aerial view of Western's campus at night facing northwest, with golden lights surrounded by dark trees

WWU’s Western Americana Music Group breaks down barriers of music accessibility in college

The club teaches a short lesson, and then offers instruments for students to play during weekly jam sessions

by Allie Van Parys

University Communications intern

Liz Binnington leads the WAM jam session through her self-written piece, “Liz’s Farewell” (Photo by Allie Van Parys).

Guitars, fiddles, banjos, mandolins and a lone accordion all tuned to the key of A on the lawn facing Old Main. The sounds of a 1935 folk classic filled the circle of students, who sang together; “If you fill up ma jug, with some good ole mountain dew.”  

“They’re talking about moonshine,” a mandolin player said as the tune concluded. From the 1800s through Prohibition, “mountain dew” was a slang term for bootleg liquor. The phrase wasn’t used to describe the yellow-green soda until 1940s Knoxville, Tennessee, when the brand-name beverage was created as a mixer for whiskey, said Kelly Kazek in the blog “It’s a Southern Thing.”  

A mandolin player sits between a banjo and an accordion while contributing to the music (Photo by Allie Van Parys).

On Old Main lawn, old-time tunes continued to ebb and flow with the setting sun as the Western Americana Music Group (WAM) hosted a weekly jam session.

WAM’s primary focus is old-time, country and bluegrass music, but they will play virtually anything musicians bring to the table, said Henson Burk-Fawcett, a co-band manager of the club. Every Thursday, WAM hosts a lesson from 6:30 to 7 p.m. to prepare for the jam session that goes from 7 to 8. Anyone can join – even if you don’t play an instrument.  

“There’s literally no barrier,” said Liz Binnington, the current president and founder of WAM. “You show up. You don’t know how to play guitar? Here’s a guitar – we have someone who can teach you.”  

WAM applied for grants through Western for funding to provide extra guitars, fiddles, banjos, upright basses and mandolins to those who don’t already own an instrument, or if someone wants to pick up a new one.  

Lily Barto, the current vice president of the club, said people bring in all types of instruments to jam sessions. She has seen people bring in trumpets and even a harp a few times.  

“Anything that’s unconventional for the style is always fun,” Barto said.  

Barto stressed that the club is always open to new members, or those who just want to try out new instruments.  

“Music can be really inaccessible because of the cost,” Binnington said. “If you don’t have an instrument, we have one for you.”  

Three musicians sit and jam with Western Americana Music Group at Old Main lawn (Photo by Allie Van Parys).

Binnington, a violin performance major, founded WAM in spring 2024 after discussing with others in the major about her feelings of burnout. She grew up in Illinois playing fiddle music alongside her classical training. The original members of WAM came from collecting names in the violin rehearsal space, but the club later grew to surpass all of her expectations.  

A guitar player jams next to a fiddle player as the sun starts to set (Photo by Allie Van Parys).

WAM has played venues in Bellingham such as the Underground Coffee House, the Blue Room and The Orion. The largest crowd WAM has played for was at the Northwest Folklife Festival. Binnington described her experience there as “magical.”  

The Northwest Folklife Festival hosts over 4,000 artists across 25 stages in the Seattle Center. The four day festival hosts over 250,000 attendees each year, according to Sound Transit. Last year, WAM led a collaborative square dance at the festival and a jam at the Jam Tent. WAM traveled to the festival again this year, and performed a 30 minute old-time set at the Fisher Green stage and led another jam at the Jam Tent on May 24.  

Binnington’s favorite part of the Northwest Folklife Festival is listening to musicians busk around the Seattle Center and joining in.  

“We started a mini jam circle where we were like, ‘do you know this tune?’ I grabbed my violin and unpacked it. ‘What do you think of this?’ And then we just started playing together.”  

WAM’s weekly jam sessions follow this same style by forming a circle and playing songs off their song list. Musicians improvise over each song and bring their own flair to any piece.  

Binnington graduates this June and is moving to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to pursue a graduate degree. She wants to come back to Bellingham in 10 years and see WAM still thriving.  

A book titled “Clawhammer Banjo” peeks out of a banjo case laying on the grass (Photo by Allie Van Parys).

“Highkey this might be my last jam I can attend,” Binnington said to the musicians gathered on Old Main lawn. The sun was on the brink of dipping past the horizon, and mosquitos were starting to surround the group. WAM will hold their usual jam each Thursday until spring quarter concludes, but Binnington will spend the next few weeks preparing for graduation and rehearsing for her part in the pit orchestra for the student production of “Into the Woods.”  

Binnington started playing a melody on her fiddle in old-time fashion, with a hint of sadness coating each note.  

“This one is called ‘Liz’s Farewell,’” she said over the tune as others started to join. Each musician’s attention was not on their instrument, but on the fiddle player who led the self-titled piece.  

Allie Van Parys is an intern with the Office of University Communications. She is majoring in Journalism-Public Relations and minoring in English and Communication Studies.