Week Two Instructors

Rich is widely regarded as the leading exponent of mandolin blues, has written articles for Blues Revue, Living Blues, Mandolin Magazine, Frets, Sing Out! and Il Blues. He has published a blues guitar instruction book and three mandolin books for Hal Leonard. His latest, Mandolin Blues: From Memphis to Maxwell Street explores the music and the history of the mandolin in the blues, and his Blues Guitar Lesson Anthology is a compilation of his favorite lessons and columns from his years with Blues Revue. He has presented workshops on mandolin and guitar across the country, including Mandolin Symposium in California, L’Accademia Internazionale del Mandolino Italiano in Italy, the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop in WA, the Country Blues Workshop in Port Townsend, WA., Euroblues in the UK and Augusta Heritage Arts: Bluesweek in WVA.
“...he lets his fingers do the talking, and his beautiful, clear tone and fluid technique are a delight...” Living Blues http://www.mandolinblues.com

John Doerschuk has been in the sound business for over 25 years. He was attracted to waves and electrons while playing in bands in the seventies, and somehow continues to make a living as an "audio guy." He lives with his artist wife Bessie and daughter Sophie in Cambridge, Massachusetts. John plays piano and guitar and is trying to tame a Dobro.

Martin Grosswendt, once described by U. Utah Phillips as "a rumor in his own time," has been a performer, session musician, and teacher for more than three decades. As a more recent writer has said, "While his name is not a household word, among musicians and fans of country, blues and folk, he is sort of an underground legend, a musician of extraordinary talent." A multi-instrumentalist and singer long known as an interpreter of '20s and '30s blues, Martin is equally at home playing the old-time music of the Southern Appalachians or the Cajun and Creole music of Southwest Louisiana. He plays six- and twelve-string guitar, five-string banjo, mandolin, fiddle, bass, Cajun accordion, and Dobro. Martin is music teaches at and is co-director of Banjo Camp North and Old Time Music Camp North, and has performed and taught at numerous festivals.

“Lorraine Hammond is the most versatile dulcimer player I know”, observes North Carolina dulcimer wizard Don Pedi. Lorraine’s numerous credits as a traditional singer, songwriter, teacher and instrumentalist include her groundbreaking Shanachie release with fiddler Gerry Milnes, "Hell Up Coal Holler”, a Homespun dulcimer instruction series, and two elegant Appalachian dulcimer books with Yellow Moon Press. Lorraine also plays, performs on and teaches five string banjo, mandolin and harp. Lorraine’s new CD, “The Opal Ring”, on the Snowy Egret label, combines the traditional New England ballads of her childhood with her own songs drawn from that childhood in the Connecticut Berkshires. Reviewer Mark Flanagan observes: “ Lorraine Lee Hammond opens her latest CD with some of the sweetest notes ever produced on the mountain dulcimer". www.greatacoustics.org

Bennett is “the sort of finger-picking guitar player you can listen to all day“- The Shetland Times. He started playing in 1957 and began teaching in 1960, débuted as a virtuoso soloist in 1980 - on the In-Bound platform, Harvard Square Station - and has played above ground, at home and abroad ever since. Early influences include an EP side of folk and cowboy songs with guitar accompaniment his sister Lucy made in 1951, recordings of Etta Baker, Mike Seeger and Duane Eddy, and of course the Three B’s - Bach, Bluegrass, and Bo Diddly. Bennett's classes focus on developing students’ individual skill and style, helping you to play like yourself, only more so. www.greatacoustics.org

Rev. Robert Jones, Sr.
Reverend Robert Jones, Sr. is a singer, storyteller and self taught multi-instrumentalist. He uses folk, blues, spirituals and other American Roots music to champion the beauty and power of our shared culture. A lifelong Detroiter, Rev. Jones has been performing professionally for nearly 30 years for festivals, schools, civil rights organizations an
Rev. Robert Jones, Sr. is an inspirational storyteller and musician celebrating the history, humor and power of American Roots music. An award-winning multi-instrumentalist, he plays guitar, harmonica, mandolin, banjo and fiddle. His deep love for traditional African American and American traditional music is shared in live performances that interweave timeless stories with original and traditional songs.

