Country
USA residing in Germany
Heidi Jamila is an amateur fiddle player residing in a small town south of Hamburg, Germany. The first bluegrass music festival she attended over 20 years ago at Florida’s Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park began a life-long passion for Bluegrass. One rare opportunity Heidi had there was to shake the hand of Vassar Clemens, as a young classical viola player expressing interest in learning Bluegrass. Seeing Vassar’s large gnarled fingers engulf her small hand as he told her to keep playing, left her honoured and inspired. She discovered that these jam circles welcome all ages, stages and proficiencies: everybody gets a chance for a solo! This welcoming Bluegrass atmosphere is a trait that Heidi would like to feature and promote in the EBMA community.
Heidi has played professionally in bands in the northwest of Florida from 2006 to 2013 in a variety of genres, has dabbled in guitar and songwriting, and enjoyed festival volunteer work in Florida and USA’s west coast. Later picking up careers in aviation and maritime industries, Heidi continued playing occasional gigs in south Florida and northern England. Each new area brings a refreshed challenge in finding a fitting music scene. Her wish as a part of the EBMA is to represent and help other lonely players to seek out new jams and festivals throughout Europe.
Heidi says: “It is the greatest time to be a Bluegrass fan! There are so many superb interpretations and evolutions happening today. That is why I think that background, age, instrumentation, or other music genre interests should never hinder someone from joining a Bluegrass community. These amazing instruments and jams are to be shared and enjoyed by everyone.”