Joe Troop Documentary by Yndiana Montes Fogelquist Receives Arnold Shultz Fund Scholarship
The documentarian and journalist Yndiana Montes Fogelquist (Indiana Montezúniga) is one of the beneficiaries of the Arnold Schultz Fund Scholarship of 2024 for her academic paper and the ongoing project documentary about Joe Troop, which explores the fusion of bluegrass with Latin American rhythms.
The Arnold Shultz Fund was established in 2020 by the IBMA Foundation to encourage participation in bluegrass music by people of color. The IBMA Foundation has awarded a total of $19,650 for 16 Arnold Shultz Fund grants to programs and individuals in 12 states, Kenya, and Nepal.
“We’re proud to announce a continuing pattern of strong support for Arnold Shultz Fund grants in 2024,” said Dr. Richard Brown, co-chair of the Arnold Shultz Fund advisory committee along with Neil Rosenberg, Ph.D… “We are grateful to donors who continue to support the Arnold Shultz Fund and all the other Foundation initiatives. Their generosity has made it possible to award grants to these very deserving musicians and program organizers.”
The scholarship awarded to Montes Fogelquist will help her with the equipment and expenses during her travels to conduct field interviews with Joe Troop in Durham, North Carolina, in preparation for her documentary Joe Troop: From Bluegrass to Latingrass. Montes Fogelquist is going to be the first Latina to graduate from the Appalachian Studies master's degree program at Appalachian State University and in the greater Appalachian region.
Yndiana has demonstrated a great interest in Appalachian music and culture, even though her concentration is Sustainability In Appalachia. This is understandable as she has been for many years promoting jazz and rock Latino, MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira) reggae, calypso, soca…etc. One of her social media platforms is Latin Reggae and Music, on Facebook, which is entirely dedicated to music. Bluegrass and Old Time Music have their own niche in this and other platforms that she manages, like Appalachian Latinidad, which aims to induce Latinx involvement in the Appalachian culture and vice-versa.
In February of 2024, she premiered her first documentary, Everybody Loves Maako at the Boone Docs Film Festival. In the same month, Yndiana traveled to Virginia to attend the Rural Film Festival of Virginia Tech. In April, Everybody Loves Maako was shown at the Upike Film Festival. She also presented the short documentary film at the 2024 Appalachian Association Conference in Cullowhee, together with Maako Shiratori, the protagonist, and lastly in an event organized by the High Country Humanities titled "Documentary Filmmakers on Interpreting Rural Life: From Appalachia to the World."
Her interest in traditional Appalachian Music and Bluegrass convened with her appreciation for Latin American and Brazilian rhythms led her to great enthusiasm when she discovered the recently created duo, Larry & Joe. Larry & Joe duo play a fusion of Venezuelan/Latin American folk music and bluegrass. harp, banjo, cuatro, fiddle, maracas, guitar and bass. Yndiana knew about “maestro” Larry Bellorín since she was a young reporter in Venezuela, as she had several radio shows. She became a follower of the duo and started finding out more about Joe Troop, who was a bluegrass musician with many angles as he lived in Spain, Japan, and Argentina before he came back to North Carolina. His band Che Apalache was nominated for a GRAMMY and when the encounter between the two happened it was the best thing that could have happened to both of them and the many followers they have shared.
Larry & Joe are breaking boundaries through music with their shows all over the United States, and Yndiana is always happy when she can attend these in North Carolina. The documentary Joe Tropp: From Bluegrass to Latingrass is set to be released in 2025. “I am very grateful for the IBMA Foundation. Is a real honor to be on the list of awardees,” said Yndiana.
List of Awardees Released by The IBMA Foundation:
2024 Arnold Shultz Fund grant recipients are:
The Banjo Gathering, Black Stringband Symposium (Raleigh, NC) – Four to six educational sessions will be produced for the 2024 International Bluegrass Music Association’s Business Conference by Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo’s Hidden History author Kristina Gaddy and Lillian Werbin, in collaboration with IBMA’s Education Committee.
Big Bend Bluegrass Association, Bluegrass for Kids program (Alpine, TX) – A bluegrass presentation for students will spark interest in learning to play stringed instruments, utilizing the “Play It Forward” instrument lending program from the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation. The student population in Alpine is primarily Hispanic. (Alpine, TX)
Center for Cultural Vibrancy, Baltimore Old Time Music Festival: Africa to Appalachia program (Baltimore, MD) – Cultural and educational programming at the festival will highlight the role of African music and instruments in the old-time music and dance communities locally and beyond.
Dancing with the Spirit, young native leaders bluegrass teacher training (Fairbanks, AK) – A Shultz grant will help fund assistant instructor traininyg and travel for young native musicians who will be taking over as future bluegrass instructors in remote Alaskan villages for Dancing with the Spirit. Twenty-eight weeklong camps were held in 2023.
Decolonizing the Music Room, Fort Worth African American Roots Music Festival (Ft. Worth, TX) – This event highlights the central role of Blackness in early American music and features award-winning artists and scholars from across North America who gather for a day of music, jamming, learning, and dancing.
