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BANJO CAMP NORTH®
May 14, 15, & 16, 2010
Music Director: Phil Zimmerman
Click for BCN Photo Gallery
| Music Camps North are Banjo Camp North, Mandolin Camp North,
Old Time Music Camp North | |
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Click for BCN Photo Gallery |
BANJO CAMP NORTH®May 14, 15, & 16, 2010Music Director: Phil Zimmerman
| Click for BCN Photo Gallery |
| Click here to read Art Edelstein's Banjo Camp North article first published in Vermont's Times-Argus newspaper. |
| 2010 BCN Staff Bios. |
| BCN 2009 Class Descriptions. |
| BCN 2009 Class Schedule - PDF format. |
| Camp photos. |
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10th ANNIVERSARY BANJO EXTRAVAGANZA CONCERT May 13th, 2010 Presented by the Staff of BCN |
| Staff Bios | Contact Us | Registration | Directions | Sponsors | Accommodations | Message Board | Boston Info |
Banjo Camp North is a weekend-long celebration of the 5-string banjo in both old time and bluegrass styles! World-class banjoists make up our full-time and "adjunct" faculties. We have invited several top flight fiddlers and guitarists to teach about playing with other instruments and jamming, and to be on hand to help make those all-night jams something special. In response to previous attendees requests, this year we are adding a Fiddle Track for both Bluegrass and Old Time, plus we will emphasize banjo and fiddle duet playing.
| Click here to read what attendees said about BCN. |
Camp will open Friday at 12:00 PM for registration, jamming, and instruction. Registration will occur in the Adult Center starting at 12:30. We'll have hands-on workshops, round robin demonstrations and guided jam sessions for three days, a Friday night "meet the faculty concert," a formal concert Saturday night, and lots and lots of time for jamming and getting to know each other. Our resident instrument specialist will be there from 12 PM on Friday and all day Saturday. Lecture-demonstrations about banjo history and setup will be offered. Instrument vendors and makers, plus recordings, accessories and books will be on sale in our market area. Attendees are encouraged to bring banjos and other instruments for sale or trade.
The Beginners' Track provides instruction for absolute beginners (those who haven't played before), and those who can play a little bit, but still can't play with other people or pick out tunes on their own. Click below for more information.
Advancing Beginners and Intermediates will find classes geared to their levels and needs. Advancing beginners may still only play a few phrases and chords, but they have some basic banjo experience. In general intermediates know some tunes but aren't able to play up to speed yet. They are still working on rhythm. They may already read tab or notation, but can use help playing by ear and learning to arrange a tune or song on their own.
Classes at the Advancing Beginners/Intermediate level will include Learning To Play What You Hear, Playing Slow Tunes, Choosing Your Next Banjo, Introduction to Modern Bluegrass Style, Old Time Banjo, Translating Fiddle Tunes To The Banjo, What To Do When Another Instrument Has The Lead, Accompanying Singing, and many more. At Banjo Camp the emphasis is on using tab minimally - just to get you started playing.
For the Advanced Players, there will be added classes in Arranging Tunes or Songs For The Banjo, Introduction To What It Takes To Be An Effective Sideman, Playing For A Living, Playing And Composing For Commercials, and more.
The weekend will include at least 120 class hours plus guided jams at all speeds and levels. After each evening program there will be plenty of time for free jams, again at various levels. Most of the classes are hands on, practical learning situations. A few are demonstrations or mini-concerts, but even in these classes the intention is for you to take something away that you may want to learn or speak with the instructors about later. You are encouraged to bring a recording device of some kind.
Several other workshops that have been popular will be repeated. They include Maintaining and Optimizing Your Banjo, Playing With Others, Singing With The Banjo, Stagecraft, and Recording Techniques. There will be instruction at all levels.
| Read the Beginners' Track Page for news of this exciting offering. |
Banjo Camp North takes place at a beautiful wooded lakeside setting near Groton Massachusetts. Cabins are heated, so you don't have to worry about our unpredictable New England weather.
