SUBJECT: The Arts Bus & IDA MAE SPECKER Launch make music summer of ‘22!
RANDOLPH, VT – On International Music Day, The Arts Bus & Ida Mae Specker are launching Make Music Summer of ’22 with fiddles & singing! The music starts with an interactive family-friendly show in Randolph at MotioREC from 3pm-5pm on Tuesday, June 21st. The following week, Vermont’s beloved green bus and Ida Mae will be traveling through Central Vermont’s summer camps, collaborating with children to write, record, mix & produce songs, culminating in live performances and digital compositions for release on radios & streaming on-line. Ida Mae will bring her folk song and fiddling expertise to each camp, where she’ll teach the basics of folk music, adapt it with contemporary lyrics, explore the variety of artists' roles in sound production, record & perform live with the children!
Ida Mae Specker has played fiddle since childhood with her sister, Lila, as part of a multi-generational musical legacy inspired by their father, master fiddler John Specker, and his passion for the tradition. Ida Mae & Lila have spent their lives performing this cultural treasure for audiences and carry on the love for it by teaching the craft through fiddle, songwriting, and movement. As children born into a folk-playing legacy and now mothers themselves, the Specker sisters have an intrinsic desire to share the legacy with children in particular, having experienced the profound joy and personal growth that occurs when young minds are empowered by the art of music. Ida Mae is also a recipient of a FY22 Vermont Arts Council Artist’s Development Grant.
It turns out Ida Mae was exactly at the right time and place to get on board The Arts Bus! Remote location digital recording is a new medium of exploration for the bus and has opened new avenues for creativity, including recording songs, soundtracks, interviews and podcasts.
“Last summer, The Arts Bus teamed with Vocal Booth to Go to design customized panels, sound blankets and digital recording equipment to convert the interior of the bus into a sound booth, which was just super for our campers’ puppet theatre,” says Genny Albert, Executive Director of The Arts Bus, “However, what we really hoped for was a musician with a desire to write an original song and willingness work with children at summer camps –then Ida Mae Specker came along, making our wish come true and with a fiddle, too!”
This incredible 3 week, 3 camp journey spanning from Rutland City through Stockbridge to Bethel is part of The Arts Bus award-winning “Ever After Kids Program”, focused on taking the magic of the bus to kids in remote & underserved areas of Central Vermont. The program is made possible by grants from Vermont Children’s Trust Foundation, Coach Family Foundation, Windham Family Foundation, private donors, and camp partnerships with OnePlanet Afterschool & Camps and Rutland City Tapestry Program. The Arts Bus first rolled in 2010 to empower children to find joy and authentic self-expression through the arts and (so far!) has directly impacted a child’s imagination over 15,000 times throughout Central Vermont. To support The Arts Bus and see the creative joy it empowers, contact us at info@artsbusvt.org or visit our website at www.artsbusvt.org or our Facebook page @artsbusvt.
The Arts Bus, 67 Main Street, Randolph, VT 05060 / 802-265-0730
Climb aboard! www.artsbusvt.org or Facebook @artsbusvt
CONTACT:
Genny Albert
Executive Director
The Arts Bus
802-265-0730
executivedirector@artsbusvt.org