Meet the Teachers:
Perry Brake - Old-time Banjo, guitar, mandolin
Mr. Brake is a multi-instrumentalist. He fills in for absent instructoers for all instruments. Rest assured, if anyone has a question or needs a tip on any instrument, he will be able to help. He enjoys working with eager students, and fun will always be a part of anything he's teaching.
Diana Brake - Fiddle
Mrs. Brake has experience playing mulitple instruments, including fiddle, cello, and bass. She also loves to sing and really enjoys teaching others to sing melodies and harmonies or even play those melodies and harmonies on their instrument.
Tana Stone - guitar, mandolin banjo,
Ms. Stone has been a life-long music lover, and since her kids say she is "older than dirt", that has been a while. She has a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from North Georgia College in vocal and instrumental music. She has played in Jazz band, orchestra, and wind ensemble and sang in duets, trios and quartets. She has taught band, chorus, general music, voice, ukulele and guitar. She also has experience in Ballet, Jazz, Tap and Ballroom dancing and hopes to expand her dance experience to Appalachian styles to share with JAM. Mrs. Stone's favorite activity is making music and jamming with her friends and she loves sharing all of this fun with the JAM kids.
Jennifer Hawkins - Guitar
Info to follow
Lindsay Liszeski - Violin/Fiddle
Info to follow
Annette Fugal - Mandolin
Music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. The first half of our family life was filled with classical piano—we even performed concerts in China in 1996. The second half was spent playing bluegrass music with our family band. Now, all the children are grown and raising families of their own.
So, now that we're empty nesters, I've decided to learn all of their instruments, mostly because playing the upright bass (my instrument since 1968) by myself isn't nearly as much fun! Mandolin has become one of my favorites, and I practice almost every day.
And I love passing it on because I love kids. I also believe music is one of the very best things we can do for ourselves. It blesses us physically, intellectually, emotionally, and especially socially—and for us old folks, it helps keep the gears turning! I'm delighted to share my love of music and mandolin through Junior Appalachian Musicians.
Danny Avery - Bass
Danny started his journey with music at a young age singing hymns and country music. He began playing trumpet in 6th grade and marching band in 9th grade. He picked up the guitar in 2003 and hasn’t put it down yet. He and his wife have served as worship leaders for multiple churches, ministries and while in the U.S. military. He continues to practice and improve his guitar playing and singing skills a little every day with his family and at JAM.
