Wheatland Music Camp 2015 Instructors
Professional instruction will be provided by nationally-recognized musicians and dancers from the traditional music and arts community.
Rafe Stefanini is an Italian old-time banjo player, fiddler, guitarist, singer, teacher, violin maker, and restorer.
He was born in Italy and grew up in Bologna. He first visited the United States in the late 1970s and came to live in the U.S. in 1983. He is a permanent resident of the U.S. and lives in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. In addition to playing music, he is also trained in violin making and restores violins.
He has performed with the Wildcats (along with Carol Elizabeth Jones and Stefan Senders). Along with Dirk Powell and Bruce Molsky he has performed with a trio called the L-7s. He has also performed with Molsky and guitarist Beverly Smith in a group called Big Hoedown, a group that disbanded in 2000. Along with Meredith McIntosh, John Hermann, and Bev Smith, he has performed in the Rockinghams. He has also recorded with Bob Herring. He performs with his wife Nikki and daughter Clelia (who plays fiddle, guitar, double bass, and ukulele) as “Nine Pound Hammer.”
He has recorded for the Rounder, County, Marimac, Heritage, Yodel-ay-hee, 5-String Productions, and World Music Network labels.
Stefanini has performed on A Prairie Home Companion and at the Mount Airy Fiddlers Convention. He has performed throughout the United States as well as in Finland, Germany, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei.
His brothers Gianni and Bruno also play old-time music and the three performed in The Moonshine Brothers, which formed in the late 1970s and remained together until Rafe Stefanini moved to the U.S. in 1983.
WHEATLAND MUSIC CAMP CLASSES: Old Time Fiddle I, Old Time Fiddle II
Clelia is the winner of the 2013 Clifftop Appalachian Stringband Festival Fiddle Contest. Her fiddling has been described as “Zeus hurling musical thunderbolts from Mt. Olympus,” which only partly describes a musician that, although impactful and powerful, contains a growing subtlety and nuance that betrays her young age and appearance. These days, Old Time music has grown in popularity to such an extent that many hipsters, ex-punk rockers, and “cool kids” have picked up fiddles and banjos and began dabbling in this genre. At this point, it appears Old Time Music has become trendy. Clelia, however, is not following any fad or trend but follows her own path while remaining completely genuine and authentic. Clelia will undoubtedly be known as one of the most distinct and powerful old time fiddlers in the Appalachian tradition. Clelia currently performs all over the world with her father, Rafe Stefanini, who is also a renowned old time fiddler, banjo, banjo player. Both are becoming wonderful singers, as well.
WHEATLAND MUSIC CAMP CLASSES: Clogging I, Old Time Fiddle I
Don Julin, author of the best-selling Mandolin For Dummies (Wiley 2012), is regarded as one of the most eclectic mandolin players and top mandolin instructors on the scene today. Don’s patient, detailed teaching style is appreciated by students of all levels; his YouTube mandolin instructional videos have garnered more than three-quarters of a million views. Don has previously taught at the Mandolin Symposium (Santa Cruz, Calif.), Elderly Instruments (Lansing, Mich.), Dusty Strings (Seattle, Wash.), Classical Mandolin Society of America conventions, National Oldtime Fiddlers Festival (Weiser, Idaho), Richter Mandolin Camp (Bloomington, Ind.), Cesare Pollini Conservatory of Music (Padua, Italy), Midwest Mandolin Festival (Indianapolis, Ind.), and others. His hands-on workshops focus on developing good left- and right-hand skills, along with a dose of ear training and music theory.
WHEATLAND MUSIC CAMP CLASSES: Right Hand Mandolin, Left Hand Mandolin, Songs & Styles (all instruments welcome)
Special Thursday Night Performance by Billy Strings & Don Julin!
Sharon Leahy is a dancer, choreographer, musician, teacher and director.
