The Deep Roots Music Project

The Deep Roots Music Project was founded in 1998 by high school teacher Chris Gragg and his students at Reynolds High School in Troutdale, Oregon. It is a music-based high school language arts curriculum that uses the power of music - and real-life writing lessons taught by professional musician volunteers - as an inspirational tool designed to help students not only to become better and more enthusiastic writers, but more skilled thinkers and collaborators as well.

During each school site’s annual musician-led songwriting workshops, professional musicians mentor high school students, who respond by writing original song lyrics that local bands then help craft into finished songs. The songs are recorded in a studio, and immortalized on annual compilation music CDs.

Students are involved and work together during every step of the CD-making process. They are encouraged to write, evaluate, and revise their lyrics with focus and intensity. They attend and participate in recording sessions along with the musicians, create artwork for the CDs'covers, organize yearly concert celebrations, publicize and market their CD products, and sell enough of the annual music CDs so that the original site became self-funding after its first year.

In 2006, The program established a teacher training institute at Portland, Oregon's Lewis and Clark College and the Northwest Writing Institute, and began efforts to expand the program to new communities and schools throughout the United States.