(Editors note: I am pleased to introduce Aynsley Porchak as a regular welcome columnist. It took a little coaxing because she is a busy gal but I persisted because her insight on the Louvin Brothers showed us all what a good writer she is and her bio describes her as an English major and author. I’ll let Aynsley take it from here):
Welcome readers,
For those of you who don’t know me, a brief overview – my name is Aynsley Porchak, and the kind folks at the CBA invited me over to have a chat with you on a regular basis. It’s a pleasure to meet you all, and I look forward to spending my time with you.
I’ve been Blessed to be a part of the music industry for the past…oh…let’s just say a while. I’ve been a bit of a musical adventurer, taking side-roads into the worlds of Canadian Old-Time contest fiddling, Texas-style contest fiddling, swing, country, Celtic, and others before finally deciding to set down roots in bluegrass music. I performed for years with Carolina Blue, and currently am with my own band, The Tennessee Bluegrass Band. I’ve been a part of the contest fiddling scene in America and Canada for longer than I can remember. I enrolled in East Tennessee State University and graduated with bachelor’s degrees in Bluegrass, Old Time, and Country Music Studies and English, as well as a master’s degree in Appalachian Studies. (Some of you may have already seen my thesis on the Louvin Brothers and lyrical analysis, which was serialized in this very publication.) My goal was to eventually combine my academic degrees to further scholarship in the field of traditional music, and while I nowadays write pieces that are much shorter than a thesis, I do enjoy taking pen to paper – or rather fingertips to keys – to talk about the music I love.
To that point, that’s precisely why I’m here. I enjoy writing from my experiences as a touring musician on the road, educator, and session musician. I’m passionate about revisiting bluegrass history and seeing what we can learn from it, and I even occasionally like to delve deeper into the very reasons why and how we play the music that we do. My hope is that amongst all the words on my page each week, there might be a concept, a sentence, or maybe even a phrase that gets you thinking or makes you smile. Young or old, all are welcome to read and learn from each other, and I’m just happy to be along for the ride.
Let’s journey together, shall we?