From 1987 to 2010, Sharon created a body of award-winning, critically acclaimed work for RHYTHM IN SHOES, the dance and music company she co-directed with her husband, Rick Good. With a diverse and talented group of performing artists, Sharon brought to life a vision for dance/theater/music as one entity capable of expressing the joys and woes of contemporary life with the vocabulary of traditional forms.
Sharon has taught dance and choreography at the University of Dayton, where she spent six years as an Artist in Residence. There she facilitated cross-department collaborations using dance and theater to explore and explain science, literature, religion, education, world culture, painting and social trends. She also developed a teacher-training program for education students, integrating movement education into the classroom.
Sharon has created original dance/theater works for the dance ensemble at the University of Dayton, as well as Wright State University, Antioch College, the University of Akron and Williams College. She has taught master classes at numerous colleges and universities throughout the country. Influenced by the work of Ann Bogart and the SITI COMPANY, with whom she studied both Suzuki and Viewpoints techniques, Sharon’s natural instinct for directing has developed into a dynamic, lively and introspective style of physical theater where vision meets invention.
With an eye towards universal themes both social and cultural, Sharon’s original work is produced with fearless conviction and a refined eye for details. The results can be provoking, soothing, disturbing and entertaining.
AWARDS
NEA Choreography Fellow – 1991, 1992-94, 1995, 1997
Ohio Arts Council Choreography Fellow – 1989, 1992, 1994, 1996
Culture Works Opus Award for Artistic Excellence – 1996
Ruth St. Denis Creative Choreography Award – 1983
COMMISSIONS
Wheatland Music Organization – Carry it on… Project
Jacob’s Pillow
National Endowment for the Arts
New England Foundation for the Arts National Dance Project
Ohio Arts Council
Dayton Foundation
Miriam Rosenthal Foundation
Cultureworks Dayton
Mathile Foundation
Dayton Centennial of Flight Celebration
WHEATLAND MUSIC CAMP CLASSES: Morning Yoga, Traditional Team Clogging, Duet Singing (with Rick Good)
Painting by Greg Dearth
A founding member of the HOTMUD FAMILY, a twenty-four year veteran of RHYTHM IN SHOES and a 2010, Ohio Heritage Fellow, Rick is recognized and respected for his driving banjo, swinging guitar, heartfelt singing and crafty songwriting. With his wife and long-time collaborator, Sharon Leahy, Rick has made a life of creating critically acclaimed performance art rooted in American traditions. He currently plays regularly with three fine bands: SHOEFLY, GOOD & YOUNG and the RED CLAY RAMBLERS.
Writing songs and composing music since his early teens, Rick’s first CD of all original songs, Nova Town, was released in 1997, followed a few years later by a full-length theatrical production of the same name with a script he also wrote. In addition to Nova Town, his original music written for theater includes Rambleshoe (with Jack Herrick of the RED CLAY RAMBLERS) and Banjo Dance, for RHYTHM IN SHOES; The Dayton Stories Project: And That’s My Story for the HUMAN RACE THEATER COMPANY, and several productions for MAD RIVER THEATER WORKS and the ZOOT THEATER COMPANY. Rick’s music also appears in the films, Dream Catcher (Ed Radke, 1999) and Gravel (Steve Bognar, 2003).
WHEATLAND MUSIC CAMP CLASSES: Old Time Banjo I, Banjo I-II Fingerstyle, Duet Singing (with Sharon Leahy)
Peter Madcat Ruth has established an international reputation through his exhilarating, riveting virtuosity on the harmonica. His expertise on this instrument has amazed audiences world-wide. He is equally at home playing blues, folk music, jazz, country, or rock and roll. Performance Magazine refers to him as “A harmonica virtuoso who is rapidly approaching legend status.”
