Faculty & Staff Story

I know the challenge of navigating through the industry, and I am motivated to give students a pathway to work in an industry that they truly love.”

Jeff Little is the Chair of the Music Department at Catawba College. He is also the Director of the Music Business Program and the Artist in Residence for the Popular Music Program. He teaches classes in Popular Music and Music Business, and he also directs the music ensembles on campus.

Jeff is a member of the “Jeff Little Trio” which is a band that travels around the country performing traditional old-time country and bluegrass music. His performances have included venues such as the Smithsonian Institution, the American Folk Festival, the National Council for the Traditional Arts, American Piano Masters, and the PBS concert “Doc Watson and Jeff Little”. He has also performed internationally for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in such countries as Sri Lanka, Oman, Bahrain, France, and Tanzania.

He chose and loves Catawba because of its sense of community. “What I love about Catawba is the true sense of community and the support from faculty and staff and students. There is a connection between faculty and staff and students. Everyone is there to help. There is that feeling of collaboration.”

Jeff considers one of most outstanding achievements at Catawba to be creating Music industry programs that provide students a pathway to do what they love. He said, “I love being a part of a program where we get to create a curriculum and help students get to make a career. I want to give them the broad set of skills and knowledge to find entryway to the industry so that they then can network about their art.”