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The afternoon of Sunday, May 3rd, nine adults and four young people auditioned and interviewed for CFS scholarships to this summer's Swannanoa Gathering Workshops. All were strong candidates who would thrive at the Swannanoa Gathering. We deeply appreciate the service of youth judges, Dennis Frost, Karen Singleton, and Harry Taylor; and adult judges, Rita Hartmann, J. C. Honeycutt, and Salem Macknee.
Youth Scholarship Competition. The winner of the 2009 Marilyn Meacham Price Youth Scholarship is Tyler Mitchell. Those of you who attended last month's Young Talent Gathering know what an impressive vocalist/guitarist/songwriter he is. This young man's passion for music has a direct connection to our founder, Marilyn Meacham Price, for whom the scholarship is named. Tyler's father, Robert, shared with Karen Singleton the story of what pulled him into the whole folk scene in the '80s.
He and his fiance were considering what kind of music to have for their wedding when they heard of a newly emerging folk music organization here in Charlotte. So they hired one of the bands available at the time. Robert described to Karen how the band unpacked all sorts of exotic instruments at their wedding reception, including a lap dulcimer. He could not recall the name of the band, but as Karen mentioned various bands of the era, he recognized The Down Home Folks, the band in which Marilyn Price played with Ray Owens, Pam Garcia, Albert Dulin, and others. He said, "That's exactly who it was, now that I hear the name. That's where it all started for us." It's only appropriate to once again say, "Thank you, Marilyn, for inspiring so many folks to play and appreciate traditional music!"
Tyler is sixteen years old and lives in Indian Land, South Carolina. He's been playing guitar and piano for five years and has recently begun taking mandolin lessons. In 2004 and 2005 he was identified as gifted in music by the South Carolina Department of Education and was awarded a place in the ST-ARTS program at Winthrop University. During the two summers there, he studied guitar there with Dr. L. H. Dickert, of the Winthrop Music Department.
Tyler is also a member of his high school band and jazz ensemble, in which he plays guitar, trumpet, and several other brass instruments. He was recently awarded the position of drum major for the 2009 marching band season. Tyler is a guitar student of John Tosco and has been playing publicly at open mics in the area for better than a year.
Tyler aspires to a career in music and making a meaningful contribution to preserving old-time and bluegrass music. We're confident that Guitar Week at the Swannanoa Gathering will assist him in reaching his goal. Congratulations, Tyler!
In the Youth Scholarship competition, fourteen-year-old fiddler Isabelle Young was first runner-up. Thirteen-year-old Casey McGuirt ( mandolin) and twelve-year-old Emmy McGuirt (upright bass) tied for the position of second runner-up.
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Adult Scholarship Competition. The recipient of the inaugural Spencer-Bryant Adult Scholarship to Swannanoa is vocalist and banjo player Jennifer Stanton. She will be attending Old-Time Week and taking classes in Intermediate Banjo and Singing With a Country Band.
Jennifer has attended August Music Week and John C. Campbell Folk School as a beginning banjo student and has since made steady progress as a player. She shares her passion and her skills in the monthly CFS Slow Jams after Gathering concerts, in the Wednesday night jam group she started, Saturdays at the Mint Hill Farmer's Market, and in nursing homes, schools, museums, and venues such as Connolly's On Fifth. Jennifer is also custodian, caregiver, and coordinator of the Folk Society's Instrument Lending Library.
Jennifer views the Swannanoa Gathering as a means of stretching and growing in confidence as a musical partner to fiddle players. She also hopes to return, better equipped to encourage and support novice players in slow jams. She describes herself as having for years been intimidated by better players in the Folk Society afraid "to make a squeak." As she says, "I don't ever want other beginners to feel that way around me."
Congratulations, Jennifer! We look forward to all that you will share with others out of your Swannanoa experience!
The first runner-up for the Spencer-Bryant Adult Scholarship is David McGuirt. Carolyn Zicherman and Mark Larson tied for the position of second runner-up.