VINTON — If Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was right, and “music is the universal language of mankind,” then there are a few of our neighbors who are doing their best to keep our youth fluent in this unifying form of communication.
Formed in 2015, the Midwest All-Music Association (MAMA), is a nonprofit organization that exists to help support school music programs, and to recognize all genres of musicians, as well as music teachers, conductors, directors and even the venues that host them.
Although MAMA covers the Midwest and goes beyond the borders of Iowa, a few of the board members have local connections. Dan Boddicker, local musician and co-owner of The Niche and Red Cedar Wines, serves as Treasurer for MAMA. Terry McCauley, a musician who has played in Benton County many times, is also on the board, and the MAMA Board Secretary is Urbana native and drummer, Craig Cronbaugh.
MAMA was formed by the late Tom Golden, who was at one time involved with the Iowa Rock and Roll Music Association, along with current MAMA President Al Hunzinger. Inductees in the first year included Opera Singer Dr. Simon Estes and Maestro Joseph Giunta, who is the conductor for the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra.
MAMA recognizes venues too, and one particular venue, the Oelwein Coliseum in Oelwein, was inducted in 2024. This venue’s owners also have a local connection, as they are the parents of Rod Moore, owner of Red Cedar Antiques in Vinton.
Both Cronbaugh and McCauley are 2022 MAMA inductees.
“I felt great when I found out I was inducted,” Cronbaugh said. “I thought, ‘wow, I finally got something to show for my years in music,’ and that’s what we want to promote to music makers and disc jockeys and all the others listed.”
McCauley, who said he was thrilled with his induction too, has played twice in Vinton over the last couple of weeks, on March 7 at Beast & Bird, and on March 14 with Dan Boddicker at The Niche Wine Room. He and Boddicker are also repeat performers on KCRG Channel 9’s “Everyday Iowa” show, aired Monday through Friday at 9:00 a.m. McCauley’s most recent appearance was on Monday, March 17.
One of the “Everyday Iowa” hosts, Justin Roberts, was inducted into MAMA’s Hall of Fame in 2024, for his support of local musicians.
According to their website MAMA’s mission is “to recognize, remember and honor the people and places that have had an impact on the music in the Midwest,” and their “vision is to preserve the history of music as well as to ensure that music has continued support in the future.” To complete this objective the MAMA organization raises funds to support school music programs and to raise public awareness on the importance of music and those who teach it and perform it.
“We just concentrate on recognizing people, using the opportunity to have an event and to raise money to foster more music. We honor the musicians, promoters, booking agents, DJs, conductors and radio personnel who represent the music scene. Ballrooms, venues and radio stations that provide a forum for the music to be expressed, as well any person or place that has contributed significantly to the Midwest music scene will be considered for induction to the MAMA Hall of Fame,” Boddicker said.
Nominations are taken each year from January 1 to June 1. Then the MAMA Board has the tough job of choosing who will be inducted. Each fall, usually in October, MAMA puts on two events that feature some of the year’s inductees.
“This gives us the opportunity to raise money to support the organization, but to mostly give back to local school music programs,” Boddicker said. “We’ve given $7,000 to schools this year, (2025) from our proceeds after expenses from 2024, to area schools in Iowa — two schools in Iowa City, and five in northwest Iowa, primarily around the Spirit Lake area.”
According to the MAMA website, the organization’s main goals are “to raise public awareness and support of musical excellence through concerts performances and special events; provide school age youth a format to showcase their talents and further their music careers; provide financial support and resources to youth music programs in middle schools within the communities where Mama Hall of Fame LLC events are held; establish a program to provide refurbished musical instruments to music booster organizations; and to recognize the achievements of the outstanding people and significant places impacting all genres of music throughout the Midwest.”
In that spirit, MAMA members have recently found another way to support young musicians, particularly drummers, with the newly organized “Craig Cronbaugh Drum Studies Scholarship.”
Boddicker said the scholarship program was formed both to help support middle school drummers, and to honor the drummer for whom it is named.
“Because Craig put so much effort into this organization, we decided to start The Craig Cronbaugh Drum Studies Scholarship. So, we’re going to be earmarking $500 a year for a scholarship to support a trap set drummer,” Boddicker said.
It’s poetic that the scholarship is aimed at helping middle schoolers, as Cronbaugh was in 6th grade when he first learned to play the drums. According to his bio, “he started playing weekends in junior high,” and “used the money he earned to pay for his schoolbooks and school lunches,” and “he played each weekend until he graduated from high school.”
Cronbaugh began playing the drums in bands professionally in 1975 around the Cedar Rapids area, including: The Hardtimes; The Good, Bad, and Ugly (with Terry Lawless); Showboat (with Ron DeWitte and Don Daugherty); Nite Moves (with Don Daugherty and Mike Williams); and The Alumni.
He also played on Chicago’s Rush Street in 1976 for four months with a music trio, before returning to Cedar Rapids to play with the Al James Show, where he “went out of state briefly on a three-week tour, performing in three of Canada’s provinces.” By 1978, he was in the original backup band for the late Artie Mentz of Dubuque, who was one of the first Elvis impersonators.
Cronbaugh recorded an album, “That Drummer!” in 1979/1980, with the help of many Cedar Rapids musicians. Most of those musicians have been inducted into the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, including: the late Louis Carr, the late Fred Walk, the late Ron DeWitte, the late Mike Sexton, Don Daugherty, and the great saxophone virtuoso Terry Lawless.
According to the drummer’s bio, the album was edited by another Hall of Famer, Dennis McMurrin, and “a single from the album released locally, played on area jukeboxes. This album has the distinction of having the largest number of Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Famers performing on a single artist’s own music LP.”
Cronbaugh, along with Don Daugherty, formed the band Nite Moves in 1983. In 1985, the band went on tour, playing in Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Wyoming.
In the 1990s Cronbaugh returned to school and graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in 1995 with a degree in Broadcast Journalism. Since then, he has been a newspaper photographer, interviewer, writer and editor for the Newspapers of Iowa County and editor for the North English Record newspaper.
In 1997, he became a Legislative Information Officer for the Iowa General Assembly Legislative Service Bureau at the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines. In 2005, he became director of this office until his retirement in 2021. In the meantime, Cronbaugh published a book, “Reaching for a Star,” in 2005, about a special friendship he had with a famous singer, Frankie Laine.
After decades of living a life dedicated to music, Cronbaugh said the formation of a scholarship in his name is an honor.
“I was very pleased that the Board did this for me. It was very exciting, because the first thing that came to my mind is that all of the years that I’ve spent with bands and drumming, trying to make my living by drumming in bands and entertaining people and all the blood, sweat and tears you put up with doing all that. ‘Blood, Sweat & Tears’—is the name of that famous band, by the way; it’s very real in the life of musicians,” Cronbaugh said. “Having a scholarship where I can, in my name, help other kids study the drums and just enable them to maybe hire a personal instructor, or attend a band camp, or buy new equipment. That just makes all the stuff I put up with in my music career worthwhile. And I can say, ‘Wow, so this is what I did all that for.’ So, I was very humbled and happy.”
Applications for the “Craig Cronbaugh Drum Studies Scholarship” can be found on the MAMA website at mamahof.com.
MAMA is also looking for nominations and for sponsors to help support the organization and the upcoming two award ceremonies (eastern and western Iowa) in October 2025. To nominate someone for a MAMA award, or to become a sponsor, visit the website at mamahof.com. For more information, folks are welcome to contact Dan Boddicker at dan@boogiewoogers.com.