COLBY — A fiddler made famous with Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, and later the Saturday night television hit show “Hee Haw” will spotlight the stage at Colby Community College’s Cultural Arts Center, Sunday, Oct. 13 at 3 p.m. CDT. Jana Jae, known as the first lady of country fiddle, will have a workshop ahead of the show in the CCC choir room for anyone interested, starting 1 p.m., and will also include a discussion of her life-time music and performing career.
This 50th Anniversary Western Plains Arts Association project is generously funded with a public grant from the Mid-America Arts Alliance, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the state arts agencies of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas.
In addition, the Dane G. Hansen Foundation, Logan, and the Greater Northwest Kansas Community Foundation —Dane Hansen Community Grant for Thomas County, and the Seele Foundation, are major contributors to this year’s WPAA season.
Like most entertainers who have reached stardom, Jana Jae’s success is the result of hard work perfecting raw talent. Musical talent runs through the family. Her parents studied at New York’s famed Juilliard School of Music, and Jana was introduced to the classical study of the violin, on a one-eighth sized instrument, at the age of two. Then, thanks to the direction and inspiration of her grandfather, an accomplished champion fiddler in his own right, Jana also learned to love playing by ear.
She virtually grew up jamming with and learning from some of the best in the business while living in western Idaho, not far from Weiser, the site of the National Old-time Fiddlers’ Contest. Soon she had honed her skill of fiddling into a fine art and won the Ladies National Championship several times.
She also continued her classical training, winning scholarships to Interlochen and the International String Congress. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in music and studied abroad at the Vienna Academy of Music. She taught music for several years until she felt inspired to take her unique blend of music on the road.
Jana and her trademark blue fiddle soon took the world of country music by storm. She got her big break at a Buck Owens concert in Redding, Calif., when she was invited to take the stage and play “Orange Blossom Special.” Owens was one of the first “big names” to recognize her talents and offered her a job as the first female member of his “Buckaroos” band. She later became part of the regular team of performers on the “Hee Haw” show and has appeared with such country music greats as Chet Atkins, Roy Clark, Ray Stevens, The Oakridge Boys, Mel Tillis, Ricky Skaggs and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
Jana has built a solid solo career, drawing upon her diverse musical background. Her one-of-a-kind style blends country fiddling, western swing, bluegrass, pop and the classics, producing thrilling performances and critical acclaim. But her enthusiastic following isn’t limited only to this country. She has consistently proved her ability to cross over into other genres and has earned a reputation and large international following performing at such renowned events as the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and the Wembley Festival in England as well as the New Orleans Jazz Festival. She has toured Japan, the Philippines, Australia, Africa, Brazil and continues to perform abroad. Jana is known for her pure, clear voice, showmanship, friendly sense of humor and natural communication with any audience combine for a dynamite concert.
Jana is an in-demand fiddle master having performed at Montreux Jazz Festival, Wembley Festival, New Orleans Jazz Festival and the largest out door theatre in the world “Aspecta” in Japan. Jana is a sought after fiddle player hosting her own “Fiddle Camp” – teaching the techniques that made her famous.
She is a member of: National Fiddler Hall of Fame, Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame, National Western Swing Hall of Fame, Idaho Hall of Fame, Mid-America Old Time Fiddler’s Hall of Fame, and an Oklahoma Governor’s Arts Award recipient.
— WPAA
