Barefoot Bluegrass—Santa Cruz family band aims to help children learn music (VIDEO)
Three days a week on Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz, the Abbott family plays “mountain music” — their brand of self-taught bluegrass. This family band is full of eccentricities, including the fact that they don’t like wearing shoes, but they do like spending time together, and playing music from the heart.
In fact, that’s the premise behind the family’s Toneway Project — the idea that children should learn to play music by sounding it out and discovering how to play, rather than taking formal lessons and reading music.
This video follows the Abbott family members as they play their music, describe their family dynamic and explain how the Abbott boys learned their instruments.