Instigator, Repertoire
Ava has been playing music since her first guitar lesson in the 4th grade. She has always been one to entertain and stand out in front of a crowd. She began making music with others just after her twin boys were born in 2008.
In 2010 she attended a square dance and quickly signed up to learn how to call the dances. On the fast track in the years to follow, she attended many workshops and festivals including the American Festival of Fiddle Tunes and Dare to Be Square West workshops in Seattle, Los Angeles and Oakland. Recently she facilitated, organized, and hosted DTBS-W in Boise in November of 2024. Now, 15-plus years later, she is the main caller for the Boise square dances and is mentoring new and upcoming callers. She is highly influenced by old-time musicians of older generations as well as peers who are eager to share this traditional art form.
She has been hired by Centrum, in Port Townsend, WA; The Portland Old Time Music Gathering in Portland, OR; The Every Sunday Square Dance in Portland, OR; and The Tractor Tavern square dance in Seattle, WA. She is a member of the Idaho Change Leader Institute sponsored by the Idaho Commission on the Arts. She has been hired by the Alaska Folk Festival in Juneau, AK as the featured square dance caller in 2015, a great honor and testament to her accomplishments. In the Spring of 2017 she traveled to Baltimore, Ireland to call a dance at the 25th annual Baltimore Fiddle Fair.
Locally, she is the head caller for the pre-pandemic First Friday Square Dance. She plays guitar, stand up bass, sings, and writes music with the Boise-based band, Idyltime. She initiated and co-hosts the weekly Old Time Jam at White Dog Brewery. She has done a residency atthe Foothills School, Washington Elementary, Sage International School, and has taught workshops for TRICA as well as the Boise Public Library for school-aged children and faculty. Ava travels to teach students in rural areas square dancing. One of her favorite trips was to the historic Roseberry Barn where she taught to over 140 4th graders. She was a co-founder and co-director of the Hermit Music Festival in Kuna ID for the first 7 years, which featured local and regional traditional folk musicians and offered hands-on workshops for all ages.
She is the founder of Boise Old Time, an organization for old-time music and dance in the greater Boise area. Through Boise Old Time she promotes and instigates local musicians and enthusiasts alike to gather together in a greater community for the promotion and love of old-time music and dance. She invites and hosts out-of-town musicians, dance callers, and bands for house concerts, workshops, dances, and gatherings. A true instigator.
