The Floyd Country Store is able to play a special role in Music Education in the community because so many fine musicians play at the store and are prepared to share their skills with others.
Jamming has always been a part of the Friday Night Jamboree, with musicians of all ages and levels of skill gathering around the store to play and talk about the old time music, to share songs and licks.
Now the store also hosts structured education programs, which include music classes for babies and toddlers, presentations to school groups, and private music lessons. The Floyd Country Store works in partnership with these programs to present workshops, recitals, and concerts to foster interest in and celebrate our musical heritage.
Upstairs in the store you will find The Floyd Music School where a number of teachers offer lessons. Mike Mitchell, director, teaches violin, fiddle, guitar, and mandolin, and can be found at the school most days. Under Mike’s guidance, several skilled local music teachers, including Jennifer Brooke and Phillip Gilbert, have come together to offer lessons to students of all levels. The school teaches students to read music and play by ear on all stringed instruments as well as piano and flute. Classical, Jazz, Mountain Music, and Music Theory and History are taught. Floyd Music School students are winning ribbons at fiddle competitions and playing in the Roanoke Youth Orchestra and Junior Strings programs. Contact the music school at (540) 745-4517 for further details.
For the youngest music students, on weekday mornings you may find Kari Thomas Kovick on the store’s dance floor with a group of parents and young children having fun making music and dancing. Call Kari at 540-745-7331 for or email her at kariok@swva.net for information about her fun musical foundations classes for babies and young children and their adults.
The store also regularly presents educational programs such as the Appalachian Ramblers Reunion concert in which host Joe Wilson, executive director of the National Council for the Traditional Arts, moderated a discussion and teased out stories about the early days of the group and their place in the history of our local music.