Cabins: The cabins each have 3 or 4 rooms, and each room has 2 or 3 bunk beds. Each cabin also has 2 bathrooms and one shower. Separate women-only cabins are available. Cabins are far enough away from the playing/jamming areas so that quiet at bed-time won't be a problem. But then again many of you won't want to sleep, anyway! There is no smoking allowed in any of the buildings and no alcohol allowed on the camp site. Local accommodations are available for those who want to bring the family, or just prefer more privacy. The tuition fee will be adjusted for commuters.
Meals: Meals are provided as part of the tuition package, and vegetarian meals are available. Dinner will be served promptly at 6 PM Friday. The meals schedule for the rest of the weekend will be announced in the program book at camp time.
Off site residence: Click here for local accommodations. Electric hookups are available on site for motor homes, but there are no on site facilities for water or waste hookups.
Contact information: Visit our website http://www.BanjoCampNorth.com often for latest information.
Early Sign-Up Discount Due Date Is February 15, 2010
Payment Options
Mike Holmes
(774) 207-0284
Camp office:
Banjo Camp North
PO Box 1755
Orleans, MA 02653Staff Instructors BCN 2010
 Greg Cahill has been playing bluegrass banjo since the early 1970s and formed The Special Consensus in 1975. Greg has appeared on all of The Special Consensus recordings (14 to date) and has released three solo recordings: Lone Star with guests Jethro Burns and Byron Berline, Blue Skies with mandolin virtuoso Don Stiernberg, and Night Skies with Don and guests Sam Bush, Glen Duncan and Tom Boyd. He has appeared on national television and radio commercials. He teaches bluegrass banjo at The Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, conducts workshops at festivals and music camps nationally and internationally and has released four banjo instructional videos/DVDs. Greg created and initiated the Traditional American Music (TAM) Program for in-school presentations in 1984 and continues to bring that program to students of all ages nationally and internationally. In 2006, Greg was elected Board Chairperson/President of the International Bluegrass Music Association and he continues to serve in that position.
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 Tony Trischka has been identified with expanding the boundaries of the instrument and how it is played, ever since his first book, Melodic Banjo appeared in 1973. He has written several other books including Hot Licks for Bluegrass Banjo and (with Peter Wernick) Masters of the 5-String Banjo, & has been a frequent banjo columnist for many magazines. He has many instructional recordings to his credit, and been on faculty at instructional camps nationwide. He has recorded eleven solo albums, appeared with the bands Skyline and Country Cooking on another nine, and was also featured on perhaps a dozen other duet, anthology and special project recordings.
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 Alan Munde From his bluegrass apprenticeship with Jimmy Martin to his 21-year stint with Country Gazette, Alan has blazed a trail as one of the most innovative and influential banjo players of all time. Alan has supplemented his recorded work with several instructional publications for the banjo. Alan taught from 1986 to 2007 at the Bluegrass and Country Music Program at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, a program which has produced many professional musicians nationwide. In recent years, Alan has performed and recorded with his South Plains faculty colleague (and former Gazette-mate) Joe Carr, and heads the Alan Munde Gazette, and performs with other local groups. Alan's extensive body of recorded work, his instructional materials, and his work at South Plains (including the annual Camp Bluegrass) has solidified his status as one of the true gurus of the 5-string. Alan served on the Board of Directors of the International Bluegrass Music Association for nine years.
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 Eric Weissberg has been a major force on the bluegrass and folk scene and a ubiquitous presence on the studio scene for more than four decades. A founding member of the The Greenbriar Boys, he then joined The Tarriers in 1959, recording and touring worldwide for six years. As a top New York studio musician Eric has done over eight thousand sessions - jingles, movie tracks, and records - playing banjo, guitar, fiddle, among others for such diverse artists as Doc Watson, Barbra Streisand, Bob Dylan, John Denver, Willie Nelson, Neil Diamond, The Talking Heads, and Bruce Springsteen. He has performed with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Symphony. His recording of Dueling Banjos, the soundtrack from Deliverance, earned him two gold records and a Grammy. Lately Eric has reappeared on the live scene singing and picking.
