“During the mid-1980s, I was the consulting folklorist for a Michigan Council for the Arts Folk Artists in the Schools program at the Carmen-Ainsworth district in Flint. One of the artists was fiddler, Chip Walker, who not only played music, but was wonderful for teaching children how to conduct interviews, because he was very patient and funny.

Another artist was Lois Bettesworth’s Shades of Blue. Shades of Blue played at local senior centers and elsewhere and had a devoted contingent of square and contra dancers. Some of these would come to the schools and teach the kids to dance, while Shades of Blue played.

There was a nice write-up in the local paper, and I took a few photos.” — Eliot Singer