Miranda Dozier, banjo building (St. Louis, MO) –A Shultz grant will be used to enroll Miranda in a luthier school so she can build ceremonial banjos for her performances and community. Dozier is an African American banjo player who plays two-finger, clawhammer, and some Scruggs style banjo at spiritual and healing ceremonies.
Elephant Grass Musical Chairs, bluegrass presentations at Kenyan schools (Nairobi, Kenya) – Two concerts by the Elephant Grass Musical Chairs bluegrass band, led by Tom Wolf and two Kenyan fiddlers, to be held at the Tafaria Castle Arts & Music Centre for School Children will be funded by a Shultz grant.
Aaron Farris, Bluegrass in the Rock (Mabelville, AR) – A grant will help fund the bluegrass afterschool program at Chicot Elementary & Early Childhood Center near Little Rock, with a high percentage of Hispanic and African American students. Aaron is a Korean American music teacher at Chicot.
Yndiana Montes Fogelquist, documentary/academic presentation on Joe Troop’s Latingrass (“Venezuelachia”) (Boone, NC) – A Shultz grant will help with travel expenses and equipment to conduct field interviews with Joe Troop in Durham, NC while on tour. Projected finish date: end of 2024. Yndiana is a Venezuelan American journalist working on a master’s degree in Appalachian Studies at Appalachian State University.
Himalayan Highway, recording project (Nepal) – A Shultz grant will support recording for a debut EP from this contemporary acoustic string band based in Kathmandu. The band formed when bluegrass mandolinist Zoe Levitt met fourth-generation sarangi (Nepali fiddle) player Prince Nepali in 2022. With Anish Tamang (guitar) and Yuson Maharjan (Nepali percussion), Himalayan Highway explores the similarities between Nepali Folk music and bluegrass. The band recently hosted Nepal’s first Bluegrass Festival and was featured in the Kathmandu Post.
Jam Pak Blues ‘N’ Grass Neighborhood Band, Bluegrass Summer Camp with JamPak (Chandler, AZ) – Shultz funds will be used for instructor stipends, which will include at least 10 people of color, daily snacks, and three dinners for 30-40 participants. The camp will take place in a low-income neighborhood where the majority of youth participating will be African American or Hispanic. Camp admission is free to students.
Joseph Z. Johnson, gourd banjo (Bloomington, IN) – Johnson is an African-American musician working on his doctorate in ethnomusicology and folklore. A grant will help purchase a Pete Ross gourd banjo for Johnson to use in teaching with the Black Banjo/Fiddle Fellowship at the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music and also to support his dissertation research and presentations on the Black banjo revival and the relationship between banjo teachers, builders, and the Black origins of the instrument.
Kaia Kater, Sable Sisters EP (Ft. Worth, TX) – Shultz funds will be used to record, mix, and master five original songs for release in early 2025. The acclaimed roots duo includes Grenadian-Canadian artist Kaia Kater and Black American artist Brandi Waller-Pace.
KSUT Radio, Four Corners Folk Festival (Pagosa Springs, CO) – An Arnold Shultz grant will help with production and talent expenses for a folk/bluegrass/Americana festival committed to racial and gender equity on stage. Four Corners presents at least one Indigenous performer per festival. KSUT Radio, producer of the event, is owned by the Southern Ute Tribe, whose headquarters are in Ignacio, Colorado.
Louisville Folk School, bluegrass guitar group lessons (Louisville, KY) – An eight-week bluegrass guitar program for ten students will be hosted at the Americana Community Center as a part of the summer youth program. A diverse neighborhood will be served, including children of immigrants and refugees. The goal is to increase class diversity at Louisville Folk School by expanding to the new location.
The Rhapsody Project, instruction in bluegrass and roots music (Seattle, WA) – A Shultz Fund grant will support free music instruction provided through the organization's Unbroken Circle program, serving youth at the new Rhapsody Workshop at King Street Station in Seattle. The instrument library, venue, listening room, and luthier space is used to host potlucks, concerts, workshops, and programs that connect professional musicians and mentors with youth of many cultures.
Arnold Shultz (1886 – 1931) was an African American musician from western Kentucky. Best known as an extraordinary guitarist and fiddle player, Shultz often played with Bill Monroe’s fiddle-playing uncle, Pendleton (“Pen”) Vandiver. It was at these gigs that Monroe met Arnold Shultz and began to emulate his backup guitar style. Shultz was impressed enough with Monroe’s progress that he hired Monroe to play guitar with him at dances, thereby giving Monroe his first jobs as a professional musician. Monroe often credited Shultz with influencing his approach to playing music.
The deadline to apply for the next round of Arnold Shultz Fund grants is January 31, 2025. Qualified individual applicants may also inquire throughout the year about support on a case-by-case basis. For information on applying for an Arnold Shultz Fund grant, becoming a sponsor of an IBMA Foundation Arnold Shultz Fund project or individual grant, or making a donation to the Arnold Shultz Fund, please visit bluegrassfoundation.org or email info@bluegrassfoundation.org.