www.meandmartha.com
Playing Since: 1958
Experience Level: Novice

Interests:
[Teaching] [Jamming] [Socializing] [Helping]

Occupation: musician

Gender: Male
Age: 76

My Instruments:
Banjo, guitar, bass fiddle, mandolin, mt.dulcimer, autoharp, and a little tiny bit of Dobro

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Profile Info:
Visible to: Public
Created 6/9/2009
Last Visit 1/28/2014

A bit about Me & Martha (a.k.a. Don DePoy & Martha Hills): Don was born in Harrisonburg, Virginia and grew up playing music all over the eastern coast of the United States. His family’s has been in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley region since 1739 and mountain music has been central to their lives for generations dating as far back as the 1830’s. Don’s grandfather along with his grandmother's uncle (Emory Stroop) and Don’s long-time musician friend (Herb Smoke) were all recorded in 1940 by Alan Lomax as he searched for America's identity. These recordings are in the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. As a 5th generation musician, Don continues to play the music of his mountain roots. He is an accomplished bluegrass banjoist and “thumb-picking” guitar player and has appeared as a featured performer at the Philadelphia Folk/Bluegrass Festival as well as appeared on numerous recordings and performances throughout the United States and abroad. Don was the executive producer for Mainely Bluegrass, a 26-part TV series airing over public television in New England. Martha Hills’ ancestors were some of the first English settlers to the coastal regions of what is now Maine. She’s originally from a farming community just outside of Belfast, Maine, and also has a rich musical background steeped in the New England music heritage. Martha’s musical roots include her great uncle Archie Gordon, a fine Maine fiddler who handcrafted over a hundred violins. Martha also has a host of relatives who sing and play piano in the New England style. She fell in love with bluegrass music in the 1980s and starting playing the bass fiddle in 2001 and has joined Don playing all over the world. Martha is a certified MusikGarten teacher and conducts MusikGarten classes as part of Eastern Mennonite University's Preparatory Music Program for parents and children from infant to 7 years old. Me & Martha was inducted into America’s Old-Time Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005. Martha and Don moved to Harrisonburg, Virginia in 2007 where Don stepped right back in to the local music scene. Don is currently on faculty at James Madison University teaching sociology courses including the Social context of American music. He holds a Ph.D. in American Music and Popular Culture. Martha and Don encourage music making and promote the value of music wherever they go. They travel internationally to perform and teach music workshops that encourage music making with others. They teach private and group lessons as well as conduct music making "instructional slow-jams" for youth and adults to teach musicians how to play the basic "cannon" of mountain music, how to make music with others and how to play in jam sessions. Don also teach bluegrass banjo at Eastern Mennonite University and was one of the judges for the 2008 Virginia Folk Music Association's bluegrass music contest. Their association with the Young Audiences of Virginia (www.yav.org) is bringing mountain music into the public school curriculum all over Virginia. And with all this, for 2008 they played about 150 concerts and conducted special music programs for Church services. Songs to Lift the Spirit, a new gospel songbook with CD and chord notations has just been published. Songs to Lift the Spirit follows-up their already successful Music Makers Guide which has over 100 common songs from the bluegrass/old-time/folk tradition, a CD to help explain the 6-common chord progressions which cover about 95% of all bluegrass/old-time/folk tunes and there is only enough music theory to not mess up your playing. Their website www.meandmartha.com has hundreds of photos, complete bio information, resumes, samples of our music, and detail narrative of our performances and workshops.”