This past summer Aynsley Porchak, the super talented fiddler with Carolina Blue, came up with a great idea for a social media promotion. A devoted student of Kenny Baker, Porchak set out to record and post a video of her playing a Baker tune each day on Instagram, billing it as Aynsley Plays Kenny.
Aynsley is a perfect fit for Carolina Blue, sharing their penchant for Bill Monroe-style bluegrass, and a real sense of style with vintage clothing, she adds the perfect flavor to their throwback sound. Just a few years out of college, Aynsley has already won the Grand Masters fiddle championship in the US and her native Canada. This girl can play!
Things started out great in July, with the goal of adding a new video daily, until she ran into a bit of a snag. The thesis she was writing for her Masters degree at ETSU was competing for her time, and in the spirit of the good ol’ college try, Aynsley postponed the videos to complete her degree. Now, thesis completed, she plans to return to the quotidian Baker vids for the month of January, before receiving her Masters of Arts diploma in Appalachian Studies in May, with a concentration in Culture and Heritage.
Having already dedicated much of her life to date to mastering Baker’s technique and style, both from his many recordings with Bill Monroe and his own deep catalog of fiddle albums, Aynsley has a lot to choose from in completing her quest.
Here’s the last entry from back in July.
So check her out tomorrow on both the Aynsley Plays Kenny Instagram page, and her Aynsley Porchak Music Facebook page for a fresh fiddle gem each day next month. What a great way to start out 2020, and the new decade.
