ETSU welcomes a new bluegrass professor to join the adjunct faculty to start off this year’s spring semester, Aynsley Porchak.
Porchak, an accomplished bluegrass professional, has joined the faculty at ETSU. She grew up in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada, where she began playing the fiddle at the age of nine. Porchak said she did not start out playing bluegrass but was later introduced and found her passion for the genre.
“I started playing the fiddle at age nine. I didn’t grow up playing bluegrass music, but rather Canadian old-time. When my fiddle teacher introduced me to some classic bluegrass fiddle records, I was hooked, and it didn’t take me long to decide that that was a genre of music that I wanted to pursue professionally,” Porchak said.
Porchak came to ETSU in 2013 as part of the BLUE program and graduated with a Bachelor’s in Bluegrass, Old Time and Country Music Studies and English. She then earned a master’s degree in Appalachian Studies. Throughout college, she performed with a bluegrass band “Carolina Blue” before co-founding her own band “The Tennessee Bluegrass Band.”
Although she enjoyed her time performing, she still dreamed of teaching bluegrass.
“During my college career, I also began performing professionally with a bluegrass band named Carolina Blue, and later, with a band that I co-founded, called The Tennessee Bluegrass Band. Throughout it all, however, I wished to teach bluegrass music in higher education, and I was very grateful and honored to be asked to join the BLUE adjunct faculty this semester,” Porchak said.
She is very excited to be a part of ETSU’s unique bluegrass program this semester and is looking forward to making an impact on students’ educations and careers.
Porchak said, “Being able to teach students about bluegrass music is a blessing and a privilege and I am thrilled to be part of this exceptional program.”
