Mary Munsey and Billy Crawford perform at Down Home.
Mary Munsey has a long list of educational and professional accomplishments, but she prefers to talk about her students.
“I have taught students that surpassed me in many ways and soared to heights unattainable to me. I have a former student now performing classical piano around the world and heading a music department at a four-year music college. Another student graduated from Berklee and teaches music therapy; one student curated the Birthplace of Country Music Museum; one plays bass professionally with a famous country artist; one sang opera at Tanglewood and teaches music now; three play woodwinds in Stateline Wind Symphony with me, and one is touring nationally with her guitar and original music,” she says.
She is in her 12th year as the music director at Virginia Highlands Community College in Abingdon, Virginia. She also teaches private piano, woodwind, brass and guitar students, hosts a songwriter’s group monthly, plays saxophone in the Samantha Gray Band, fills in with other groups, plays bassoon in the Stateline Wind Symphony, teaches songwriting and judges songwriting competitions, and writes and records music. She also taught in Smyth and Washington county schools. She won teacher of the year while teaching at Watauga Elementary School.
“I taught and performed with my VHCC students at Carnegie Hall in April 2016. My song, “Nine Days Old,’ won the Woody Guthrie Folk Song of the Year in 2010, and I performed a set of my own music at Woodyfest in Oklahoma for that festival,” she says.
She placed second in the International Bluegrass Music Association’s lesson plan contests twice. Her songs have placed in the Dallas, Texas, Wisconsin and Connecticut songwriter’s competitions. She placed second in the Podunk Bluegrass Festival songwriting contest with “This Side of the Wall,” which also placed first in the Neuse River Songwriting Contest. “Nothing New” placed third in the Woody Guthrie Songwriting Competition. She presented a songwriting workshop during the Virginia Highlands Festival.
She has performed with the Billy Crawford Blues Band, several bluegrass, big band, jazz, blues, rockabilly, pop and country bands. She performs house concerts locally with original material in her duo Rosewood Emerald.
She often did solo and ensemble performances at the Bluebird Café in Nashville, Tennessee, in the 1990s; played the Virginia Highlands Festival in Abingdon, Virginia, the Crooked Road General store in Bristol, Virginia, Rhythm and Roots Reunion, Concert in the Park series in Abingdon and Bristol, Virginia, festivals at the Carter Fold in Hiltons, Virginia, Bluegrass Festivals in York Pennsylvania and Connecticut, Ralph Stanley’s Festival in Coeburn, Virginia, and opened for Whey Jennings (Waylon’s Grandson). Her folk duo Rosewood Emerald performed at the Barter Theatre and at the Richard Leigh Songwriting Festival in Abingdon. Her own variety band, Tennessee Green, which she led for 10 years was a local favorite and won Best Band in the Tri-Cities in 2000.
Her CD of original music, “Nine Days Old,” includes some of her heart-felt material, but also includes songs that display her off-beat sense of humor. “Reflections,” released in 2013, includes instrumentals, country, bluegrass and bluesy pop. “Shades of Refinements,” released in 2015, features original jazz and blues. This recording displays her joy of playing sax and keyboard as well as songwriting.
“I plan to keep teaching, playing, writing and encouraging others to make and share music as long as I can. The arts uplift us and enhance our lives. We find meaning, solace, joy, humor, and express feelings through music, performing arts, literature and visual arts. I taught public school music 18 years and saw the tremendous difference that music made in the lives of students. For some, the arts are their connection to the world. Music is a universal language and its role in schools and the community is vital.
“Music was an early love of mine. My parents loved music and loved to dance. They were both teachers. They sang together on car trips, played piano and my dad played guitar. The radio, stereo, church, choir, older brother’s high school band concerts, family reunions and weekends at my grandparents’ homes were all influential musically. My mother diligently did all she could to expose me to many types of music. She took me to parades, ballets, classical concerts, bluegrass shows, and musicals. My dad loved Strauss waltzes, country, folk and big band music. On weekends, we watched ‘The Lawrence Welk Show’ and ‘Hee Haw’ on TV. Both of those shows inspired me musically. I wanted to learn as many instruments as I could, and I made up songs for fun.
“I really appreciate this award because it reaffirms what I have always assumed was my destiny as a musician and a music educator. We all have a purpose and should do the best we can with what we have. I remember the amazing influence musicians had on my early life, the lasting lessons I have learned from my music mentors, the excitement I experienced learning instruments and the ‘ah ha’ moments that students have when they learn music. Teaching at VHCC was a lifelong dream of mine and it has been a joy to teach young people and adults there,” she says.
