NEWS:

The Mike Seeger Commemorative
5th ANNUAL OLD TIME BANJO FESTIVAL
Saturday, July 14, 2012 at 7:30pm (Doors open at 6pm)
The Birchmere Music Hall
3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria, VA
$29.50 (+service charges)
At Birchmere Box Office or 800-745-3000
ADVANCE TICKETS RECOMMENDED

Artists:

Bill Evans is an internationally known five-string banjo life force. As a performer, teacher, writer, scholar and composer, he brings a deep knowledge, intense virtuosity and contagious passion to all things banjo. Tracing the banjo from its West African roots to the New World, Evans performs musical examples from the 1700’s to the present day on a variety of vintage instruments, ranging from an African ekonting to a mid-19th century minstrel banjo, a modern bluegrass banjo and even an electric banjo. A former member of the Dry Branch Fire Squad, Bill has toured and performed worldwide in various bands.
www.billevansbanjo.com.

Adam Hurt has fused several traditional old-time idioms to create his own elegantly innovative clawhammer banjo style. A respected performer and teacher of traditional music, Adam has placed in or won most of the major old-time banjo competitions including Clifftop, Mount Airy, and Galax, and won the state banjo championships of Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio.  With four solo CDs to his credit, including one whose tunes are played entirely on a gourd banjo, Adam was recently featured on a recording by IBMA guitarist of the year Kenny Smith.
www.adamhurt.com

Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer- Grammy winning duo playing cello banjo, banjo ukulele, 5 string and other hybrids. Cathy is 3X winner of the West Virginia Old Time Banjo Contest and Marcy is responsible for the resurgence of the cello banjo. Their repertoire spans traditional Appalachian fiddle tunes and songs, original gems and unique arrangements of songs by Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie and other-genred icons. www.cathymarcy.com

Evie Ladin - The polyrhythmic heat and funk of Evie Ladin's clawhammer banjo, resonant voice, real stories and rhythmic dance - have been heard from A Prairie Home Companion to Celtic Connections, Lincoln Center to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. Known as a driving force behind San Francisco's Stairwell Sisters, Evie's solo debut Float Downstream (2010) was produced by Mike Marshall and Keith Terry. Sing Out! magazine reports "Solid song craft performed wonderfully end to end." Evie started playing banjo at the age of 8, clogging since 5, and has a fluid expressiveness in these traditional Appalachian arts, even as she brings an urban edge and contemporary vision to her music and dance. http://www.evieladin.com

BEST OF THE OLD TIME BANJO FESTIVAL DVD- to be released at the Birchmere including stellar performances from past years.

WORKSHOPS: Sunday, July 15, 2012
12-2 PM & 2:30-4:30 PM
Bill Evans, Adam Hurt, Evie Ladin, The Old 78's, Cathy Fink
Location: House of Musical Traditions
7010 Westmoreland Ave., Takoma Park, MD 20912
To Register: Call 301-270-9090 or online at www.hmtrad.com

12-2 PM
Evie Ladin "Making The Leap"  - advanced beginner-intermediate
 How do you Make The Leap from practicing, learning by yourself, from tab or with a teacher, to hearing the tune, and immediately translating it onto your instrument?  Once you start to hear the tune and can play it on your instrument, what about how this fiddler plays? What chords does this singer use for this familiar tune?  Picking up the nuances of the player you are with is half the fun of creating a great musical experience.  It’s not as hard as you might think, and we'll look at a few useful tips, to get you started, or at least start thinking differently about the process.

The Old 78's - Join the Band
Bring a Banjo (any size, any kind), Bring a Kazoo, bring anything and be part of an exciting musical arrangement for ensemble.

Bill Evans - Working Up Scruggs-Style Solos
One of the greatest challenges for banjo players at all levels is finding the melody on the fingerboard and choosing just the right rolls and licks to create legitimate sounding, driving Scruggs-style solos. In this “hands on, let’s pick” style of workshop designed for players of all ability levels, "Banjo for Dummies" author Bill Evans will show you how to choose a key for your solo, how to find those pesky melody notes, and how melodies are related to chord progressions. He’ll then move on to show how roll choices can enhance the effectiveness of solos as well as teach many basic licks that come up again and again in Scruggs’ playing, taking you through a step-by-step process unlocking the secrets of great soloing. Bill will also nalyze several Scruggs solos to show you how Earl did it! Tab examples will be provided for all examples and audio/video recording is encouraged.

2:30-4:30pm

Adam Hurt - The Round Peak Aesthetic (Intermediate/Advanced)
In this workshop, participants will acquire an overview of the artistic and technical aesthetic that shaped the clawhammer banjo styles of such Round Peak, North Carolina musical icons as Tommy Jarrell, Kyle Creed, and Fred Cockerham. The fundamentals of the style, including some of the ways in which the historical players' personal approaches to the banjo were similar to and different from one another, will be conveyed via a collection of tunes from the Round Peak canon, all taught note-by-note. Participants need to have facility with the drop-thumb technique and be comfortable playing in the keys of A and D in order to get the most out of this session. The use of recording devices is highly recommended, as all material will be taught by ear in the traditional manner

Cathy Fink - Clawhammer for Beginners

Download the flyer here.

SPONSORS
Enthusiasm reached deep in to the banjo lovin’ community and we’d like to thank our sponsors for their generous support.

OASIS CD MANUFACTURING- At the heart of the indie music world is a company that made self-releasing & distribution accessible to all! www.oasis.com