‘Blood harmony’: Second generation songwriter wins SAMI honor 25 years after her mother
For a first time, honors at Songwriters Association of Mid-north Indiana's annual youth competition run in the family.
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Today’s edition leads off with this from reporter Tim Brouk.
‘Blood harmony’: Second generation songwriter wins SAMI honor 25 years after her mother
By Tim Brouk / For Based in Lafayette
When Greta Schap took the stage at the 2026 Songwriters Association of Mid-north Indiana’s (SAMI) annual Shirley Martin Scholarship competition, Scott Greeson was instantly transported back 25 years — to another talented young songwriter named Annie Hatke.
The May 4 event showcased the winners of the scholarship competition, which is open to area talents ages 14-19. While Samantha Valente earned top prize and Claireen Cheng won runner-up, Schap was a co-winner of the Horizon Award. Her mother in attendance, Annie (Hatke) Schap, shined in the same competition 25 years ago. It was the first time in the scholarship’s 26 years that a child of a former winner placed for the scholarship. Aubrey Plass was named the other co-winner of the Horizon Award.
While Greeson retired from judging the scholarship entries, he is the current president of SAMI, and the musician was struck at how much Greta reminded him of her mother’s talents.
“When I heard her sing and when I heard the song, I heard the timbre of her voice, and it reminded me of her mother’s. But it has its own uniqueness, both uniquely beautiful and amazing,” Greeson recalled. “Their voices and their control of pitch and inflection really, really stand out to me. I’m telling you, I can’t wait to hear her recordings. She’s that good.”
According to SAMI, award “recipients receive cash awards, professional feedback and mentoring. In recent years, REC Room Recording has provided professional recordings of the winners’ songs. Since its inception, the self-funded SAMI scholarship has provided approximately $23,000 back to area youth.”
Get Swifty
The younger Schap is not a clone of mom. While she can play guitar, mandolin and piano, the teen’s instrument of choice is the ukulele while elder Schap strums acoustic guitars primarily. Annie was heavily influenced by folk legends like Pete Seeger, Patty Griffin, Nanci Griffith and early Bob Dylan. Greta’s influences are more typical for a 2020s teen — megastar Taylor Swift and newer contemporaries like Gracie Abrams and Khloe Rose. Still, the passion for music and songwriting flows through their veins and it is written into their DNA, even if there is a generational gap between influences.
“When I was 13, 14, I got really into Taylor Swift,” Greta recalled, “and honestly, I feel like playing her songs kind of boosted my ukulele skills. I would try the instrumentals in the beginning (of Swift’s songs). It would be hard and then it’d be easier. I just feel like it might have helped me get more fluent.”
But genetics in music are nothing without support and encouragement and access to music and creativity. The Schap family home, a mid-late 19th century workers cottage in downtown Lafayette, teems with music throughout the day and into the night. There are dozens of musical instruments hanging on the walls, resting against furniture or tucked away in baskets ready to be played. There are two pianos, an organ, a xylophone, and numerous music books filling shelves for inspiration and added know-how. The atmosphere is welcoming, not only for music creation but family, friend and neighbor togetherness.
Greta is the second oldest of five Schap sisters — Anya, 18; Elka, 14; Ingrid, 12; and Sylvi, 6. At the moment, all live under the same roof with parents Annie and Martin Schap, but Anya will be attending DePauw University in the fall. The five daughters are home-schooled, and song and songwriting can break out any moment.
“Children come in and they say, ‘I want to live here,’” Annie laughed. “One kid said, ‘This house is a slice of heaven.’ And I was like, ‘Really?’ Like, ‘What?’ I think it’s because I had so many snacks that day.”
The process
In this digital world, Greta is defiant, choosing ink and paper to scrawl ideas and lyrics in a notebook. However, the tome is always organized, at the ready and getting cumbersome with songs finished, in process or abandoned for later.
Annie was writing her own songs at Greta’s age. The mother and daughter have similar approaches to crafting a song.
“Having children is so cool because you get to see what’s like you and what’s not like you. And Greta is definitely my child who is most just like me,” Annie smiled. “I don’t really write anymore but when I did write songs, it would just be like, it’s in there and I would just get it out. And that was it. It was never a struggle. And I feel like that’s a little how she is, especially with her lyrics. She just is like, ‘Oh, I have an idea.’ And then she’ll scurry away.”
In a house where electronic devices are scarce and guitars, mandolins and banjos are many, Greta’s songwriting and performance chops have been partly cultivated through YouTube. For years, she and her mother — and sometimes a sister or two or three or four — would perform cover tunes new and old together and post them online. The songs earn praise from all over the globe.