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 Bill Evans is well-known within the bluegrass banjo world as a player and teacher. A former member of Dry Branch Fire Squad, Bill currently tours nationally with Peter Rowan, John Reischman, Tony Trischka and with his solo historical concert The Banjo in America. In addition, he is the author of a monthly instructional column for Banjo Newsletter and has produced instructional books and videos with Sonny Osborne and J.D. Crowe for AcuTab Publications and Homespun Tapes. He has taught at the Augusta Heritage Center, Camp Bluegrass and Nashcamp bluegrass instructional camps.
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 Gordon Stone has been writing and recording his genre-crossing music for over 30 years. An Emmy-award winner, Gordon has recorded 6 studio albums -- on banjo and pedal steel guitar -- of his own original material. Gordon was named Best Instrumentalist three years in a row and won an Emmy for Jay Craven's VPT series, Windy Acres soundtrack in 2005. He has recorded and performed with some of the country's most influential musicians in the bluegrass and jam world - Tony Trischka, Vassar Clemmens, Sam Bush, Peter Rowan, Phish, to name only a few. Most recently, The Vermont Arts Council and The National Endowment for the Arts awarded Gordon a grant to produce an original music and dance piece, The Sacred Forest featuring the music from his acclaimed new CD Night Shade and the West African Choreography of Elhadji Mamadou Ba from Senegal.
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 Rich Stillman is a long-time veteran of the Boston bluegrass scene, 1983 New Jersey bluegrass banjo champion and six-time winner of the Lowell, Massachusetts banjo contest. He has been playing banjo for over 25 years and has performed and recorded with bluegrass bands Southern Rail, WayStation, The Jersey Travelers, and The Bogus Family. He currently performs with Boston-based Southern Rail.
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 Ira Gitlin is widely respected on the Washington-Baltimore scene as a versatile multi-instrumentalist, teacher, and writer. A former National Bluegrass Banjo Champion, he has worked with Bill Harrell, the Johnson Mountain Boys, Laurie Lewis, Peter Rowan, and Peter “P.D.Q. Bach” Schickele. Ira has taught at the Maryland Banjo Academy; the Swannanoa Gathering; the Augusta Heritage Center: PeteWernick’s Jam Camp; and the “kids’ academies” at the Grey Fox, Gettysburg, and Joe Val bluegrass festivals. He has lectured on the history of bluegrass for the Smithsonian Associates, and delivered a paper at the world’s first academic symposium on bluegrass. In 1993 Ira was a one-day winner on the television game show Jeopardy.
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 Janet Davis was born and raised in Houston, Texas. Music was always an integral part of her family life. She showed a keen, early interest in stringed instruments, particularly those involved in folk and bluegrass music. Janet is equally adept on both Dobro® and 5-string banjo. Her books are popular worldwide. She has written numerous best selling books for the 5-string banjo as well as dobro, several of which are listed by Mel Bay as "Best Sellers." She has been a columnist with Banjo Newsletter for 25 years. Janet Davis Music Company is celebrating it's 27th Anniversary this year. At BCN Janet will teach backup banjo and up-the-neck work and help with the beginner's track.
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 Bruce Stockwell has been playing bluegrass banjo for 37 years and teaching for 25. By age 16 he had won banjo contests, recorded his first album and opened for Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, John Hartford and many others. In the late 70’s he worked with Phil Rosenthal and Mike Auldridge as Old Dog. In the 80s & 90s Bruce toured the US and Europe with brothers Barry and Al in various acoustic/electric formats, with artists from Bill Monroe to Mary Chapin-Carpenter to NRBQ, producing two CD’s, Stobro and Leave My Dreams Alone. Bruce now teaches, does occasional session work, and performs progressive bluegrass throughout New England with The Stockwell Brothers.
