Preserving the past, enriching the present, inspiring the future.

Programs & Activities

We provide two types of programs both of which use American roots music as a mechanism to personalize and teach American history and geography.

> Residency programs are custom designed for the classroom and provide an interactive lesson complete with student participation, assignments and progress measurement system. Duration of the program can range from three to fifteen days.

> Assembly programs are single performances designed for larger groups of students. The performance provides a forty-five minute history lesson couched in a musical context.

Residency Programs
I. Jug band Jamboree
(Grades K-2)
Kick-off: Jug band Assembly
In this residency, students discover home made, hands-on music and its importance in family and community life. The concept of functional music, e.g., lullabies, work songs, story songs, play-party songs, and dance tunes, is introduced, along with the idea that anyone in the community can be a musician, singer, or dancer. Students learn about and experiment with the oral tradition. Students try kazoos, washboards, washtub basses, shakers, and other “found object” instruments and make their own instruments from recycled materials.
Culminating event: Performance by students on their hand made instruments.

II. Rails, Trails, Sails and Canals
(Grades 3-4)
Kick-off: Buckeye Bicentennial Assembly
Classroom activities in this program focus on Ohio’s waterways. Students learn about the importance of rivers and canals and the Great Lakes in Ohio’s history. The songs provide a window on the lives of the people who traveled, worked, and lived on the Ohio River, the Ohio/Erie Canal, and Lake Erie. Through the use of maps and timelines, students will discover how people from the Native Americans to the pioneers to the people of today have interacted with Ohio’s waterways. Students will experience Ohio pioneer life through learning square dances and writing canal songs and Great Lakes shanties.
Culminating event: Saturday night square dance and performance of student-composed songs.

III. Rhythms and the Blues
(Grades 5-6)
Kick-off: Living Rhythms Assembly
Blues are at the roots of many of today’s popular music forms, including jazz, rock, and hip-hop. The blues derived from earlier forms of music, such as spirituals and field hollers, which in turn derived from traditions rooted in West Africa. Classroom activities will include a hands-on exploration of the rhythms of Africa through percussion activities. Using maps, students will trace the route of people and their cultures from West Africa to the southern United States, from the farms of the south to the factories of the north. Students will create polyrhythmic percussion pieces and write their own blues songs.
Culmination: Blues in the Schools Assembly

Assembly Programs

American Heros
The American Heroes assembly is designed specifically for students and acts as a celebration of real American Heroes who have put aside their own self-interests to help others. The program begins with a look at everyday heroes like police and firefighters and moves quickly to African American Heroes (John Henry), Native American Heroes (Sacagawea), Sports Heroes (Puerto Rican born Roberto Clemente and African American Joe Louis), Hispanic Heroes (Ceasar Chavez) and Women Heroes (Rosa Parks). The program ends with a sing-along with the Roots of American Music Trio Bob Frank, Kevin Richards and Ray DeForest. All three are multi-instrumentalists and vocalists. Instruments used include guitar, banjo, harmonica, fiddle, mandolin, homemade washtub bass and acoustic bass.

Blues in the schools
a journey through the history of the blues from its origins in the Southern United States to the migration north including the technological advances affecting the music and everyday life. This program was developed in conjunction with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as part of the Rock Hall’s American Masters Series.

Buckeye Bicentennial
a celebration of Ohio’s 200th birthday, with emphasis on the events and people that made the Buckeye State great.

The American Train
an exciting look at the era of railroading.

Jazz in the Schools
a fun and functional explanation of what makes jazz happen told through the eyes and ears of a jazz quartet.

Living Rhythms
a multicultural, interactive story using various drums and percussion instruments celebrating the rhythmic human spirit.

Woman and the Roots of American Music
an examination of the important role of woman as creators of all forms of popular music.

Roots to Rock
a study of the evolution of Rock from the blending of traditional Appalachian music (with its roots in the British Isles) and African-American music.

The Sixties: A Time of Social Change
an exploration of the tumultuous decade of the 60’s, with discussions of the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam War, and the musical emergence and contributions of artists such as the Beatles, Dylan, Coltrane, and Berstein.

A Study in Black and White
a survey of two musical styles - African-American and the Appalachian/British Isles Anglo music and the influence each has had, and continues to have, on the other.

The Trailblazers
an exploration of how music was created for all aspects of pioneer life.