Welcome to the North Cascades Bluegrass Workshop Schedules.
Click on any “workshop picture” to see details. Download Schedules and a Location Map Below
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Workshops
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Workshop Title: Basics of Mandolin Improvisation
Band Association: Kristen Grainger & True North
Workshop Instructor: Martin Stevens
Date: September 3rd
Time: 9:30 – 10:45 AM
Location: Kitchen/BBQ Shelter
Workshop Description: This workshop will focus on the role of the mandolin in a band setting, from rhythm playing to techniques for improvising solos.
Intended Audience: Anyone curious about the mandolin – pickers and non-pickers alike.
Curriculum: This workshop will demonstrate the important and varied roles of the mandolin in a band setting, from rhythm to lead.
What your attendees need to bring: This will be mostly demonstration but participants are welcome to bring their mandolins, not required, and if they wish to take notes, they are welcome to bring materials to do that.
Bio: Martin Stevens plays mandolin, fiddle, octave mandolin and also backing vocals with Kristen Grainger & True North. A highly-skilled and versatile multi-instrumentalist, Martin grew up in the Old Time Fiddlers contest community, winning several state and regional championships during his childhood. He also performs (mandolin) occasionally with well-known guitarist Dan Crary. Martin was one of the founders of the Bluegrass Regulators, who released two albums and performed all over the country, and showcased at IBMA in 2011.
Martin Stevens
Basics of Mandolin Improvisation
Kristen Grainger & True North
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Workshop Title: Mastering the Basics of Upright Bass
Band Association: Kristen Grainger & True North
Workshop Instructors: Josh Adkins
Date: September 3rd, 2023
Time: 9:30 – 10:45 AM
Location: Museum
Workshop Description: This will be a demonstration-style workshop, focusing on the critical role of the bass in a band, showing how the bass can optimize the overall impact of any given song.
Intended Audience: This workshop is appropriate for everyone.
Curriculum: It will cover arrangement and interpretation, the basics of rhythm and other techniques, and the role of the bass in making – or breaking – how a song comes across to a live audience or in the recording studio.
What your attendees need to bring: Attendees are welcome to take notes or record the session.
Bio: Josh Adkins (upright bass, vocals) cut his teeth with northwest-based The Bluegrass Regulators. An accomplished multi-instrumentalist, he delivers a solid groove with a holistic and attentive approach to song arrangement, often finding the missing piece that truly showcases a song.
Josh Adkins
Mastering the Basics of Upright Bass
Kristen Grainger & True North
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Workshop Title: Flat Picking Guitar Doc Watson Style
Band Association: Kruger Brothers
Workshop Instructor: Uwe Kruger
Date: September 2nd, 2023
Time: 1:00 – 2:15 PM
Location: Arena
Workshop Description: We will look at some licks and tricks I learned from Doc, concentrating on flat pick techniques. Bring your guitar, steel string acoustic preferred, and a pick and capo. Questions welcome!
Intended Audience: Anyone interested in Folk Guitar with a basic understanding of chord progression. Not for complete Beginners, but open to all
Curriculum: I will demonstrate pick technique, Right and Left hand positions, dynamics in volume and quality of sound. We will play in a seated position.
What your attendees need to bring: Bring your guitar, a pick and a recording device, a cell phone is perfectly adequate. There will be no printed material available.
Bio: Touring Musician since 1979, been living now in Western North Carolina since 2001. Recorded with the Kruger Brothers (Lead Vocals and Guitar) since 1993 and Uwe has played and performed with Doc Watson on numerous occasions.
Uwe Kruger
Flat Picking Guitar Doc Watson Style
Kruger Brothers
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Workshop Title: Jens Kruger’s Approach to Banjo
Band Association: Kruger Brothers
Workshop Instructor: Jens Kruger
Date: September 3rd, 2023
Time: 1:00 – 2:15 PM
Location: Museum
Workshop Description: During this workshop Jens will provide insights into how to find your own music and voice, how to develop skill and broaden your understanding of musical structure. Bring your banjo, as this workshop in hands-on, where you can try different sounds and thrills.
Intended Audience: All levels are welcome but basic knowledge is recommended.
Curriculum: Jens will talk about composition, musical structure, chord connections, intuitive playing, improvisations as well as traditional playing styles and approaches.