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 Paul Brown started singing old time songs he learned from his mother, as soon as he could talk. He took up banjo at age ten and fiddle sometime later. His powerful, unique banjo playing shows the influences of the outstanding North Carolina and Virginia masters he spent time with and performed with as a young adult. Among them: Fields Ward, Tommy Jarrell, Gilmer Woodruff, Kyle Creed, Benton Flippen, and Fred Cockerham. Paul has recorded and produced numerous highly acclaimed albums featuring old time musicians. His own recordings have also received great reviews (Red Clay Country is the latest). He’s appeared at festivals nationwide and taught at music camps since the 1970s. Paul became a journalist once he fully understood the financial possibilities of a life in old time music. He works at NPR, and plays banjo and fiddle to further brighten his days. Currently he plays with The Toast String Stretchers, The Smokey Valley Boys, and The Mostly Mountain Boys.
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 Riley Baugus represents the best of old time American banjo and song. His powerful singing voice and his expert musicianship place him squarely in the next generation of the quality American roots tradition. Riley first came to music through his family. Starting on the fiddle, Riley quickly moved on to the banjo, building his first instrument from scrap wood with his father. From there, Riley has made his own path, building in-demand instruments, and performing and teaching at camps and festivals around the world. Riley's banjos and voice can be heard in the Academy award winning Cold Mountain, where they also needed an authentic acapella ballad singer. A whirlwind Hollywood experience ensued, culminating in a place on the star studded "Great High Mountain" tour. In 2008, a call from T-Bone Burnett put Riley back in the studio, this time as a contributor to the Grammy award winning Album Of The Year, Raising Sand starring Alison Krauss and Robert Plant.
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 Dick Bowden is one of the leading traditional bluegrass banjo pickers in New England. Starting in 1966 with The Bowden Family and The Fort Knox Volunteers, Dick helped establish bluegrass in his home state of Maine. He was a bench member of Joe Val's New England Bluegrass Boys, and played 5 years with Herb Applin's Berkshire Mountain Boys. Moving to New York in 1989 Dick played guitar with The Case Brothers - Martin & Gibson (two recordings) for 10 years, and currently leads The Old Time Bluegrass Singers (one recording) from his home in Connecticut. He played banjo on fiddler Joe Meadows' final CD in 2001. Dick has published several articles in Bluegrass Unlimited, and awaits publication of an article on the complete repertoire of Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys 1946-48. At BCN Dick will teach, among other things, the Ralph Stanley style and about playing in a band context.
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 Martin Grosswendt has played banjo since 1968. Known as a musician’s musician in a variety of genres, he also plays guitar, Dobro, mandolin, and bass, and is a powerful singer. He is a veteran of countless recording sessions and produces recordings for other artists as well as his own. His first album, Dog on a Dance Floor, was released on the Philo label in 1980; his most recent recording is Call and Response, a collection of pre-war acoustic blues released in 2004. Martin has performed and taught at festivals and at WUMB’s Summer Acoustic Music Week and has been a Master Artist’s assistant at the Augusta Heritage Workshops.
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 Howie Bursen is best known for his gravity-defying, triplet-filled, fiddle-tune variations and is certainly one of today's foremost practitioners of clawhammer banjo style. He has taught clawhammer at the Maryland Banjo Academy, Common Ground and the California Traditional Solstice Festival, and his eclectic recordings contain quite a number of stellar clawhammer solos. Speaking of eclectic, Howie is also an excellent singer, song-writer and guitarist, and he makes his living as manager and head wine-maker for a Connecticut vineyard. His new album is titled Banjo Manikin.
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 Mike Kropp is New England's premier 3 finger style banjoist. As a member of Northern Lights for 17 years, he has recorded CD's on Flying Fish, Red House and Prime CD. Since the 1960's, he has performed and recorded with artists ranging from Vassar Clements & Peter Rowan, to Don MacLean and Jonathan Edwards. Described as a "master banjoist", Mike is fluent in all styles of five string banjo, ranging from folk, old time, and classic style to traditional Scruggs and modern newgrass styles. Mike has taught banjo for over thirty years, and he has participated in workshops at festivals across the country.
