Veteran bluegrass bassist, vocalist, and bandleader Missy Raines has been named as the next Artist in Residence in the Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Roots Music program at East Tennessee State University. The appointment is for the 2025-2026 academic year.
This position, which was initiated in 2021, offers the insights and experience of successful professional artists to the students in the program, both in person and via direct video conferencing.
Program Director Dan Boner expressed his confidence in their choice.
“Missy brings to our institution a lifetime of broad musical and professional experience. She has proven time and again to be not only a rock-solid bassist, but also a sophisticated musical arranger, songwriter, singer, bandleader, and mentor for young artists. We are honored to have her as our Artist in Residence this year.”
Raines will continue to tour and record with her band, Allegheny, during this appointment, and is glad for the opportunity to share her wisdom with ETSU students.
“There can be three basic divisions of your time as an artist. There’s the time spent percolating, writing, crafting, and sitting with all the ideas and thoughts that go into your music. There’s the time you actualize those ideas in the studio, and then there’s the ‘taking it out to the world’ part.
The Artist in Residence position is a perfect opportunity for me to continue to tour these albums with my band while also working in a collaborative and creative way with the students, which I find really appealing.”
The ten-time IBMA Bass Player of the Year has been a coveted instructor throughout her forty years in the music business, both privately and at workshops and camps, and she heads up the ArtistsWorks Academy of Bluegrass School of Bluegrass Bass online.
Dean of ETSU’s College of Arts and Sciences Dr. Joe Bidwell is likewise pleased to see Raines join the program.
“We are thrilled to welcome Missy Raines as the next Artist in Residence for the Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Roots Music program. Her appointment continues our proud tradition of engaging internationally recognized musicians to mentor and inspire our students. Each artist who has served in this role has made a lasting impact on ETSU, and we look forward to the contributions Ms. Raines will bring to our campus and community.”
ETSU’s Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Roots Music program grants undergraduate minors and a bachelor of arts degree in four concentrations: Audio Production, Bluegrass Profession, Old-Time Music, and Scottish and Irish Traditional Music.
Full details can be found online.