What your attendees need to bring: Banjos and some questions
Bio: Born and raised as a German citizen in Switzerland, Jens Kruger started playing accordion and harmonica at just five years old, taking up the banjo at ten. By the age of 16 he was working as a full time musician. Jens was signed to a recording contract with CBS in 1982, making his debut at the legendary Grand Ole Opry with Bill Monroe just a short time later in 1982. Jens’ talents have earned multiple IMBA award nominations, cover stories for Banjo Newsletter and other publications, as well as appearances on programs such as the 60 Minutes radio broadcast and late night tv’s The David Letterman Show. In 2013 Jens was awarded the coveted Steve Martin Award for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass, now called the Banjo Prize. Though known to many for his American Folk music, Jens’ technical abilities and classical influences have led him to work as a composer for many string quartets, chamber orchestras and symphonies. Jens has served as President of Double Time Music Inc. since 1997 and as Research and Development Director for Deering Banjos since 2003. Jens has been performing worldwide with his brother Uwe and Joel Landsberg as the Kruger Brothers since 1992.
Jens Kruger
Jens Kruger’s Approach to Banjo
Kruger Brothers
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Workshop Title: Playing and Understanding Chord Changes for Fiddle Players
Band Association: Shadowgrass
Workshop Instructor: Madison Morris
Date: September 2nd, 2023
Time: 9:30 – 10:45 AM
Location: Kitchen/BBQ Shelter
Workshop Description: This hands-on and educational workshop will cover how to play chord changes in the most common keys in a bluegrass jam. We will also briefly cover the Nashville number system and how to identify chords “on the fly” in a jam.
Intended Audience: Beginner and Intermediate Fiddlers
Curriculum: We will be working on efficiently improvising chords changes on the fiddle by chopping, and learning how that fits into a bluegrass jam.
What your attendees need to bring: Instrument, paper, pencil.
Bio: Madison plays fiddle with the bluegrass jam band, Shadowgrass. She also plays in a folk duo called, Highland Reverie, with her husband, Luke. Highland Reverie is releasing their sophomore album in a few weeks, and will be touring the East Coast following the release. Madison is from Johnson City, TN and she just graduated from East Tennessee State University with a degree in Vocal/General Music Education. When she isn’t on the road, Madison teaches private music lessons in fiddle, voice, guitar, mandolin, ukulele, and piano.
Madison Morris
Playing & Understanding
Chord Changes for Fiddle Players
Shadowgrass
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Workshop Title: How to play songs you don’t know
Band Association: Matt C. Bruno
Workshop Instructor: Matt C. Bruno
Date: September 2nd, 2023
Time: 1:00 – 2:15 PM
Location: Kitchen/BBQ Shelter
Workshop Description: Going to a jam can be daunting for newer and intermediate players. Woodshedding at home can help prepare you for some songs – but what happens when someone calls a song you don’t know? While you may be able to play along with chords, taking a break on songs you don’t know can be tricky – and often times, newer players pass on breaks for these songs. In this workshop, Matt Bruno reviews how to quickly breakdown a song, find the important tones, and play breaks regardless of how well you know the main melody.
Attendees can download charts highlighting arpeggios, pentatonics, and major scales along with some sample songs from https://mattcbruno.com/north-cascade-mandolin-workshop
While all are welcome, to get the most from this workshop you should know how to play basic chords, play basic breaks, and have some understanding of an arpeggio, pentatonic, and major scales.
Intended Audience: Beginner / Intermediate
Curriculum: We’ll be focusing on playing arpeggios, major pentatonic, and major scales to create interesting breaks. We’ll use basic Church Cadences (14151) and songs like Nine Pound Hammer to highlight these ideas.
This is mostly a demonstration of techniques rather than a play-along session.
What your attendees need to bring: Something to record / take notes with, a mandolin, and questions.
Bio: Matt C Bruno is new to the Washington scene, but has been involved in bluegrass and music education for over 20 years in San Diego primarily. As a board member of the San Diego Bluegrass Association, Matt has hosted many bluegrass jams and workshops.
Matt’s played and recorded with various artists include Shakey Graves, the Honey Buckets, Shakedown String Band, Brown Party Liquor, Ass Pocket Whiskey, and many others.
For more information on Matt, including free mandolin lessons, check out www.mattcbruno.com
Matt C. Bruno
How to play songs you don’t know
Matt C. Bruno
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Workshop Title: Guitar and Banjo Licks with Tonality and Timing
Band Association: Shadowgrass
Workshop Instructor: Kyser George, Clay Russell
Date: September 3rd, 2023
Time: 9:30 – 10:45 AM
Location: Playground Shelter
Workshop Description: In this workshop we will demonstrate a variety of licks and showcase how to play and improvise them with good placement and tone.
