Americana music project thrives at Sisters Elementary School

Since the Americana Project began in 2001 at Sisters High School, Director Brad Tisdel has looked for opportunities to expand the project throughout the Sisters school system.

That goal became reality this year with the first Sisters Elementary School program for the Americana Project. The effort was a success, with the students showing their stuff in a stage performance last month.

The Americana Project began as an outgrowth of the Sisters Folk Festival, whose board of directors was looking for a way to present roots music to the young people of the community. Tisdel took the reins and, in the first two trimesters, 35 Sisters High School students learned songwriting, guitar playing and performing. Some of those students performed at the 2001 Sisters Folk Festival.

Under Tisdel’s guidance, the program expanded to middle school students when SOAR (Sisters Organization for Activities and Recreation) offered a two-week introductory program in the summer of 2003. A dozen students learned the basics of guitar playing and were exposed to Americana music — blues, folk, and more.

In 2004, Kit Stafford expanded the meaning of “Americana” to local students with a middle school class that included art, history, culture and music traced through the history of America. That class was treated to an in-depth sampling and vision of the cultural development of Americana music by the trio of Keith Greeninger, Steve Vccello, and Dayan Kai, who were in town to perform at the Sisters Folk Festival.

Kai talked aboutcommunity and said, “Music is a huge part of why we still have community. It’s a force that brings people together.”

A primary goal of the Americana Project is to help students develop their songwriting and guitar playing skills to the point of performing in public. The Sisters Folk Festival has included time and space for the youngsters to perform both at outlying venues and on the main stage during thefestival.

The Sisters Elementary School Americana Project began last September with 30-minute Friday morning sessions on guitar playing and songwriting. A total of 60 fourth and fifth graders were involved over fall and winter terms.

Tisdel said that the focus was on African-American spirituals, older gospel, and American Folk music with the intent of preparing the students to continue on to the middle and high schoolprograms.

He said, “One of the things we looked for was how to take old songs and look for new and exciting ways toperform them.”

To Tisdel, “This was an opportunity to work with young students playing and singing traditional American music, to make it come alive for them.”

He added, “One of the most exciting pieces was the feeling for the music and collaboration with fellow students. They performed from the heart.”

An Oregon Community Foundation grant was used to purchase guitars and programming. Guest performers included Joe Craven, Brent Alan, and John Smith. Assisting in the program were Sisters Elementary School music teacher Debi Schlatter and fifth grade teacher Kathy Kemper-Green.

The public performance included “When the Saints Go Marching In,” “This Little Light,” and “Down by the Riverside.”

The elementary program is off this spring, but is expected to resume next fall.