Founded in 2016, the Handmade Music School serves as a vibrant center for traditional music education, celebrating the rich musical heritage of the region while fostering community and creativity. Specializing in traditional Appalachian instruments such as the banjo, fiddle, guitar, and mandolin, the school offers a range of workshops, classes, camps, special events, and private lessons. The mission is to cultivate and strengthen community through music, dance, art, and food rooted in Appalachian traditions.
The school is located at The Floyd Country Store, providing an intimate and personal setting where students can deeply connect with the music and its heritage. The Handmade Music School not only offers educational opportunities but also hosts regular concerts, jam sessions, and events, bringing together local musicians and visitors from around the world. This combination of education and entertainment offers a genuine taste of the vibrant music culture thriving in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Instruction includes 30- or 60-minute private or group lessons in traditional Appalachian music and dance styles such as flatfooting, clogging, and honky tonk two-step. The school ensures accessibility through the “Share the Music Scholarship” and various memorial scholarships, with donations supporting this mission accepted online.
The Handmade Music School also hosts workshops, concerts, and other events to preserve and celebrate Appalachian culture. Weekly workshops cater to all levels, with free and paid partner dance classes before Honky Tonk Thursday and flatfooting classes before the Friday Night Jamboree. Group class series offer an affordable, community-based learning environment, and each winter, the school provides a virtual Handmade at Home workshop series for a global audience.
A special focus is placed on providing opportunities for young people. The Joy Jammers program, for children aged 0-6 and their caretakers, features interactive group music classes led by Kari Kovick on Friday mornings at The Floyd Country Store. The Handmade Youth Stringband Program at The Floyd EcoVillage offers a weekly group music program for youth ages 7-18, exploring music, fine arts, and dance from the Blue Ridge Plateau. This program, which started in January 2024, has already seen significant participation and will continue in the fall of 2024.
In summer 2024, the school hosted the Third Annual Youth Get Together Summer Camps at the Floyd EcoVillage, expanding to two sessions due to high demand. These camps offer engaging classes in fiddle, banjo, guitar, mandolin, voice, bass, and dance, with separate sessions for beginner and intermediate players and more advanced students. On-site lodging is available for out-of-town families, making it a great option for a week-long trip to Floyd. Scholarships and instruments are provided for camp participants.
Recently, the Handmade Music School launched Floyd Country Store TV, a streaming platform that provides beautifully recorded livestreams and archived recordings of concerts, dances, and documentaries. This service allows those who cannot visit in person or who live far from Floyd to stay connected and revisit their experiences.
The school is engaged in the Harmonic Heritage project, which focuses on preserving the voices of elders singing traditional Appalachian music, including old-time, bluegrass, and early country music. This project aims to make these voices, songs, and stories accessible to the public for future generations.
The Handmade Music School partners with local festivals and events to feature traditional Appalachian music and crafts. This year, they curated and co-hosted the Workshop Porch Stage at FloydFest 24 Horizon, presenting local and regional acts over a four-day period.
Looking ahead to 2025, the Handmade Music School plans to expand its offerings to include a folk school model. This will provide classes, workshops, and experiences in areas such as food, cooking, farming, canning and preserving, building, and other basic life skills, with exciting opportunities starting in the fall of 2024.
Website: www.handmademusicschool.com
Floyd Country Store TV: https://www.floydcountrystore.tv/ Phone Number: (540) 251-2571