Dan Malloy, President

Dan enjoys most types of music, that is, music played by people on musical instruments, not computers. He grew up on Rock'n'roll, and later got into Country Rock, Jazz, and the wide range of music that has come to be known as Americana.

Dan and his wife Patricia lived in Naples, Italy from 2014 to 2021. His souvenir gift to himself was a handmade Neapolitan style mandolin, the kind with the big, round belly. He started with a book of Italian classics and taught himself to play somewhat. Returning to Huntsville, he purchased a more conventional f-style mandolin and made a commitment to learn to read music. Still working on that.

Over the years, Dan played socially in bands with high school and college friends. These days he keeps himself amused with his 6-string and 12-string acoustics, a hollow-body electric, the mandolins, a handful of harmonicas, and a digital piano which is woefully neglected but does get some love occasionally.

In college, Dan served as President of the Penn State Jazz Club and as a member of the University Concert Committee, helping to bring local and national artists to the university.

Dan is a regular participant at HTMA Jam Sessions, Song Circles, and other events. He plays on occasion at Huntsville area open mic nights, and regularly at senior living communities.

Russ Holder, Vice President

Russ has been playing Guitar/DobroTM Resonator Guitar since he was in Junior High School and has been teaching those instruments since the year 2000. He is a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist that has performed across the United States from Florida to Ohio and North Carolina to Hawaii. His parents introduced him and his younger brothers to music at an early age. Once he and his brothers & friends learned to play guitar/mandolin/banjo/bass/Dobro in their teen years, they formed a music group and began performing around the Southeast US. They were early members of the Huntsville Association of Folk Musicians (HAFM) and Russ is the current Vice-President of the Huntsville Traditional Music Association (HTMA).

From 1998 to 2025, Russ performed and recorded with several different music groups touring the mid-South region. He has been a regular performer at the Bluebird Café, Big Spring Jam, Panoply, Concerts in the Park and regional music Festivals. Russ has had the honor to perform/jam with such artists as Charlie Louvin, Ken Mellons, Rob Ickes, John Hartford, Charlie Collins, Vassar Clements, Claire Lynch, Pete Wernick and hundreds of jammers at IBMA, SPBGMA, Great American Jam, Station Inn, CMA Fest, ABMA and HTMA events. 

Russ is a current member of the Grasstronauts Bluegrass band, the WoodPickers acoustic Americana band, Cristina Lynn Trio songwriter group, teaches at the Huntsville Strings Shop, attends local/regional music Jams & enjoys working with music students of all ages. In 2025, Russ became a certified Wernick Method Jam instructor and enjoys helping students play music together in groups.

Tut Smith, Secretary /Treasurer

Tut likes all kinds of music and thinks of it as a participative sport through guitar, vocals, and harmonica. Gifted a harmonica when he was around 10, he was playing songs before the day was out. At 12 he had 6 months of guitar lessons at Dudley Wales Studio on Jordan Lane. The studio is long gone but a firm foundation was laid which was not forgotten as the guitar lay fallow for several years. At 17, a good friend visited with his 12 string and a book of John Denver songs. Shortly thereafter Tut took his Hardee's Hamburger savings to Hornbuckles Music Shop where he acquired a brand new Yamaha 6 string. He has been on an enjoyable journey ever since. 

Tut is a regular participant at HTMA jam events and participates with others from HTMA at several senior living communities. Most Wednesdays will find him at choir practice and working with the Praise Team where he goes to church.

Jani Cross Carter, Performance Chair

Erin Keniston, Communications/ Membership

Erin got her first guitar when she was a mere child of nine. It was a cheapo Sears guitar (she still has it) and like Jerry's Kay guitar, is nearly unplayable. But she taught herself "Puff the Magic Dragon" and kept going, learning a number of 60's folk songs and then moving into late 60's popular music.

Erin grew up mostly along the Gulf Coast but moved to Huntsville in 2000 to marry her husband, David. David passed away in 2018, leaving Erin with a giant hole in her life. After a few years, Erin began wanting to make friends and knew music needed to be part of a new life, but nothing seemed to work. Then one fateful day, she was heading to Cattyshack at Lowe Mill A&E and was stopped short by a bunch of people sitting in a circle playing and singing!

That was a Saturday Jam; Erin came back the next week and has never stopped coming. "My playing skills and my voice have both improved," she says, "but the BEST thing about HTMA is the friendships I've made. This is a very warm and welcoming bunch of people, and I'm proud and happy to serve on the Board to help other people find the same kind of companionship I've found here."

Mark Spain, Operations Chair

Mark grew up in Huntsville during the 60s and 70s and graduated from J.O. Johnson High School in 1975. After serving four years in the United States Air Force, he earned a BS in Accounting and Computer Science from Jacksonville State University. Mark went on to spend his career traveling across 42 states and six countries implementing ERP business systems for companies of all sizes.

Music has always been part of Mark’s life. He first picked up an acoustic guitar in college, learning a few basic chords between classes and work. A demanding career kept him on the road for decades, but retirement finally opened the door for him to return to music. He now plays a PRS electric and a Taylor 314ce, and is steadily building his skills through lessons, online courses, and local jams.

Mark is excited to serve as HTMA’s Operations Chair and to help support the organization’s mission from behind the scenes. He is especially passionate about creating welcoming spaces for beginners and is proud to help develop HTMA’s new “Beginner Jam” program.

Jerry LeCroy, Club Historian

Jerry is a child of the fifties who received his first guitar, an almost totally unplayable Kay, when he was 14 or so. After that he struggled with a succession of slightly less unplayable guitars until 1974 when he was able to buy a new Guild D-40 from a friend who was opening a guitar shop. 

For almost twenty years that poor guitar spent most of the time in its case, but in the early 90s Jerry began attending meetings of what was then the Tennessee Valley Association Of Folk, Traditional And Old Time Musicians. Being exposed to better musicians and playing in front of a room full of people were both terrific growth factors for Jerry, and he became engaged in helping the organization later re-named Huntsville Traditional Music Association continue to operate and grow. 

Jerry likes most genres of music, though he might have limited patience with operatic forms. Early in his career he learned tunes from the great 1960s folk music scare, as performed by Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Tom Paxton, and a hundred others. Today he mostly tries to learn tunes that catch his attention for the lyrical quality and content. Never one for fancy guitar picking or note-for-note recitations, he plays by ear despite being half deaf. 

Jerry has served in most of the HTMA officer and Committee Chair positions at one time or another, though he may have skipped the vice president slot. He continues to support and hope for the long term success of the association. 

Mike Ball, Previous President

Mike began playing guitar at 10 years old and picked up several other instruments along the way including piano, fiddle, bass, banjo, and mandolin. Although, he sings hundreds of country classics, bluegrass, western swing, popular (mostly from the 60’s and 70’s) and gospel songs, Mike also greatly enjoys providing musical accompaniment and vocal harmony for other singers. 

Music comforted him during childhood tragedy and helped him through adolescence and his many years of service as a Marine, State Trooper, Criminal Investigator, and State Representative, as outlined in his book, “Picking, Politicking, and Pontificating.” Since his retirement from the Alabama Legislature in 2022, Mike has enjoyed living the happiest time of his life surrounded by music, friendship, and faith. But most of all, love.