Intended Audience: Beginner-Intermediate
Curriculum: We will be demonstrating how one can spice up a break/solo tastefully in a band or solo setting.
What your attendees need to bring: Cameras, notebooks, instruments. All optional
Bio: Kyser and Clay have been playing music together for over 10 years and can be seen currently touring with the band Shadowgrass.
Kyser George, Clay Russell
Guitar and Banjo Licks with Tonality and Timing
Shadowgrass
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Workshop Title: LTP Bluegrass Band Lab
Band Association: Lonesome Town Painters (“LTP”)
Workshop Instructors: Angelo Eidse, Patrick Bartel, Jeremy Freeman, Fred Beach
Date: September 2nd, 2023
Time: 9:30 – 10:45 AM
Location: Playground Shelter
Workshop Description: Join LTP for a lively discussion about what it means to be in a bluegrass band. Topics covered will include (but not be limited to) how to form a band, establishing a band identity, how to keep your band together, managing finances, ensemble playing, how to build and arrange a repertoire, and stage presence.
Intended Audience: Any one who’s ever wanted to progress from jamming to forming a performing band.
Curriculum: LTP will deconstruct a song, demonstrating each member’s responsibilities, contributions and voice. Each band member will be sharing their unique perspective and experiences contributing to the ensemble, how the band becomes greater than the sum of its parts.
What your attendees need to bring: Bring your ears, your questions, and your love of this music!
Bio: The Lonesome Town Painters are a tried-and-true, bona fide bluegrass band hailing from Vancouver, British Columbia These fellas have a look, style and sound that harkens back to the raw and ragged edge of the genre. And while they draw deeply from the masters of the golden era, it’s their original songs that demonstrate just how far these fellas have come. Their songwriting is grounded in tradition, anchored by the soaring harmonies, melodic instrumentation and pushing drive that has come to define their spirited and highly entertaining performances
LTP Band Members
LTP Bluegrass Band Lab
Lonesome Town Painters
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Workshop Title: What do I do when I don’t know the tune???
Band Association: Kruger Brothers
Workshop Instructor: Joel Landsberg
Date: September 2nd, 2023
Time: 1:00 – 2:15 PM
Location: Museum
Workshop Description: We’ll discuss learning how to “open your ears” and be aware of the importance of the role of the bass in the band, along with basic hand positions, finger exercises and just getting comfortable with your instrument.
Intended Audience: Beginning to mid level Bassists.
Curriculum: General bass “Basics”. Tone, timing, intonation, and learning to develop your skills to listen to what’s going on around you.
What your attendees need to bring: Bring your instrument, a tuner and plenty of questions!
Bio: With over 50 years of bass playing experience in every genre from Latin Jazz to Broadway show tunes and Country Rock, I’ve been primarily playing with the Kruger Brothers for the last 30 plus years. Our music is a collaborative style of Folk, Bluegrass, Classical and original compositions and we approach our trio very much like a small orchestra. Born in New York City, I spent years studying Jazz and Classical music while playing in various style bands from Rock to Reggae. After moving to Switzerland in 1989 I met up with Jens and Uwe and we began the journey that we are still on today. I enjoy sharing some of what I’ve learned along the way with aspiring musicians. For me, the most important part of the magic of making music is to have fun and be able to communicate with people who might not even speak the same language.
Joel Landsberg
What Do I Do When I Don’t Know the Tune
Kruger Brothers
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Workshop Title: Base your playing on rolls (even with melodics? Yessir)
Band Association: Red Wine
Workshop Instructor: Silvio Ferretti
Date: September 3rd, 2023
Time: 1:00 – 2:15 PM
Location: Playground Shelter
Workshop Description: Three-finger rolls are the basis of Scruggs-style banjo picking, but their highly rhythmical patterns are also extremely helpful to improve the timing of melodic-style playing, which too often sounds like just a sequence of notes as opposed to the rhythmic backbone of Bluegrass time.
Intended Audience: Beginner and intermediate banjo players
Curriculum: Planning to teach how to recognize the various rolls, learn how to substitute them while keeping the flow, insert melody notes and construct melodic rolls around rolls.
What your attendees need to bring: Banjo and fingerpicks of course, cell phone / video recording device, paper and pen if you like.
Bio: Born in Genova, Italy, on October 25, 1952. Started music on piano at 6yo. Then guitar (14yo), banjo followed around 1976.
