Folk School Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM) offers free after-school instruction in traditional Appalachian music and dance for students ages 12–18 in Cherokee and Clay counties. Participants learn fiddle, guitar, banjo, mandolin, ukulele, upright bass, singing, group playing, and solo performance. Meeting at least weekly, JAM welcomed 49 students in the spring and fall sessions this year.

Held on campus, JAM immerses students in the Folk School experience. In 2024, students performed at the Murphy Art Walk, Friends and Family Day, Folk School dances, and Fall Festival. Each session concludes with a concert for family, friends, and instructors to showcase their progress. Familiar faces and experienced musicians T-Claw Crawford, Wyatt Espalin, Bonnie Lenneman, Brian Gatti, and Chuck Anton teach these sessions.

2024 Instructors (left to right) Brian Gatti, T-claw Crawford, Bonnie Lenneman, Chuck Anton, and Wyatt Espalin.

JAM Performance at the 48th Annual Fall Festival

Final JAM concert in Keith House

“JAM is magic. Each season, twelve-year-olds, often dwarfed by a loaner instrument, hesitantly join the ranks to find their seat amidst a circle of older teens,” says T-Claw, Interim JAM Director. “Those who have achieved musical competency with a fiddle or banjo may be intimidated at first but are grounded as a social group of budding tradition bearers, selflessly sharing knowledge and welcoming new students as friends along the often-painful journey of learning to play an instrument. Within ten weeks, they find cohesion and stick together in rhythm and harmony. After a few semesters, the beginners spread their wings and become a new flock of confident leaders. When we all get together and sing, play, and dance, the forces of division dissipate, and it’s clear to see that JOY is the secret ingredient in Folk School JAM.”

Students in the Little Middle Morris dancing class.

JAM is one of many youth programs we offer. In June, we welcomed 286 students ages 7 –17 to Little Middle Folk School to explore Appalachian culture and participate in a week of hands-on programs and arts and crafts. Thanks to a partnership with the North Carolina Museum of Art, 20 scholarships were awarded to rising 6th–9th graders from Clay and Cherokee Counties. Intergenerational Week followed in July, inviting youth ages 12–17 to take classes alongside parents, grandparents, or a guardian to pass down shared craft traditions and grow family connections.

Your support makes our youth programs possible. When you donate, you help us expand scholarship support and our local reach to make these programs more accessible for families. In 2025, we aim to grow youth offerings through added scholarship support and community partnerships, and we hope you’ll be part of it. Donate today at folkschool.org/giving.