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 Mac Benford has been playing the 5-string banjo for 40 years. He was fortunate enough in his formative years to have direct contact with great players like Wade Ward, Kyle Creed, Tom Ashley, and Roscoe Holcomb - all of whom strongly influenced his playing. He came to prominence during the 70s as a member of the legendary Highwoods String Band. Later, with the Backwoods Band and the Woodshed Allstars, Mac expanded on the traditional role of the clawhammer banjo as a lead and backup instrument. His recently released Kentucky Favorites showcases his ability to successfully capture the melodic subtlety of complex fiddle tunes without sacrificing the ring and drive of the best traditional playing.
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 Glenn Nelson, resident instrument specialist, has been building, restoring and repairing instruments for 20 years. Glenn and his wife Barbara started Mockingbird Music in Berlin, Massachusetts, where they build custom stringed instruments and specialize in the repair and restoration of vintage instruments. Glenn currently teaches five string banjo and performs with "Acoustic Planet" encompassing world music, folk, jazz and bluegrass. At BCN he will be available to do minor setups & repairs on site, and to accept instruments for more extensive work. Charges will apply for materials and time spent. Glenn will also participate in some jazz and modern playing workshops where he will showcase his "Fan Fret Fingerboard" innovation.
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 Phil Zimmerman developed his multi-instrumentalist chops as a solo performer, and has won regional contests for bluegrass and clawhammer banjo, guitar and mandolin. He’s a founding member of Connecticut’s ground-breaking eclectic string band, Last Fair Deal.. For ten years, Phil played mandolin and sang lead with Connecticut’s premier traditional bluegrass band, Traver Hollow. Phil also performs Old-Time music in Heroes of Tradition, a duo with Stacy Phillips, and recently he joined with Phil Rosenthal (of Seldom Scene), and Bruce and Kelly Stockwell to perform Bluegrass as North By Northeast. Phil is the Music Director of both Mandolin Camp North and Banjo Camp North, and has taught mandolin and banjo workshops at the Joe Val Festival in 2006 through 2009.
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 Bob Altschuler, BCN Beginner Bluegrass Track Coordinator, has been playing and teaching bluegrass banjo for over 35 years. He performs with Dyer Switch and Shagbark Hickory, and recorded the American Airwaves and Family Business CDs with Dyer Switch. Featured on the National Public Radio Hudson River Sampler and radio and TV commercials, Bob also plays at bluegrass festivals and at numerous other venues. Mel Bay Banjo Sessions and Silver Strings publish his instructional articles monthly. He is featured in a workshop chapter in Gene Senyak’s 2008 book, Banjo Camp!, which also includes chapters with Pete Seeger, Tony Trischka, and instructors from Banjo Camp North. Tailored instruction, patience, humor and "going the extra mile" to help students learn are hallmarks of his very popular teaching style.
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 David Kiphuth began playing banjo and guitar 40 years ago. Although his bluegrass roots run the deepest, his musical loves include many forms. Dave has a unique playing style that combines melodic lines with a driving rhythm in yet another approach to 3-finger banjo. When not playing, he is an artist and illustrator. Linda Schrade has been singing and playing guitar for 35 years. When performing with husband David, her wonderful voice is beautifully complimented by his playing. They live in Saratoga Springs with their daughter, Allison. Linda is the owner of SARATOGA BEADS, a store in Saratoga Springs.
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 Mike Holmes (camp director) is best known as publisher of Mugwumps Magazine (now Mugwumps Online). He is the former chairman of the National Council for the Traditional Arts, a director of the National Folk Festival, and is widely regarded as an expert on the history of American stringed instruments. Mike has performed acoustic music on the North American and international circuit, he has served as back-up musician on the recordings of several traditional musicians. Mike estimates that he has taught over 500 people to play old time banjo, privately & in adult education classes. He won 2nd place in the Old Time Banjo competition at the Lowell Banjo & Fiddle Contest.