Working as a pediatric surgeon for 40 years (1978-2018) allowed Silvio to pursue music on a semi-professional level while not depending on it for making a living. He has also worked at a luthier shop from 1996 on to the present day. He makes the Scorpion banjo bridges and builds some banjos and guitars.
Silvio’s main (and almost only) band has been Red Wine, which he founded – with guitarist Beppe Gambetta – in 1978. He also played in an international band called Freewheelin’, which toured the US in 1986.
Silvio is a lifetime member of the IBM and served one term as the International Member of the IBMA Board Of Directors.
Silvio Ferretti
Base your playing on rolls (even with melodics? Yessir)
Red Wine
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Workshop Title: 5 Tips to Upgrade Your Mandolin Experience
Band Association: Red Wine
Workshop Instructor: Martino Coppo
Date: September 3rd, 2023
Time: 1:00 – 2:15 PM
Location: Arena
Workshop Description: Martino will try to give some short but effective tips on how to bring your mandolin playing to the next level, focusing more on listening and playing than reading tabs or sheet music.
Intended Audience: All mandolin players, from beginners to advanced.
Curriculum: We will approach techniques, fiddle tunes, original compositions and of course some good ol’ solid Monroe style basics
What your attendees need to bring: Mandolin, tuners & picks are fundamental; music stand and recording devices optional
Bio: Martino Coppo
Mandolin – Vocal
Martino began playing the guitar seriously (although self-taught) at age 13, inspired by the acoustic sound of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Byrds, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell.
In the late 70s, fascinated by the sound of Sam Bush, David Grisman, John Hartford, among the others, he switched from guitar to mandolin, embarking on a musical journey back to the more traditional sources of Bluegrass.
In 1981 he joined the band Red Wine, where he still plays the mandolin and sings lead vocals, and he started travelling intensively throughout Italy, Europe and, since the mid-90s, to the United States, with many appearances at festivals and venues across the country, including the Hovander Homestead Bluegrass Festival which is now the North Cascades Bluegrass Festival.
Martino has collaborated with numerous Italian and American artists such as Tony Trischka, Peter Rowan, Beppe Gambetta, Carlo Aonzo, Jim Hurst, Russ Barenberg, Mike Marshall, Kathy Kallick, Chris Jones, Kathy Chiavola, Barry & Holly Tashian, Roberto Dalla Vecchia, New Trolls, Vittorio De Scalzi, La Rosa Tatuata, and especially with the Genoese blues guitar player Paolo Bonfanti, with whom he published the CD “Friend of a Friend” in 2014 and “Pracina Stomp” in 2019 for Felmay Records.
From 2008 to 2014 Martino served as a Member of the Board of EBMA (European Bluegrass Music Association) with special projects assignment.
He took part in various workshops in Europe and USA, and has taught folk & bluegrass mandolin class at the Miniera Acustica Music Camp in Urbino (Italy) from 2007 to 2013. He currently gives private lessons also on Internet.
Musical projects:
1- Red Wine
http://www.redwinemusic.net/band/?lang=en
2- Paolo Bonfanti & Martino Coppo
http://www.paolobonfanti.it/pracina.html
3- CKL – Coppo, Kaerner & Lowell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvqTzImg-ZU
Martino Coppo
5 Tips to Upgrade Your Mandolin Experience
Red Wine
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Workshop Title: Improve your solos and your improvisation skills
Band Association: Red Wine
Workshop Instructor: Marco Ferretti
Date: September 3rd, 2023
Time: 1:00 – 2:15 PM
Location: Kitchen/BBQ Shelter
Workshop Description: The workshop will focus on the personalization of guitar solos by getting to know a little more about their basic structure and how to play around it. There will be examples to play and room for discussion and personal contributions.
Intended Audience: Intermediate level guitar players with at least basic knowledge of bluegrass instrumentals.
Curriculum: We will discuss the basic rhythmic and melodic structure of bluegrass music (with a focus on fiddle tunes) in order to understand how to fit variations and personal phrases or patterns into such structures. We will take simple fiddle tunes and play around the melody by varying tempo, accents, notes etc. in different ways while trying to better understand how to put together all those different ideas to create a coherent and nicely-flowing stream of notes. Over time, this will result in improved control over the “musical speech” and a solid foundation on which to put your own style.