Madcat’s music has been evolving for over 50 years. It started in the Chicago area in the early 1960’s, with Madcat playing folk/blues on ukulele, guitar, and harmonica. By the late 60’s he had immersed himself in the Chicago Blues and was studying harmonica with Big Walter Horton. In the early 70’s Madcat moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan where he was a key presence in two of Ann Arbor’s finest progressive rock bands: New Heavenly Blue and Sky King. By the mid 70’s Madcat was touring the world with jazz pianist Dave Brubeck. In the 80’s, Madcat went solo infusing the folk/blues tradition with elements of rock and jazz. In 1990, Madcat teamed up with guitarist/singer Shari Kane to form the duo Madcat & Kane. For nearly twenty five years they toured nationally and internationally. And In 1998 Madcat teamed up with Chris Brubeck to form Triple Play and also started performing with Big Joe Manfra in Brazil. Finally, in 2012, teamed up with Drew Howard, Mark Schrock and Michael Shimmin to form the Roots/blues quartet called the Madcat Midnight Blues Journey.
Madcat’s experience is extensive. He has been an invited guest performer at many harmonica festivals in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. His harmonica playing is heard on over 100 CDs and LPs. National television and radio appearances, symphony orchestra performances, radio and television advertisements, and harmonica workshops all attest to Madcat’s reputation as one of the best and most versatile harmonica players in the world.
Madcat is more than an expert musician. He is also performer who has such a good time playing music that audiences, ranging from pre-schoolers to senior citizens, delight in his performances. His enthusiasm is unpretentious and contagious.
WHEATLAND MUSIC CAMP CLASSES: Harmonica from Scratch, Blues Harmonica I, Blues Harmonica II
Special performance by Madcat Midnight Blues Journey!
Kristin Andreassen (photo by Laura Crosta) is a dancer, square dance caller and songwriter who is best known for combining those talents in inventive ways. She’s toured three continents with Maryland’s Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble and as a member of the old time stringband Uncle Earl. Percussive dance was her first “instrument” and she has studied and performed Cape Breton stepdance, Irish dance, tap, body percussion and – of course – clogging and flatfooting, which she’ll be teaching at the Wheatland Music Camp this year. Kristin often incorporates dance rhythms in her songwriting process and performance. Check out the pattycake-based singalong “Crayola Doesn’t Make a Color For Your Eyes” (a #1 hit on Sirius XM’s Kids’ Place Live). Kristin is a believer in the power of traditional music to create and sustain community, and she’s proud to have taught at several of the music camps that have been instrumental in that regard — Ashokan Fiddle & Dance, the Augusta Heritage Center, Big Sur & Shasta Fiddle Camps, Voiceworks, the Southern Girls Rock & Roll Camp, and at her own Miles of Music Camp, which she co-founded in 2011. The Wheatland Music Festival has long been among her very favorites, and Kristin is thrilled to be part of the inaugural year at Wheatland Music Camp! www.kristinandreassen.com
WHEATLAND MUSIC CAMP CLASSES: Clogging II, Flatfooting, Calling
Emily Schaad has been playing and teaching music for nearly her whole life. With a background in viola and public school music education, she went to North Carolina to earn an MA in Appalachian studies, learning from fiddle masters Clyde Davenport and Benton Flippen. She is known for a complex and powerful fiddling style, and has taken first place in numerous stringband and fiddle contests, including the Appalachian Stringband Music Festival in Clifftop, WV. Emily was featured in the Winter 2014-15 issue of Fiddler Magazine. She currently performs with old-time stringband Old Buck, teaches fiddle and violin, and is working toward a doctorate in music education.
WHEATLAND MUSIC CAMP CLASSES: Old Time Fiddle I, Old Time Fiddle II, Old Time Band (with Old Buck)
And evening Dances with Old Buck
David Greely (with Bayou DeVille) is opening a new wing in his tradition, the home music of French Louisiana. David has taken the swampy syncopations of Cajun music and its renaissance French dialect to a new level of sophistication without losing its urgency and texture. In solo acoustic performance, he sounds like two or three fiddles, weaving accompaniment to his vocals as if it’s someone else singing. Presenting his concerts in English or French, he embraces all the aspects of his heritage that a fiddle and voice can reach- ancient ballads, cane field blues, yearning waltzes and fiery two steps, and melds his ancestral legacy with his own adroit compositions and stories of the rich souls who kept this music and language alive.
