Kris Preston in the mandolinist with Coaltown Dixie, an all-female bluegrass band based in eastern Kentucky. With them, she tours all over the state picking and singing, but during the week, Kris is a pharmacist and professor at Appalachian College of Pharmacy.
In that capacity she has developed a graduate level elective course called Music and Medicine (PHA 4094), which she teaches at the college. It includes discussions about the healing qualities of music, and the application of music therapy. As a grasser, of course, Preston also includes references to bluegrass artists and music in her teaching.
She was recently invited for an interview on Kentucky Educational Television (KET), where she talked about the course and some of her further research into the topic. It runs about 25 minutes, and should prove quite engaging for anyone who shares an interest in the merging of these two fields of endeavor. And if you keep your eyes peeled, you may catch appearances from a number of popular bluegrass musicians.
And here’s Kris in her bluegrass persona, picking’ with the gals in Coaltown Dixie.