What your attendees need to bring: Attendees are advised to bring their own guitar, but it’s not mandatory since a good part of the workshop will be educational and a pen and paper for notes will suffice. Bringing a tuner and a music stand is also preferable, since their will be tabs for those who wish to take part in the exercises.
Bio: Born in 1990, Marco’s passion for bluegrass began right away and he took on the banjo at the age of 10. He started playing guitar as well a few years later, joining Red Wine in 2018 and Bononia Grass (from the city of Bologna) in 2020. Since then he has played around Europe and the US with Red Wine, toured northern Italy with local artists and bands (playing also banjo, electric guitar and resonator guitar) and he has been an instructor for workshops around festivals and for Adiaha’s Bluegrass Camp in Germany.
Switching to guitar as his main instrument led him to greatly expand his musical knowledge over the years: He’s studied harmony, piano, classical guitar and never stopped looking for styles of music that were new to him and “guitaristically” appealing. Whether it be brazilian choro, traditional southern Italian music or Irish tunes, his goal is to try and grasp the core rhythmic and melodic elements that make those genres unique and find a way to apply such knowledge to bluegrass guitar as seamlessly as possible.
Marco Ferretti
Improve your solos and your improvisation skills
Red Wine
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Workshop Title: Dobro in a Minor Key
Band Association: McKinney Green Band
Workshop Instructor: Tim Dawdy
Date: September 2nd, 2023
Time: 9:30 – 10:45 AM
Location: Arena
Workshop Description: This will be a “Hands-On” Dobro workshop. Covering the basic concepts of manipulation a major scale (C) in order to play the relative minor (AM).
Intended Audience: This is designed for a person with basic Dobro knowledge that wants to improve their skill.
Curriculum: We will start with the C scale. C to C. Then start the C scale on the (A) position and ending in the (A) position.
Then we will apply the (AM) scale to the song Wayfaring Stranger.
What your attendees need to bring: A Dobro, Picks, Bar.
Bio: Tim Dawdy is a Northwest Dobro and Steel Guitar favorite. You will find him playing Western Swing on Friday night and Bluegrass on Saturday Afternoons.
His article’s on music have been published in many Northwest Bluegrass Journals. His most recent article “The Parlor” can be found in the Summer 2023 edition of the Washington Bluegrass Association Bluegrass Gazette.
He may be the oldest and most forgetful music major in the Northwest higher education system. Tim is a private Dobro student of Dr. James Kerr of Columbia University 2021 to present. Tim has completed over 100+ private lessons with Dr. Kerr. https://youtu.be/Kl1NjIqa3Vs
Tim has also studied Dobro with Michele Witcher, Greg Booth, Phil Leadbetter, Orville Johnson and the late Dobro Maestro Stacy Phillips and has trained in steel guitar with Bobby Black, Joe Wright and Larry Behm.
He teaches basic and intermediate Dobro at Artichoke Music in Portland and from his modern music studio in Ridgefield Washington. Most styles of music are taught, including Western Swing, Bluegrass and Jazz Standards. Private and group lessons are available.
INSTRUCTIONAL EXPERIENCE
Artichoke Music Dobro Instructor (2010-Present)
Oregon Bluegrass Association Camp Dobro Workshop 2016, 2017.
WAMA Bluegrass Festival Dobro Workshop Instructor 2018, 2019 2022, 2023.
Sacajawea Bluegrass Festival Dobro Workshop Instructor 2018, 2019.
Tumbleweed Music Festival Dobro Workshop 2019
Washington Western Swing Hall of Fame Gathering
Dobro & Steel Guitar Workshop 2018, 2019.
Washington Western Swing Hall of Fame
(Featured in Masters of the Steel Guitar Performance) 2018, 2019.
Tim spent 35 years as a professional Firefighter in the Pacific Northwest. He retired in 2017 at the rank of Division Chief.
Tim Dawdy
Dobro in a Minor Key
Tim Dawdy- McKinney Green Band
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Workshop Title: Banjo for Potential and Beginning Players
Workshop Instructor: Bob Martin
Date: September 2nd, 2023
Time: 9:30 – 10:45 AM
Location: Museum
Workshop Description: Discussion and hands-on demonstration of basic bluegrass banjo techniques and proper setup. Bob will be explaining the importance and the effects of proper/improper setup and providing tips you can take with you while answering any of those burning questions you may have about this wonderful instrument. This workshop is designed for potential and beginning banjo players.
Intended Audience: Beginners and those interested in trying out the banjo
Curriculum: Tab reading, reading chord diagrams, capo use and the theory of capo use, pick use, basic techniques such as slides, pinches, hammer-ons, and pull-offs.