David was born in Baton Rouge of Cajun and Irish ancestry, and learned Cajun music on dance hall stages throughout South Louisiana, in the archives of Cajun and Creole music at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette, and from his apprenticeship to Cajun fiddle master and National Heritage Fellow Dewey Balfa. As a founding member of Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, David toured Folk Festivals worldwide for 23 years, and was nominated for four Grammy Awards. He has received the Louisiana Artist Fellowship Award for Folklife Performance, and is an adjunct instructor of Cajun fiddle at the University of Louisiana.
David enjoys explaining how this music works. He points out the characteristics of a melody, and shows students how to create variations on a tune while leaving the melody intact. He loves to orient them in the structure of keys, chords and harmony, so that they can easily aim for the firm footholds and resting places in the music, while being playfully creative on the way.
His other musical passion is Cajun songs – their melodies, phrasing, lyrics and language. He has devoted the past 3 decades to learning ballads, complaintes, dance hall songs and stories in the language of his ancestors, achieving conversational fluency as well as popular acclaim for his beautiful baritone vocals. His students understand the songs, which not only preserves the lyric in their minds, but also teaches them a bit of an archaic French dialect that charms French-speakers the world over.
WHEATLAND MUSIC CAMP CLASSES: Cajun Singing, Cajun Band
And evening Cajun Dances with Bayou DeVille
Jonno Frishberg is currently living in Breaux Bridge, and is employed by the St. Martin Parish School Board to teach music in the Gifted and Talented Program. He is also the weekend bandleader (Bayou Deville) at Mulates Restaurant and Dancehall in New Orleans, which is run by the man who created the original Mulates in Breaux Bridge during the 80s. Jonno was a local back then, and had the pleasure of listening to, and sitting in with, the bands who played there weekly: Octa Clark and Hector Duhon, D.L. Menard, Dewey Balfa, Steve Reiley, Wayne Toups, Beausoleil, Pat Breax, Jimmy Breaux, Faren Serrete, File, and others.
Jonno was the psychedelic Cajun-rock fiddler for the short-lived, but cutting edge “Cajun Rock” band, Mamou, and recorded on their first two CDs- Jungle/MCA, and Rounder. Before this, Jonno’s first Rounder record was with Richard Thompson, Sonny Landreth, Michael Doucet, Pat and Jimmy Breaux-“Cajun Brew”. Jonno has recorded with Danny Collet (Flying Fish), Charivari (Rounder), and many others, but also has his own label: New Range Records. Bayou Deville’s frist record (See Sharp and Be Natural) is on New Range, as is Jonno- South to Louisiana, and Eva Frishberg’s first CD, Waking Up.
Jonno is not a Cajun. Jonno came to South Louisiana from Maryland in 1979, not yet twenty years old, to work offshore in the oilfield service industry. There he discovered Community Coffee, rice and gravy, and the people. He has resided in either Acadiana, New Orleans, or both, since.
Also in the mid 80’s, Jonno began teaching youths and adults in Breaux Bridge and around Lafayette to play fiddle and guitar. He played in a variety of bands, including the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra. Later, he taught himself to play the Cajun accordion, and eventually ended up as the accordion player in Charivari (also a songwriter, singer and fiddler). During his 6 years with Mitch Reed, Randy Vidrine and Bo Ledet, Jonno and the other band members were the staff band at Ashokan Fiddle and Dance, both for Southern Week, and for the New Years Camps. He has also been on staff for ten years at the Dewey Balfa Cajun and Creole Heritage Week. Jonno has given numerous workshops, and taught numerous classes at many levels, both on fiddle and accordion, and has used guitar and triangle extensively while teaching. Jonno is also on staff at the Louisiana Folk Roots Cajun for Kids camp, along with David Greeley, Brazos Huval, Yvette Landry, Gina Forsyth, and others.
