蘑菇短视频

Every morning in the center of campus, the water from the Catafount rises up to splash back down into the concrete and drain below it. The Alumni Tower chimes each hour, and the steam plant whistle trills through the air at noon.

But around 11 a.m. every Thursday, another melodious sound emerges at Western Carolina University, akin to the Appalachian mountains that surround it. To music education program coordinator Jeananne Nichols, it feels like home.

Nichols organizes the Old Time Jam, an open Appalachian music group made up of 蘑菇短视频 faculty, staff and students that plays weekly on campus.

鈥淲e have several folks in our jam where they have been making this music as part of their families since they could walk and talk,鈥� Nichols said. 鈥淭hey're able to bring that bit of home, that bit of their Appalachian heritage 鈥� genuine, authentic Appalachian heritage 鈥� and bring it and do this right here at school.鈥�

The Old Time Jam started last spring after Nichols and adjunct music instructor Susan Pepper created the Mountain Music Ensemble, a one-credit hour class that performs a wide range of traditional mountain music.

鈥淭his course offers students a welcoming, supportive environment to explore a new genre of music while experiencing the region鈥檚 vibrant, living musical traditions,鈥� Pepper said.

To promote the class, Nichols invited all of the mountain musicians she knew on campus to play near the Catafount. Around 15 students took the class last spring, and Nichols thought she would try to publicize the class the same way in the fall.

Turns out, Nichols鈥� colleagues were clamoring for more.

鈥淔olks at the Catafount that were playing, were like, 鈥榃hy do we only do this once a semester? Can we do it every week?鈥欌�� Nichols said. 鈥淚 said, 鈥極K, I'll organize it every week for as long as you show up,鈥� and people keep showing up and people keep joining us.鈥�

Since then, ears near the Catafount have been filled with the tune of banjos, violas, mandolins, fiddles and guitars to anyone that passes by on Thursdays.

鈥淚t's just really nice to participate in (this jam), and also just nice to walk by it,鈥� said River Johnson, a senior computer science major from Apex.

鈥淚 love this campus for many reasons, but just the atmosphere, especially around the Catafount, when the weather is nice and people are laying out on the Blue Ridge lawn鈥� It's nice to just add this, even as a little thing, to so many people's days.鈥�

Along with the Appalachian vibrations the jam brings to campus, it also brings community. The jam features students, faculty and staff from different backgrounds and fields of study into one place.

Nichols has seen engineering, chemistry and history faculty and students who she otherwise wouldn鈥檛 have met if the Old Time Jam didn鈥檛 get off the ground.

鈥淲e all get ensconced in our schools and departments for faculty, and I know for music students, sometimes they have a hard time making friends outside of the building because they're here all the time,鈥� Nichols said. 鈥�

鈥淚'm going to guess it's true for engineering students, or chemistry students, but we get in our daily routine. The jam provides folks an opportunity to reach beyond your standard day.鈥�

And it provides the 蘑菇短视频 community an opportunity to get away from the homework, presentations or meetings 鈥� and just jam.

鈥淚t's a good release, stress reliever,鈥� said associate professor of history, Luke Manget. 鈥淚t's kind of meditative. Playing music, you just don't think of anything else. It's a good way to stop from grading, stop from planning, get a little break and have fun. It's just fun.鈥�

As the weather gets cooler, the Old Time Jam will look to play somewhere indoors on campus until it warms back up in the spring, but no matter where it plays, 鈥渢he smell of home cooking,鈥� as Nichols puts it, will continue to linger.

鈥淚t's not just about being fed, but there's something very comforting, very calming, about a sense of arrival, a sense of place,鈥� Nichols said of the group鈥檚 music. 鈥淚 think for students, even if you're not from here, I think the sound is, it's not just deeply Appalachian, but it's also deeply American.鈥