The Kentucky Center for Traditional Music is taking strides to get their talent out into the community through an album produced by students, faculty and staff.
The album is titled “Kentucky Mountain Music” and will represent traditional music history within 200 miles of Morehead. The album is currently being finalized and is expected to be complete in the spring of 2014.
Raymond McLain, director of the KCTM, commented on the importance of the album for the students involved.
“It’s a good experience for the students to make a record, and to be involved with a professional project. I think when students and faculty work together on a professional project its good all the way around. It’s one of the things Morehead State does that’s just right, it just works,” McLain said.
Traditional songs such as “Fastest Rabbit Dog in Carter County Today,” “Satisfied,” and “Kentucky Waltz” appear on the record, in addition to some original Morehead pieces, including “Morehead State Theme” written by Mr. McLain and his wife. Special guests, MSU president Wayne Andrews and his daughter Jill Andrews, are also featured.
Selling and distribution of the record will help the KCTM continue and expand what they offer to the community. They provide unique musical archives, classes for a Bachelor of Arts in Traditional Music degree, and outreach programs including: performances, workshops, K-12 work and assemblies.
McLain started his career as a child on a local television show in Hazard, KY in 1969 with his family’s band, The McLain Family Band. They recorded 14 albums and toured in 62 countries across the world until 1990. He has spent the last 20 years working at the Grand Old Opry and teaching at Eastern Tennessee State University, until given the opportunity to work at the KCTM.
“I felt like I was coming home,” said McLain. “I felt almost a calling to come here. I knew MSU’s president Wayne Andrews knew the importance of education in people’s lives, and he’s one of the reasons I came here. He loves and appreciates our culture.”
They hope that their “classroom to community” approach to education brings people to the KCTM to research and study traditional music.
“Many times people say ‘Wow. This is the best kept secret in Kentucky.’ We don’t want to be the best kept secret, we want everyone to know what we are doing,” McLain stated.
The album will help the KCTM make its presence well known throughout the community and beyond.
Story courtesy of Kendall McDonald and The Trail Blazer
Online at: http://www.thetrailblazeronline.net
