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Rockbridge FOLK Honors Local Music Legends

“Our area has a rich culture of music and dance, yet as our elders pass away, I’m afraid those traditions will fade along with them. We need to get young people re-connected to the music.”

Rockbridge FOLK founder, Becky Almy

Through a partnership with Junior Appalachian Musicians {JAM}, Rockbridge FOLK hopes to bring young people in our community together through music. We reached out to the surviving families of two Rockbridge Legends and are honored to name our Scholarship Fund for Freddie Goodhart and our Instrument Library {and Fund} for Mike Seeger.

Freddie Goodhart

Freddie Goodhart owned a small antique shop in downtown Lexington for 40 years, and through that shop, introduced traditional music to an incredible number of Rockbridge locals, students from Washington & Lee and VMI, as well as tourists.

Mike Seeger, who passed away in 2009, was a well-known and well-respected multi-instrumentalist, producing more than 30 documentary recordings and who performed in over 40 other recordings. Seeger devoted his life to “singing, playing, presenting and honoring the old-time traditional country music of the American South.”

Mike Seeger

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Rockbridge JAM

Rockbridge Folk has been accepted as an affiliate of Junior Appalachian Musicians {JAM}, an organization that helps communities build music programs for kids. Rockbridge Folk’s after-school music classes will be for children in grades 4-8, and will include group lessons on fiddle, clawhammer banjo, and guitar. Children in the Rockbridge JAM program will learn traditional Old Time music and have the opportunity to play with other students in the JAM program.

“JAM is perfect for Rockbridge kids,” said Carol Elizabeth Jones, Rockbridge FOLK board member. “They’ll have a chance to learn music from our region and form bonds with kids outside of school. It’s going to be exciting to watch them grow together, through the music.”

The first session of JAM classes will begin on October 3, and continue through December 19. Chris McGrath will teach fiddle, David Winston will teach clawhammer banjo, and Mary Winston will teach guitar. Class fees are reasonable, scholarships are available, and instruments will be made available for those who need them.