Rich joined the FFOTM board of Directors in March of 2023 to support the FFOTM Mission Statement, which is to preserve and promote traditional music and share it with our community in Northern Arizona. What better and more enjoyable retirement activity is there?

In order to focus on the preservation aspect of our mission, Rich is interested in attracting new, younger members to FFOTM as well as volunteers and board members. In order to continue our work, we need to develop a method to attract new members. One place Rich has identified is Northern Arizona University. Each year a new class of energetic students arrive, some of whom will be musicians. Others may be interested in the business aspects of not-for-profit organizations. And a lucky few will be both. By working with NAU staff members we will facilitate introductions. Both the community and the students will benefit from this self-renewing system, and the preservation aspect of our mission will be part of the natural result.

Getting involved in the Flagstaff music scene presents so many enjoyable experiences. Promoting traditional and bluegrass music is a great cause, and helping more people appreciate the social and inclusive aspects of music, is why being a board member is a special opportunity.

Rich lives in downtown Flagstaff, is happily married, has five children, six grandchildren, and spends his free time with his family and friends.

Greg Hales musical career started in fourth grade playing trumpet. Wearing braces didn’t make it easy. In 7th grade, he transitioned to baritone horn, which proved a little easier. In 9th grade, he played bass guitar in the school stage band, rocking out on the drama department’s original musical “LUNARAMA (1972)”.

Fast forward to 2007 – Greg and family moved to Flagstaff in where he accidentally fell into the orbit of Flagstaff performing legend Tony Norris and his musical partner Bill Burke, where a love of live/local folk and traditional music was enkindled.

Fast forward again to 2023 when Greg’s officemate Julie Sullivan started a bluegrass jam class and needed an upright bass student to hold things together. Spying Greg nearby, she thrust an upright into his arms. It was love at first sight (er, sound). Greg now plays weekly with the FFOTM Wednesday bluegrass jam group and co-founded (along with Julie) a weekly Sunday jam at the Wanderlust Brewery in East Flagstaff.

Professionally, Greg is a semi-retired short-form documentary filmmaker of more than 30 years experience. He has periodically taught workshops in the digital storytelling process for individuals and organizations desiring to take the power of video into their own hands. He plans to use this experience to further help FFOTM reach its goal of preserving and promoting traditional music and sharing it with our local community in Northern Arizona and the wider world.

Greg’s current life goal is to join or start a band in 2024. He believes that, especially in a time of artificial intelligence, preserving the tradition of LIVE traditional and folk music, is more important than ever.

Growing up in a home filled with music, Paisley Boone has always appreciated and understood music to be one of the great blessings of life. At 10 years of age she had her first taste of creating folk music when she received a fiddle in FFOTM’s Young Jammers program, and has loved the world of folk music ever since. Branching out and picking up multiple other instruments, she and her sister formed a bluegrass band with some friends, Route 66:2, and were blessed with opportunities to play at the Flagstaff Folk Festival and the Pickin’ in the Pines band contest.

Learning and playing proved to be just the beginning of her journey with FFOTM, as she and her family have had the opportunity to volunteer at the Pickin’ in the Pines Bluegrass and Acoustic Music Festival. When Lloyd Holdeman revived the Young Jammers program to again offer volunteer taught lessons, he asked Paisley if she would be interested in teaching fiddle to beginner Jammers. Enthusiastically she said yes, seeing an opportunity not only to expand her skills to include teaching, but also to infuse the next generation of musicians with a love of making music with others. Serving on the FFOTM Board she has been able to invest in the community as well as expand FFOTM’s reach by reviving the FFOTM Community Contra Dance on the first Saturday of each month! She is looking forward to seeing how she can continue serving her community as a member of the Flagstaff Friends of Traditional Music Board.

As the daughter of a jazz musician, Aislinn Conroy first fell in love with traditional music while crawling around during band rehearsals. From a young age, she has known that music is an important way to find and build community. Originally hailing from Virginia, Aislinn found bluegrass and old-time music at country two-step, flatfoot, and contra dances.

After receiving a guitar in the mail from a friend, Aislinn dove into the trad music scene with rhythm guitar and vocals. Clawhammer banjo quickly followed, as well as gigs with various duo, group, and contra bands. After meeting FFOTM members at Pickin in the Pines 2024, she became a regular at local jams.

Aislinn writes her own music as well as rewrites classics from the bluegrass, old-time, blues, jazz, and Irish canons. She especially enjoys encouraging new musicians to join the trad scene. Aislinn hopes to help bring more young people, especially women, into the traditional music community.

Jeff’s love of music began in a household filled with diversity. At the age of 7 (1977), second row center, his life was changed as a young Bonnie Raitt came on stage, Waylon and Wille followed. He knew then that live music would be an integral part of his life. Having grown up in Arkansas going to rural “fish frys”, Bluegrass music became a part of his life without realizing at the time. It was the soundtrack for some of his fondest memories. Although not a musician, Jeff prides himself as a top tier audience member and a proud supporter of musicians, all types.

