Alma Russ

Alma Russ is a singer/songwriter living in western North Carolina. She sings a blend of folk, bluegrass, and mountain ballads and plays fiddle, claw-hammer banjo and guitar. Born in north-central Florida, Alma spent the first 12 years of her life on the family farm in Oxford, a small town about 45 minutes south of Gainesville. Summer vacations with her family to western North Carolina fostered early interests in "Old Time Music." As a child, Alma learned to sing mountain ballads, (traditional songs passed down generations from Scotch-Irish immigrants to the area). The Appalachian culture was also one of Alma's first inspirations for learning to play fiddle. Alison Krauss, an early influence, inspired her to begin fiddle lessons around age 12. It was about this time that Alma's family moved to Whittier, NC, a small town just outside Smoky Mountain National Park. Alma continued learning fiddle and later took claw-hammer banjo lessons with the JAM program (Junior Appalachian Musicians). A