It’s a story of chance encounters, dreams being realized, and a love for bluegrass music, one that extends from Michigan to the mountains of Tennessee.
For Jim Kortge, his college preparation led him into a career in engineering physics, but he always loved music. He played violin, then viola, through high school and big band/jazz guitar for years. When he heard Earl Scruggs’ “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” he had to learn banjo.
He and his wife Kathy (who plays Dobro) would often travel from their Fenton, Michigan
home to various bluegrass events, including one at Silver Dollar City in Branson,
Missouri.
There, the first of several fortuitous meetings took place.
The Kortges met singer-songwriter Becky Buller, an ETSU graduate and later recipient of 10 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) awards. They chatted about bluegrass and Jim inquired about taking fiddle lessons from her. Buller told them she would be teaching at Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Kamp in Maryville, Tennessee the following year.
It was the beginning of a friendship between Buller and the Kortges. Through the years that followed, they stayed in touch and would reconnect at bluegrass camps and festivals. And it was in those discussions that the Kortges learned about the Bluegrass, Old-Time and Roots Music program at Buller’s alma mater, ETSU.
And then another chance meeting happened – this time at a bluegrass festival in Marshall, Michigan.
It was after an evening jam session when the Kortges struck up a conversation with a young bass player, Katelynn Lowe. She had perhaps stopped by to jam with them because one of her friends was there. Katelynn shared with the Kortges her desire to finish college and study bluegrass music.
“We asked her if she had heard of ETSU,” recalls Kathy, who had become familiar with
the Buccaneers’ program from contacts with professor Dan Boner and Becky Buller.
“Turns out, she knew all about ETSU and, in fact, it was her dream school,” Kathy
added.
Knowing that Michigan was home to many people who had a deep love for bluegrass and old-time music, the Kortges created a scholarship designed to pave the pathway for a student from Michigan to attend ETSU. And for Katelynn, who was from Michigan, this meant that she would be able to attend ETSU.
The Kortges stayed in touch with Katelynn and followed her success in the bluegrass program. They even traveled to Johnson City to attend her ETSU graduation ceremony. Today, Katelynn (now Katelynn Bohn) travels the country playing bass with the Tray Wellington band.
“We saw how much that scholarship program did for Katelynn and the success she is now enjoying, and we knew we wanted to do more, and help other students,” Jim said.
The Kortges made a second gift to the ETSU Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Roots Music Studies program to create more scholarship opportunities for students.
They also donated three instruments – a Blueridge BR180 guitar, a Weber F9 mandolin, and a Gibson A9 mandolin – to the ETSU program, for use by students as they learned different instruments.
“It is so gratifying for us to see how our gifts are being used to enrich and impact the lives of so many other students,” Jim said.