A typical performance has Annie strumming the chords while Greta plucks out the melody on the ukulele. They both sing in unison with what they learned to call “blood harmony” from an NPR report.
“When you are biologically related, you have like an intonation that matches super well,” Annie explained. “It makes super sense — your harmonies match really well.”
The future
Somewhat surprisingly, 40% of the Schap sisters found other creative passions in their upbringings. Oldest Anya has been a ballet dancer for years, while middle child Elka leans toward fiber arts. But the two youngest, Ingrid and Sylvi, seem to be gravitating towards their mother and older sister’s musical precedence. Ingrid is Greta’s favorite jam and songwriting partner, and youngest Sylvi is already writing her own little piano ditties.
When Annie was just a year or two older than Greta, she was a familiar face on-stage around Lafayette, from Long Center for the Performing Arts and Duncan Hall to local coffee shops. While her gigging has slowed down, except for an Aug. 8 Float Jam solo show on a boat in the Wabash River from Tapawingo Park, Greta foresees some kind of band in the near future. She first got acclimated to stage sitting in with her mother and longtime songwriting and performing partner, the late-great Kim Strother, and showing off her skills at Indiana Fiddlers’ Gathering open stages. In the meantime, she will record her music and play around the house, whether it’s for one sister, the whole Schap family or myriad guests, relatives and friends always popping in. She’d also like get her catchy acoustic pop songs on Spotify. Greta also plans on entering the Shirley Martin Scholarship competition at least one more time.
“I do want to do more,” Greta said. “Honestly, it’s kind of funny because I feel like I had more in the musical life when I was little and all my mom’s friends were around. … The sound that I want, I need other people playing other instruments and digital sounds.
“I love the sound of electric guitar. It’s so fun. It’s got, like, what I want. And so instead of getting better at guitar, which I also want to do, but I also want to get an electric ukulele because they make solid body electrics on ukulele and I really want to try one.”
A successful singer, songwriter and musician around Greater Lafayette for about 30 years Greeson was thrilled to see Greta win an award but also carry on the talent and charisma her mother displayed — and still does at home and during the occasional public performance. But it’s not just DNA that set up Greta for success; it’s the family dynamic of Annie and Martin allowing their daughters to pursue music and the arts in a house where creativity and learning are fostered every day.
“It’s beautiful when a parent sees a talent in a child and provides that environment that allows them to grow,” Greeson said. “What the Schaps do by surrounding the kids with instruments and encouraging them and the way they live their life through movement and exercise and singing and authenticity — that’s what creates not only great musicians, but great humans.”
Tim Brouk is a longtime arts and entertainment reporter. He writes the weekly Tim’s Picks column, tracking things to do for Based in Lafayette.
SPEAKING OF THE INDIANA FIDDLERS’ GATHERING: NOW PLAYING …
The annual festival of string music and playing under the trees at the Tippecanoe Battlefield continues Saturday and Sunday, June 27-18, in Battle Ground. Daily tickets and weekend passes are available here.
Here’s the schedule for the remaining days.
Saturday, June 27
(Free events)
Noon — Open stage
(Ticketed)
2 p.m. — Zacbé Pichardo and Irekani Ferreyra
3 p.m. — Stones River Reelers
4 p.m. — Travelers Dream
5 p.m. — Bobcat Opossum
6 p.m. — Square dance (free)
7 p.m. — Steam Machine
8 p.m. — Djangophonique
9 p.m. — Ashlee Watkins & Andrew Small
10 p.m. — Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
Sunday, June 28
(Donations only)
10 a.m. — Workshops
Noon — Open stage
1 p.m. — Mark Stoffel’s Kitchen Table Crew
2 p.m. — Ashlee Watkins and Andrew Small
3 p.m. — Fugu Dugu
4 p.m. — Sendoff jam / Farewell / Closing bell
For a taste, here’s a bit from headliner Michael Cleveland, making his return to the Fiddlers’ Gathering.
Thanks, again, to sponsor Stuart & Branigin for continued support of the Based in Lafayette reporting project.
Thanks also for support from Purdue Convocations, presenting Shucked, Riverdance 30, KODO, Clue, Black Panther in Concert, The Wiz, and more! Single-show tickets are now available. Grab your favorite show today or create your own season package and save 10% with a PICK5 subscription! View the full season of dance, theater, music, and ideas, and BUY TICKETS today!
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