wasnt the first higher education institution in America to offer a degree in bluegrass and other traditional music. Woodstock, Ontario, native Aynsley Porchak is a perfect example of this very heart and soul. East Tennessee State University graduate student Aynsley Porchak recently pulled off a huge feat when she won the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddle Championship. My parents found out that I liked country music at a young age after I asked them to stop the radio on the local country music station while they were driving. of mine, and the idea of playing there it hasnt sunk in yet.. in my area. He continues in that capacity here, managing a strong team of columnists and correspondents. Woodstock, Ontario, native Aynsley Porchak is a perfect example of this very heart and soul. Read Aynsley Porchak's bio and find out more about Aynsley Porchak's songs, albums, and chart history. Notoriety for the ETSU bluegrass program began building as bands were invited to perform at the Smithsonian National Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., and for a Christmas party at NATO Headquarters. She was introduced to bluegrass through the music of Kenny Baker and Bobby Hicks, and quickly fell in love with the music. Aynsley is working on a graduate degree in Appalachian Studies at ETSU. She was introduced to bluegrass in her early teens, and quickly fell in love with the music. This week's (and last weekend's) adventures were one for the books!! 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. She also has great success in the competitive world of fiddling. they took such an interest in this style of music as to start a degree program for Aynsley Porchak (Photograph contributed / ETSU) Porchak, an Appalachian studies grad student here at ETSU, is the first person to have won both the American and Canadian Grandmaster Fiddle Championships. ETSU now offers a four-year degree in that field, and it has since 2010. The band has created a partnership, friendship, and family with the other band members; Reese Combs (bass), James McDowell (banjo), and Aynsley Porchak (fiddle). Submit stories for publication/editorial guidelines. Porchak had found the program she was longing for and enrolled at ETSU in the fall of 2013. It gives me a chance to be where the music is happening. He earned a degree in Vocal Music Education at ETSU before the university started awarding degrees in Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Country Music Studies. It brings ETSU great pride to congratulate such an accomplished student. Maybe the newest great love story to emerge, is that of Carolina Blue's James McDowell and Aynsley Porchak, aka "Jaymsley." We played a Slim Dusty song and, for an encore, a Mac Wiseman song.. Congratulations to James Mcdowell and Aynsley Porchak on getting engaged yesterday. Aynsley spends her time off the road as a private fiddle instructor, session musician, and author. Aynsley Porchak. As a girl in Wellington, New Zealand, she would gather with her family around the piano while her father, Gordon Bain, played old songs like Its a Long Way to Tipperary. When she was eight, she started taking classical violin lessons. He sent me back a text top U.S. fiddle championship the previous four years, twice placing as high as sixth, When she isnt on the road, she teaches privately and in the Junior Appalachian Musician program on the ETSU campus. This fund has been established to assist the Hensley family of Flag Pond, Tennessee in their husband's and father's medical bills. No, it didn't hurt anymore to think about Kestrel. She performs with the ETSU Bluegrass, Celtic and Country Pride Bands. Meet The Band. In case you haven't noticed, we're in love around here. I took it on as a technical exercise.. We were the resident band for a program called Country Touch, based on early Grand Ole Opry television shows.. In 2018, Aynsley joined the . There are similar themeslove, acceptance, and rejection.. to grow, give back, and be the best I can. The rest is history. I loved the sound of the program, because it incorporated the He is proud to see his cousins, Carl and J.P. Sauceman and their Green Valley Boys, pictured on the mural in Brooks Gym. She plays in the ETSU Aynsley Porchak. He writes, Ill forever be grateful to the Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Country Music Studies program. competing in the youth division of the Grand Master Championship. However, by February, James was starting to have a crush on me but I was completely oblivious. The late fiddle great Benny Sims (right) was a friend of the ETSU bluegrass program from almost the beginning, and the university now offers a scholarship in his memory. Im still in shock, said Porchak, I could have never dreamed I could have been the first [to win both awards].. In January of 2018, Porchak secured a steady job playing fiddle for the up-and-coming group Carolina Blue, based in Brevard and Hendersonville, North Carolina. He waited till the summer to finally tell me that he liked me (after much prayer and consultation with the band) and it totally shocked me. She is a Bluegrass Pride and Celtic Pride bands, and has had opportunities to share the stage Aynsley Porchak and Lincoln Hensley went to school together through the East Tennessee State University Bluegrass, Old Time, and Country Music Studies program. Following an invitation that the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) extended to its members that they share a memory from "75 years of bluegrass," we thought that we would collect a few to share with you. Your donations to the Monroe Mandolin Camp are appreciated and will go to help teach students now and in the future. of Fiddle Patch, Aynsley is accompanied by Daniel Boner, director of Bluegrass, Ive enjoyed getting to know Dan these past several years working at festivals across the country. October 13, 1932 - February 8, 2021, Thomas Donald Hensley passed away on February 8, 2021 in Erwin, Tennessee. Aynsley has been my twin-fiddle buddy going back to when she first started at ETSU. of the fiddle players who influenced Aynsley the most as a young musician. 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. Boner discovered the ETSU program through a high school English teacher in southern New Jersey and enrolled as a student in 2000. Aynsley Porchak, a recent graduate of the ETSU Bluegrass, Country & Old Time Music program has won the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Championship, just one year after winning the US competition last year. Id been looking for. Playback options 2, Turnberry introduces Free Strings curriculum program with Annie Savage, Bluegrass Camp Germany cancelled for 2023, Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press at Bluegrass Wednesday Nights, Open Bluegrass Jam // Cinderlands Warehouse (Pittsburgh), Wernick Method Bluegrass Jam Class with Joel Denman Durango, CO, Open Bluegrass Jam // Cork Harbour Pub (Pittsburgh), Bluegrass Beyond Borders: Dave Wright & the Midnight Ramblers from Down Under, Bluegrass Beyond Borders: Bononia Grass plays with an Italian flavor, Russ Hooper: 74 years in bluegrass music and still gigging, Jason Fraley returns to Deeper Shade of Blue for one last show. In 2012, after years of lessons, Porchak traveled with her family to Nashville to participate in the Grand Masters Fiddle Championship. She gave up her job as a teacher to go on the road, introducing bluegrass music to New Zealand. put her in the car seat and drive around the country block playing music. about bluegrass. Originally a western swing tune for the steel guitar called The 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. Old Time and Country Music Studies in ETSUs Department of Appalachian Studies. But it was good ear training, listening to what people were singing and trying to match it on guitar.. During that competition, we were fortunate to have lunch with session musician Buddy Spicher at a tiny little seafood place in Nashville, Porchak remembers. collected die-cast cars as a youngster) led to her hobby of photography. 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! I truly feel like it has changed my life for the better. 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