The Leeds Center for the Arts in Winchester, KY has announced the launch of a new instructional program they are calling Bluegrass University, which will assist middle and high school students become more proficient bluegrass players.
It is set to start in August, in tandem with the school semester, and will begin with a once weekly format, one evening each week. Spearheading the program are a pair of experienced bluegrass pickers, who plan to center the sessions on getting everyone playing together.
On hand to assist students will be Jayd Raines, who spent a decade on the road with acts likes Marty Raybon, Don Rigsby, and Larry Cordle, and experienced music teacher Zach Combs. Both plays multiple instruments and sing the various parts, and feel ready to help guide young grassers towards their performing goals.
Raines says that he is pleased to find this way to share his love for bluegrass music with young people in the region, about 25 miles east of Lexington.
“After my second stint with Marty Raybon in 2013, I pretty much gave up on the touring aspect of bluegrass, although I did do stints with The Tim Raybon Band, and then another with Turning Ground. Since then, I have been looking at avenues to pursue enjoying music closer to home.
One thing that has always brought me enjoyment was seeing the younger, newer generations develop an interest in our music. Back in the winter, I began discussing this topic with Mrs. Tracey Miller, director of the Leed’s Center for the Arts, a nonprofit that is charged with maintaining and utilizing our historic Leed’s Theatre here in Winchester, Kentucky.
Meetings and planning with Tracey and Zach Combs (Leed’s Board Member) resulted in the creation of a program through the theatre called Bluegrass University, with the goal being to encourage and teach the youth in our community how to become confident bluegrass musicians on their preferred instruments, and how to play the music in a live stage setting. It comes on the heels of the Theatre’s highly successful Rock University, which does the same for our young musicians as what was mentioned above, but with rock music.
I haven’t been this excited about bluegrass music in quite some time, and I can not wait until the program gets underway in the fall. The theatre has long prided itself in providing an avenue for young and old alike to express themselves through the arts, and my ability to contribute to that, and see kids get excited to play bluegrass music the way that I did myself as a youngster, is something that I can’t wait to see develop.”
The sessions will be based on a band format, with students playing together, focusing on band dynamics in the bluegrass ensemble, working on rhythm, harmony, and improvisation.
Full details can be found online, along with a form to sign up for a placement audition on August 4. Classes will be held on Monday evenings from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the Leeds Center in Winchester.