WHEATLAND MUSIC CAMP CLASSES: Cajun Fiddle II, Cajun Band
And evening Cajun Dances with Bayou DeVille
Debra Clifford – Debra Clifford is an award winning Lonesome Sister with Sarah Hawker, voted best acoustic duo of 2006 by Gibson Guitars and recording 7 CD’s. She plays mandolin, guitar, banjo and sings lead and harmony. She is also is a member of Old Buck String Band with Emily Schaad, Riley Baugus & Sabra Guzman. She has taught mandolin and guitar at Ashokan Southern Week for 7 years. Debra and Val Mindel have done numerous workshops with their Old Time Traveling Music School, in the US, England and Scotland. She is also a member of a The Josies, a new harmony/ old time fiddle duo with Becca Wintle.
WHEATLAND MUSIC CAMP CLASSES: Old Time Guitar I-II, Mando from Scratch, Old Time Band (with Old Buck)
And evening Dances with Old Buck
Lonesome Sisters http://lonesomesisters.com
Old Buck http://oldbuckmusic.com
The Josies http://thejosies.com
Old Time Music School http://www.oldtimemusicschool.com/
Travis Stuart began playing the banjo as a boy in Haywood County North Carolina. He is a respected banjo player and multi-instrumentalist known for his rich style and solid accompaniment. Travis has toured the US and internationally with The Stuart Brothers, Dirk Powell Band, Riley Baugus, the Reeltime Travelers, Martha Scanlan and step dancer Ira Bernstein. Travis learned from old-time masters such Red Wilson, the Smathers Family, and Byard Ray.
Besides being a renowned performer, Travis is also dedicated to teaching old-time music. He has taught the Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM) program in Haywood County, NC since 2000. Travis has taught at music camps around the country and abroad. He currently teaches Old-Time music with East Tennessee State University’s Bluegrass, Old Time, and Country Music Studies.
Travis has performed on many recordings and films and has recordings with The Stuart Brothers
WHEATLAND MUSIC CAMP CLASSES: Banjo from Scratch, Old Time Banjo II, Old Time Band (with Old Buck)
And evening Dances with Old Buck
Performance : 35 + years of experience around the country: from New Orleans, New York and Moab UT to venues like Wheatland, Great Lakes Folk Fest, to CBGB’s and Cobo Arena.
Also performances around the world, from Berlin, Copenhagen to Amsterdam and Alaska.
Genres : include folk, country and western, blues, vaudeville, klezmer, swing, dixieland, rock, and more.
Instruction : Drew’s teaching experience spans 30+ years, including Herb David’s Guitar Studio in Ann Arbor and now at Michigan State University’s Community Music School.
WHEATLAND MUSIC CAMP CLASSES: Pedal & Lap Steel Guitar, Bottleneck Slide Guitar, Dobro
Sabra Guzmán has been a part of Virginia since 2007, where she’s become a fully entrenched member of the burgeoning old-time & country music scene of the Appalachians and beyond. A founding member of the award winning old-time band Old Sledge and Old Buck, Sabra is well known for her solid guitar & bass skills, her unique vocal stylings, and her captivating stage presence. She has been seen at many prestigious venues & festivals – Freight & Salvage, Pickathon, Blackpot, Club Passim, The Los Angeles Old Time Social, The Ark, Floydfest, Bristol Rhythm and Roots – and received a coveted first place Traditional Old Time band at the Clifftop Appalachian Stringband Festival. Sabra brings a musicianship and her unique approach to all projects, regardless of genre or instrumentation.