Jeff arrived in Flagstaff in 1993 pursuing an Art Degree with an emphasis in Ceramics, graduating from NAU in the spring of 1995. Shortly after school, Jeff began working as a brewer at Flagstaff Brewing Company and spending as much time as possible river rafting the Western states.

Through an unlikely turn of events, Jeff has spent the past 23 years working as a Medical Device engineer/innovator creating intellectual property and chasing fun when and wherever possible.

Jeff and his family have attended every Pickin in the Pines Festival and through those the years have been fortunate to attend as volunteers. Jeff has been the campground coordinator for past several years and takes this responsibility with pride. This is, without a doubt, a tradition that means the world to him as well as our community. His children, Olivia and Lily have grown up in the campground and could arguably run that event in the future. The passion has been passed down. This past year his Granddaughter Isla, camped for her first time for the entirety of the weekend, she will be one in April 2025.

As a proud supporter for traditional bluegrass music, the sounds, feel and community are engrained in his life, all the while being open to the news sounds that this complex music creates. He firmly believes that as music evolves, in time, the new sounds become traditional to the coming generations. Flagstaff is his home, FFOTM helps create the soundtrack that has always been there. He looks forward to being a part of what the future may hold for FFOTM and his beloved community.

Jim Glish has been on the FFOTM board since March of 2022 and a member of the organization since moving to Flagstaff in 2014. He believes that there’s something special about promoting traditional music within the community and helping to ensure that the varied outreach programs remain relevant for years to come.

His first exposure to traditional music started at an early age when he tagged along to hear his grandfather’s old-timey band at dance halls around the Midwest. Later, as a stage technician and TV director, he worked concerts and TV shows with many of top acts in the 60s folk revival and beyond. Around raising a family and pursuing careers in broadcasting and computer industries, Jim finally picked up the guitar in earnest and became an active participant at local folk festivals in Minnesota, Illinois, Florida, and here in Flagstaff where he also hosts house concerts and theatrical events. He plays guitar in several folk groups as well as mandolin with the Just Desserts contra dance band that provides music for the monthly FFOTM contra dances and has written dozens of contra dance tunes (reels, jigs, and waltzes) to round out the bands repertoire.

Jim and his wife live in Fort Valley where he also enjoys the darks skies and has become an avid astro photographer. With a telescope in one hand and a guitar in the other, he is committed to sharing his interests with other. He has enjoyed passing his families musical heritage on to his two daughters and six grandchildren and looks forward, as a FFOTM board member, to championing all types of traditional music for all one and all in the Flagstaff community.

I’m Rachel Paietta and I’ve been a participant in the Flagstaff acoustic music scene for the past 7 years in the bands The Morning Embers and The Mountain Time Ramblers. I’m passionate about keeping the folk and traditional music scene strong in Flagstaff because it brings such a positive vibrance and connection point for our local community. In particular, I’m interested in helping support the Folk Festival, Pickin’ in the Pines and associated opportunities for adult musical education. In my professional life, I’m a New Product Development engineer at WL Gore & Associates and bring strong project planning and project management skills to the table.

Julie Sullivan Brace has served on the FFOTM board as President, Vice President, Secretary and general member many times over the past 32 years. Additionally, she is Board Member Emeritus of The Berkeley Society for the Preservation of Traditional Music, another non-profit organization she helped to co-found.

As a board member and co-founder of Pickin in the Pines Bluegrass & Acoustic Music Festival, she holds a unique perspective and historic overview of the organization. She continues to serve as Festival Director for Pickin’ in the Pines, and was a festival director up until 2018. Her current purpose for being on the board at this time is to engage and inspire a younger audience to get involved with FFOTM to ensure the health and longevity of our organization for future generations.

Julie is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist since age 14. She currently plays bluegrass and folk music in several bands and loves traditionally based music in all its forms.

In addition to being a devoté of traditional music—especially bluegrass!—Julie has had a professional career as an art director and graphic designer for over 45 years. She currently works part-time at her own business, Shine Creative Industries, LLC. and has contributed her design skills to FFOTM and its programs in the past.

As a musical curator and director (her current passion), she has promoted hundreds of shows for many musicians in a variety of venues in both the Bay Area and Flagstaff. Her most recent venture is Roots & Boots Music Camp (RBMC) for adults, now in its 4th year.

I grew up in West Virginia, the heart of Appalachia. I’ve always loved many types of music, but traditional was there in my roots.  I still like to tune in when I go back there and listen to 2 people strumming and harmonizing to hold hymns live on the radio.

When I moved to Flagstaff in 1996 I heard about the contra dance. I used to dance with MFOTM – Morgantown Friends of Old Time Music.  From there I found the  camp out, folk fest, and watched the birth of the bluegrass festival.  Somewhere along the way I learned to strum a guitar so I could participate more.

I appreciate all the good times FFOTM has given me and I’m happy to give back. I’m currently serving on the board and will be glad to continue doing so.