About us

Behind the scenes at Greenleaf

We are a group of musicians who love Old Time American fiddle and dance tunes; arguably amongst the oldest of American music.  We have formed the Greenleaf Old Time Music Association (GLOTMA.org) in Oklahoma, to introduce and foster the love of playing this music to the younger generation, thus keeping it alive for all to enjoy for many years to come in this region of the country.
By creating this festival, we seek to create a welcoming environment for people to gather together, make new friends, jam and trade tunes.    This is a laid-back environment by design.  We have no formal stages or rigid schedules.  We place a high priority on jams whether planned or spontaneous (organic), in any size of group from two to a dozen or more.  Jamming with others helps form the bond of a music in common for people who may have nothing else in common.  Whether you have been playing your whole life, or just learning, there is always opportunity to learn a new tune, a new technique or a new instrument in the old-time genre.
We bring in internationally known artists to teach workshops in the craft of playing old time music. Unlike many other workshops that teach you just one tune, our workshops give you the tools, hands-on practice, and understanding to play many tunes either by yourself or with others. Besides the workshops, our artists will also be “on the ground” playing right beside you in impromptu jams. Some workshops offered include old time backup guitar, fiddle chording, and old time banjo. Attend any or all, and workshops are FREE!

The faces behind our festival

Meet our committee

Glen Schmidt

Festival Director
Campsite Coordinator
Advertising
Website & Social Media
Fundraising
And many more things behind the scenes...

Shirley Adams

Member at large
Grants
Silent Auction
Door Prizes
Tent & Information Booth
Fundraising
And many more things behind the scenes...

Mike Long

Talent Director
Workshops
Artists
Concerts
Festival Schedule<br
And many more things behind the scenes...

Carol Young

Hospitality
Carol works tirelessly behind the scenes to cook fabulous meals for our artists.
Festival Newsletter/information
Finances
And many more things behind the scenes...

Jeff Worley

Member at large
Finances
501(c)(3) LLC Adminstrator
And many more things behind the scenes...

Lorri Westbrook

Member at large
COFFEE!
Hospitality
Volunteer Coordinator
Festival Information
And many more things behind the scenes...

Josh Wills

Youth Representative
We are proud to bring in one of our own youth to add to the board this year.
Josh is part of our future!
Josh learned to love old time music at Greenleaf 4 years ago, and he has become a fiddle force to be reckoned with. Josh made it a personal goal to visit one or more festivals per month in 2025 and he now has an excellent festival perspective to bring back to us.
Josh keeps us grounded in what appeals to future generations of old time players.

Meet our advisory board - chosen more or less to represent regional interests

Kate Kerr 400x400

Kate Kerr - Colorado & more

A lot of the success of this festival from the Colorado Rockies and west is due to Kate. She beleived in what we were doing from the get go, and a lot of people came the first time, just on her word! (and have come back ever since!) As a member of our advisory board, Kate gives us a lot of valuable feedback that she has gathered "from the field."

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Greg Jones - Wisconsin & all things north

Greg & wife Linda joined our festival as kind of experiement upon the urging of Kate Kerr. The experiment worked and they have been back ever since. As a frequent jammer and festival goer "in the north", he brings an excellent perspective to our advsiory board, as to what our festival needs to sustain excellent jams and teaching. Greg also is an excellent supporter of the silent auction with his well sought after woodent instrument stands.

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Kristin Graue - Kansas, Missouri and more

There are a lot of excellent players in the south central midwest, and Kristin is not only one of those players, but she also hangs out with a lot of those players. When we asked about a representative from the area, her friends from the area thought she would best represent the Lawrence and KC areas. However, Kristin goes to a lot of festivals all over, and we appreciate the cross section of information that she can bring to the advisory board.
And...you also might not find a sweeter, more gentle personality than her!

Meredith 400x400

Meridith Gould - Nashville & East

Meridith spends part of her time in Nashville and part of her time in New York. At the time we asked her to be on the committee, she was the easternmost attendee of our fest...so it seemed reasonable that she represent "east of the Mississippi" Meridith is a seasoned jammer and is committed to our mission of having a lot of open jams that are inclusive and excellent education for all attendees. She travelled to her first Greenleaf on the urging of Gretchen Priest-May and she has been back ever since!

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Cliff White - North Central Missouri

Cliff hails from Jefferson City, MO. He was at the very first Greenleaf and every one since. He does his best to represent Missouri fiddling and music, but as we know, Missouri fiddling can be regionally divergent and probably no one person can speak for all of Missouri. Cliff is a bit of a rebel in that he likes to play music from other regions in addtion to music from his home area! Cliff has a lot of festival experience as well as jam dynamics and we felt he could contribute well to Greenleaf on the advisory committee.

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Craig Duffy - NW Arkansas

When Greenleaf was just an experiment, Craig and a group of his fellow players hopped over the border and gave our festival a try. We (the committee) had never met or played with anyone from the NW Arkansas area, even though they are just a short distance away. Well, the NW Arkansas folks have been back every year and bring their spin on regional old time music. Since the the Tulsa area players have been able to collaborate a bit with the Arkansas players. Craig is also the president of the Arkansas State Old Time Fiddlers Association -- Northwest Chapter So we asked Craig to join our advisory committee.