WHEATLAND MUSIC CAMP CLASSES: Bass, Guitar from Scratch, Cajun Band
Evening performances with Old Buck
Audiences throughout Michigan are familiar with John D. Lamb as the front man of his rock band or as a solo acoustic act. Others know him as the director of Lamb’s Retreat for Songwriters where he gives other musicians a chance in the spotlight. In addition to bringing in some of acoustic music’s top songwriters as faculty members, Lamb has given out over 1000 individual songwriting assignments to musicians throughout the country. He was a journalism major at Central Michigan University when he first visited the Wheatland Music Festival. In 1980, while living in Mt. Pleasant, he formed his first band, Johnny D. and the Stains. Lamb infuses his own music with strong attention to detail that gives the songs the dexterity to work as rock tunes or as acoustic storytelling. Lyrically, he insists on finding the exact word or phrase to shade a line with a particular meaning. John D. Lamb’s CD, Feel That is the winner of the 2007 Detroit Music Award for Outstanding Acoustic/Folk Recording. ” … Lamb nails the exhilaration of the Up North experience as the driver in one song heads for the ski slopes and the good times, while wary of the whitetails on the road….With a laid-back, made-in-Detroit drawl, his voice and lyrics invite comparisons to populist songwriters ranging from Mellencamp to Steve Earle, with roots buried in the heart of the country.” Robert Downes Northern Express Weekly, Traverse City, Michigan.
WHEATLAND MUSIC CAMP CLASSES: Songwriting I: The Song Assignment. Songwriting II: Writing Words and Melody, Rewriting Words & Melody. Songwriting III: From Blank Page to On Stage.
Kevin has had a prolific career playing the drums for over 35 years, playing all styles of music including rock, blues, funk, cajun and zydeco. He has performed across the US and overseas with many artists such as New Orleans Blues artists Marva Wright, Henry Butler and John Mooney; Cajun artists Bayou Deville, Bruce Daigrepont and Amanda Shaw; as well as Zydeco artist Terrance Simien.
Kevin has also been involved in other aspects of the music business. He was general manager of Tower Records in New Orleans for many years and toured the world as production manager with Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
For the last 15 years, Kevin has devoted himself to playing and preserving the music of his Cajun ancestors. He performs 6 nights a week in New Orleans and still tours the US.
WHEATLAND MUSIC CAMP CLASSES: Cajun Percussion, Cajun Band
***Evening Dances with Bayou DeVille***
Bo Ledet is descended from French speaking parents who migrated from the “River Parishes” north west of New Orleans, to the “West Bank”, across the river from the Crescent City. Bo grew up playing whatever he could get his hands on- piano, guitar, anything available. Electric bass became his mainstay, and he played any music he heard: Swamp pop, rock, New Orleans R&B, country, you name it. But his dad always had a soft spot for his roots and played guitar and sang French music while they worked together in the family business.
WHEATLAND MUSIC CAMP CLASSES: Cajun Fiddle I, Cajun Band
***Evening Dances with Bayou DeVille***
Since his Plymouth, Michigan, childhood Bruce has had an interest in fiddling and square dancing. An elder cousin spun 78 RPM fiddle records by “the Henry Ford Orchestra” while he called dances in his barn. Hearing broadcasts of the Renfro Valley (KY) Barn Dance on WJR Detroit was an asset, too. In 1976 Bruce took up the fiddle in earnest and with his exposure to the fiddlers at the Wheatland Music Festivals, and a growing collection of recordings, he determined to learn to play. Twenty years later the opportunity came along to teach fiddling and the students have been coming ever since.
Bauman along with Wheatland alumni Nic Gareiss, co-founded the Earful of Fiddle Music & Dance Camp in 2009 which provides four days of classes in all levels of percussive dance, traditional fiddle, guitar, banjo, mandolin, ukulele and group singing classes.
There are four instructional recordings available from the Earful of Fiddle Tune Library, and Bruce fiddles on two string band recordings of the Rhythm Billies from 2004 and 2008.