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 Lorraine Lee Hammond is best known for her Appalachian dulcimer playing and recordings. She is also a fine old time banjo player, singer, and teacher. Lorraine teaches 5-string banjo, Appalachian dulcimer, folk harp, songwriting and basic music theory at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education. She also organizes two annual music festivals at the Center: The Blacksmith House Folk Festival held each November and the Blacksmith House Dulcimer Festival held each May. Since 1986 Lorrainne has performed and toured extensively at home and abroad with guitar virtuoso Bennett Hammond. They married on Thanksgiving Day 1991.
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 Mike Rivers has played old time music since 1960. He perfomed with the Greasy Run Toad Trompers, one of the first of the eclectic string bands who played a mixed bag of Southern, Northern, Western, swing, ragtime, and Celtic music on string band instruments. As a recording engineer and producer, Mike has recorded albums of various artists for Folkways, Folk Legacy, Rounder, Troubador, Flying Fish, among others. He has run concert sound for the Smithsonian, National, and Lowell Folklife Festivals. Mike will teach backup guitar and conduct seminars in sound production and recording.
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 Alan Jabbour is one of the folk revival's most influential fiddlers and collectors of old time music. In the mid-60s, he made extensive music collecting trips to North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia; in particular, he learned the style and repertory of Henry Reed of Glen Lyn, Virginia. Soon aftewards he joined Tommy Thompson, Bertram Levy and Bobbie Thompson to form the renowned Hollow Rock String Band, which pretty much sparked the modern string-band revival movement. He was also deeply involved in collecting music from and producing recordings of West Virginia's Hammons Family. He served as head of the Archive of Folk Song (now the Archive of Folk Culture) at the Library of Congress from 1969-74, and as director of the American Folklife Center in the Library of Congress from 1976 until his retirement in 1999
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 Dave Reiner is best known as co-author of Oldtime Fiddling Across America (Mel Bay Publications), and as author of Anthology of Fiddle Styles. He currently plays fiddle and mandolin with the Reiner Family Band and with Granite Grass in and around New England. Dave is the former Wisconsin state fiddle champion and has won many contests in the Northeast. A veteran of years of giving fiddle workshops, Dave will teach from beginner levels on up with special interest in bowing patterns and accents, fiddle rags, Northeastern tunes, tune variations, twin fiddling, and unusual oldtime tunes.
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 John Rossbach led his award-winning bluegrass ensemble, Chestnut Grove, in New York State for 22 years before returning to West Virginia to perform with fiddle champion, Gerry Milnes. Equally at home with Old Time string band music, he played with Mac Benford & the Woodshed All Stars for a decade. John has won 8 Meet the Composer awards and appeared on the Nashville Network, PBS, CBS, the BBC, and the Canadian Broadcasting System. He has also recorded on Rounder, Copper Creek, Philo, Marimac and Alcazar Records with the likes of Pete Seeger, Bill Keith, Ken Perlman and Don Stover. John has taught at banjo camps, Augusta Heritage Center, and been a staff musician for nearly all the Music Camps North since their inception.
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 Geof Bartley is an acoustic folk and blues guitar player, singer-songwriter, and harmonica player. In the 1980s, he won four guitars at the National Fingerpicking Championships in Winfield, Kansas, and since 1994 he has been northeast accompanist for topical songwriter and veteran folk entertainer, Tom Paxton. Songs Geoff has written have been recorded by other artists in the US, Canada, and Ireland, and his songs and instrumental music have been used on television and in film. His live shows are mostly in New England and in December 2009, he released his twelfth full-length recording entitled Put the Big Stone Down. Geoff presents two nights of acoustic music each week at the Cantab Lounge in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Both nights have been voted Best of Boston. Geoff lives in a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts.
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| Greg Deering - photo and bio to follow. |
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