Valerie Horn is the Director at Cowan Community Action Group, Inc. Valerie is a lifelong resident of Cowan and always had a strong relationship with Cowan Community Center. She is a retired school counselor and is beginning again. She serves as Director of Programs at Cowan including the Grow Appalachia, Levitt Amp Whitesburg Music Series, USDA Summer Food Service Program and Kids on the Creek Camps. Her most admirable trait is pure luck that she was born the daughter of Kendall and Carol Ison and learned the value of community from a very early age. She hopes to continue growing a stronger community for the community’s sake as well as her grandchildren Eliza Jane and Owen. She is a partner in Appalachian Groundswell, a stream mitigation banking company that hopes to give back to the community. She wants to meet you and know your story.
Carla Gover (Artistic Director) is a seventh-generation Kentuckian who is known for her music and for showcasing the rhythms of Appalachia through clogging and clawhammer banjo. She shares her passion with hundreds of students each year in schools throughout Kentucky, where she teaches Appalachian music and dance, and explores with students the diverse cultural influences and elements that have shaped our state and nation. An award-winning singer-songwriter, she has covers by major artists as well as songs in film and documentary soundtracks, and six full-length albums under her belt. She performs with a variety of ensembles, including the bands Zoe Speaks and CornMaiz String Band. She is the Artistic Director for the Cornbread & Tortillas Collective of Appalachian and Latinx artists, and she was recently selected as a Master Artist in Traditional Flatfoot Dancing by the Kentucky Arts Council. Carla currently makes her home in Lexington, and collaborates with a variety of artists and educators throughout the state on projects to improve the quality of life in Kentucky through music, dance, and fostering cultural understanding.
Stacy Dollarhide (Program Coordinator) grew up in Letcher County and has been blessed to live on Cowan Creek for over 20 years, since marrying her high school sweetheart and making their home there. For the past 19 years, Stacy has been in involved in Cowan Community Center programs such as Save the Children, Cowan Creek Mountain Music School, and Grow Appalachia. She has served in several capacities, including Center Coordinator for the Save the Children program from 2004-2007, Administrative Assistant from 2007-2009, and has consistently served as Bookkeeper since 2004. Hearing music live played on the banjo, fiddle, mandolin, and guitar has been a most wonderful experience for her. She is grateful the music school has provided an outlet for creativity for so many local youth, including her own two children, Logan and Autumn. The week of the music school to her is likened to “heaven on earth.”
John Harrod (Dean of the Graduate School) is an inspiring teacher who has been instrumental in creating opportunities for advanced CCMMS students to dig even deeper. Over the years, he has helped develop and expand our teaching assistant program, which gives advanced students hands-on experience in teaching. John also heads up the selection committee for the Charlie Whitaker Memorial Apprenticeship which allows an outstanding student to work intensively for a year with one of the school’s faculty or visiting masters. And he has taken the lead in organizing an afternoon of teaching workshops, Sunday, the arrival day for the music school. This is a program aimed at giving advanced students the skills and confidence needed to teach Kentucky music in their own communities.
Bev May (Minister of Propaganda) is a fiddle student and volunteer who helps with the school brochure, publicity and this website. If you have any favorite music school photos you would like to share, we would love to have them! And any suggestions on getting the word out or improving the website would be much appreciated. Contact Bev at beverlyannmay@gmail.com
Cowan Creek Mountain Music School Advisory Board
From left to right: Rich Kirby, Valerie Horn, Nell Fields, Carol Ison, Dan Cowan, Randy Wilson, Beverly May, Kevin Howard, Isaac Fields.
The CCMMS Advisory Board was established in 2015 to gather your ideas on how the school can improve and be sustained for generations to come. Please don’t be shy about sharing your ideas with these folks!