WHEATLAND MUSIC CAMP CLASSES: Fiddle From Scratch, Fiddle from Scratch & 1/2
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Mark fell in love with Louisiana dance and music at Wheatland 25 years ago. He has extensive dance experience and has been teaching for the last 15 years. Mark has studied with master dancers and world champions and has traveled to festivals and dances all over the country. He lives in Louisiana 6 months of the year. In 2006 Mark instructed at the prestigious Australian National Folk Festival where he taught Zydeco dance he as taught in Louisiana and MIchigan from Festivals to private lessons. Frequent trips to Louisiana keep Mark current on the latest trends in this special dancing style. His greatest pleasure is to introduce others to these wonderfully exciting and energized forms of dance and be comfortable on the dance floor.
WHEATLAND MUSIC CAMP CLASSES: Cajun Dance, Zydeco Dance
If it has a string on it, he can play it…if you like the way he plays and you’d like to learn, he’ll teach you…if you’d like a custom built instrument to play, he’ll make one for you.
Daniel Seabolt is a consummate musician, instructor, and luthier all wrapped up in a bundle of boundless energy and enthusiasm who has been pleasing audiences in the United States and Europe for more than thirty years.
Starting at the age of 12, Daniel, “Danny”, began studying guitar and music theory with master guitarist John King. At 14, he developed what would become a lifelong love affair with the violin. He studied classical violin with the Westshore Symphony’s concert mistress, Jean Manning, and then played violin in the symphony. His formal training completed, he made the move from violinist to fiddler and focused his attention on traditional bluegrass, irish, and jazz music. As his exceptional talent became recognized, Dan had opportunities to open concerts for well-known performers like Riders in the sky, Doc Watson, Vasser Clements, Porter Wagoner, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and Jeff Carson among others. He has done studio recording on albums/CD’s for numerous groups. In addition, his music has been featured on a variety of radio and television advertisements. His first love, however, is live performance with groups like The Oat Bran Boys, Free Wheelin’, and as featured fiddler for well-known singer/song writer,award winning,Ruth Bloomquist. He has played for audiences around the United States, England, Belgium and France with Ruth, her husband Max, and John King. His reputation in Europe has grown steadily as he has developed friendships, and performed, with a number of international musicians.
Danny is a natural teacher who attracts students of all ages and ability levels. He provides excellent instruction on violin/fiddle, guitar, mandolin, ukulele. His patient and supportive approach to teaching music has won praise from students, parents, musicians and the general public. In addition to private lessons, Danny also conducts three and five day music workshops in his home state of Michigan, and in the Lanquedoc region of southern France.
Complimenting his talent and skill as a musician, Danny is also an experienced and creative luthier. His interest in creating instruments began when he learned the violin bow making trade. His bows have attained world-wide recognition, and are being played by professional musicians in many countries. He subsequently discovered that he had a talent, and love, for designing and making custom violins, violas, mandolins and double bass’. The demand for his uniquely styled, and beautiful sounding, instruments has grown steadily over the years. He is a well respected master craftsman.
Creativity, exceptional talent, and unbridled enthusiasm have earned Danny a reputation that keeps him in demand wherever he goes.
WHEATLAND MUSIC CAMP CLASSES: Bluegrass Fiddle I, Bluegrass Fiddle II
Nathan Myers, from the Central Michigan backwoods, performs very listenable instrumental guitar selections with a blues and jazz feel. Upbeat swing tunes, well known standards, ballads and classic blues are on the menu. Nathan is a long-time participant with music in Central Michigan, being a back-to-the-beginning member of WMO, and is frequently accompanied by another soloist.
Nathan is also an accomplished instructor in private lessons and through the Wheatland Music Organization’s Community Education Lesson Program, as well as Festival and TAW workshops. At Wheatland Music Camp, Nathan will provide new information, coaching and assist with playing difficulties including dexterity.
WHEATLAND MUSIC CAMP CLASSES: Blues Guitar I, Blues Guitar II