What your attendees need to bring: Note pad and a 5 string banjo
Bio: Played the last two openings of the Darrington festival with Bertha Whiteside and The Combinations, showcased at Hovander/North Cascades festival with Fred Holt and Mostly Merle, and with the Blueberry Hill Band, and attends many local jams and picking parties and worked on radio ads. Bob has been playing the Banjo for 55+ years.
Bob Martin
Banjo for Potential and Beginning Players
(Friend of the Festival)
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Workshop Title: How to play well with others and create breaks.
Band Association: Roosevelt Road
Workshop Instructor: Robbie (John) Bennett
Date: September 2nd, 2023
Time: 1:00 – 2:15 PM
Location: Playground Shelter
Workshop Description: This will be an interactive discussion with examples and demos of how to go from rhythm on the fiddle to backup and creating Breaks.
Intended Audience: Any fiddler who wants to go from playing along with the jam to taking leads on the songs being played.
Curriculum: This will be an open format workshop, where we go thru some instruction about how to “play well with others” by learning to keep rhythm on the fiddle, where and how to add fill lines, and then use that knowledge to form the beginning of a Break that can be added to as your skills grow. Along the way we will go over what we should be listening for when someone is singing, so that we are adding to the music and the singer, and not taking anything away from them. Finally, we will open it up to questions to finish out the session. If nothing else, you will take away from this session a new appreciation for what you should be paying attention to and how you can help others sound better.
What your attendees need to bring: Fiddle and something to take notes on and questions.
Bio: Robbie is one of the NW finest fiddle players who sings lead, tenor, and baritone, and has played the fiddle since he was 10 years old. He is mostly self-taught and has developed a passionate style that varies from song to song. Robbie has honed his skills from years of playing and recording with several different Northwest bands, including Bunchgrass, Queens Bluegrass, 78RPM, Out’a Town Boys, Tall Timber Grass, The Combinations, and Roosevelt Road. He has also had the honor of playing as a guest in several of the best bands in the business, including Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley.
Robbie (John) Bennett
How to Play Well With Others and Create Breaks
Roosevelt Road
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Workshop Title: Songwriting for the Mildly Curious
Band Association: Kristen Grainger & True North
Workshop Instructors: Kristen Grainger & Dan Wetzel
Date: September 3rd, 2023
Time: 9:30 – 10:45 AM
Location: Arena
Workshop Description: Songwriting for the Mildly Curious. Ever wondered where songs come from? Nationally-acclaimed songwriters Kristen Grainger and Dan Wetzel will share their song craft in a low-key, interactive format. No experience necessary; all are welcome.
Intended Audience: Anyone interested in learning more about the art of songcraft.
Curriculum: We will talk through our songwriting process – as both individuals and collaborators – addressing common pitfalls and challenges, and sharing tips for getting started.
What your attendees need to bring: Paper & pencil, if desired.
Bio: In a world thirsting for authenticity and genuine connection, Kristen Grainger & Dan Wetzel offer a wellspring of soul-stirring songs. Drawing on elements of bluegrass, country and Americana, they each craft songs that connect us, illuminating universal truths with haunting beauty.
Early in his career, Dan Wetzel toured as a solo artist after winning a national songwriting contest. A skilled multi-instrumentalist and luthier, Dan’s songs shimmer with emotive storytelling, and his playing gives True North’s songs drive, groove and gorgeous warmth.
Kristen Grainger’s songwriting sparks with intelligence and wit, taking top honors at some of the nation’s most prestigious songwriting competitions, including Telluride Bluegrass Festival, MerleFest, Kerrville Folk Festival, Wildflower Music Festival and winning the USA Songwriting Contest, landing her a showcase at SXSW in 2022. She also was named, alongside Dolly Parton and Brandi Carlile, one of the “Women Who Wrote Our 2020 Soundtrack” by The Bluegrass Situation.
She has shared a stage with Grammy winners Aiofe O’Donavan, Sarah Jarosz and and Grammy-nominee Laurie Lewis.
Kristen Grainger & Dan Wetzel
Song Writing for the Mildly Curious
Kristen Grainger & True North
Workshop Schedule Here F Printable Workshop Schedule
Workshop Location Map Here F Printable Map
Note: Schedules and Workshop Locations are subject to change so check back a few days before the festival to make sure you have the correct one.
Printed schedules and maps will be handed out at the festival.