For more than twenty-five years Robert has entertained and educated audiences of all ages in schools, colleges, libraries, union halls, prisons, churches and civil rights organizations. At the heart of his message is the belief that our cultural diversity tells a story that should celebrate, not just tolerate. Acclaimed photographer James Fraher writes about Robert: “Perhaps the world’s most highly educated blues musician, an ordained minister, a longtime DJ, and a living encyclopedia of blues history, the Reverend Robert Jones is comfortable among juke joint loud talkers, fancy-hatted church ladies, and PhDs alike."

John Kirk’s lyric voice, good sense of humor, and versatile instrumental skills have earned him folk music recognition on an international scale. He plays fiddle, mandolin, guitar, banjo, dulcimers, keyboard, tin whistle, traditional and original songs and tunes. Themes of many selections are rooted the Adirondacks and northeast woodlands where John calls home. He demonstrates a vast knowledge of musical traditions, teaching at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY, and at Bennington College in Vermont. In addition to steady work at the colleges, John’s been working as a teaching artist for primary and secondary school residences for three decades. In duet appearances with his wife, Trish Miller, they teach music, dance and entertain for concerts festivals and special events. He is music director of Quickstep, their larger fiddle ensemble with musicians whom John and Trish have worked with for many years. Jazz at Lincoln Center and the U.S. State Department selected the band, Mountain Quickstep (John, Trish Miller, Sara Milonovich & Greg Anderson) for the 2011-12 season of The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad. As a musical ambassador, In addition to performances, he directed workshops and music exchanges with bands from many countries.

John works part-time with the Susquehanna String Band, the Dawnland Singers and the Vanaver Caravan. For almost ten years he worked with Walt Michael & Co. There are ten recordings where he is the featured artist and John’s been guest performer on over a hundred more. He can be heard on Ken Burns, “The West”, with Jay Ungar, Molly Mason and on other TV, video, radio and theater projects. The Dixie Chicks recorded his song, “Long Roads”. Sing Out magazine said, “John Kirk is a fine player on all his instruments and he sings quite well. With such a widely varied repertoire, there’s really something here for everyone. This is one that’s worth seeking out.”

Trish Miller has been performing and teaching Appalachian clogging since her college days in Virginia. She plays guitar, banjo and sings in the band, Quickstep, with her husband, John Kirk. Ralph Stanley said, “You sound just like my Mother playing that old-time dancing style”. She also teaches banjo at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. Trish and John are teaching artists in school music and dance residences and they have led workshops at many camps and festivals. They have several recordings and videos available. Their award winning children’s music CD, Big Rock Candy Mountain, has been especially popular on internet radio.

Trish is a dance caller and country dance choreographer. She has a warm encouraging set up for circle, square and contra dances that manages to get all ages moving together in intricate patterns with each other and with the music. Her stepping style is rooted in the southern mountains and mixed with some steps from tap and Celtic repertoires. While working with the Green Grass Cloggers, from Asheville, N.C., Trish was strongly influenced by their mix of traditional clogging and more modern percussion steps. With that ensemble, as well as with John, she has performed throughout North America and internationally. Trish has been awarded numerous grants for teaching opportunities, performances and for organizing folk events. For more information please go to the web site www.johnandtrish.com

Chicago native David Roth cemented his connection to the folk music community on the streets of Greenwich Village in the 1980s taking his numbers (and lumps!) at the open mics at Folk City, the Speakeasy, Jack Hardy's weekly songwriting groups, and anywhere else he could find an open door and an open ear. With 25 years of full-time music-making under his belt, David's songs have found their way to Carnegie Hall, the United Nations, several Chicken Soup for the Soul books, Peter, Paul, & Mary concerts, the Kingston Trio, the Kennedy Center, the Kerrville and Falcon Ridge Folk Festival competitions (top honors at both), NASA's Goddard Space Center (his song, "Rocket Science" went up on the space shuttle Atlantis in 2009), the "Rise Up Singing" Songbook, countless coffeehouses, conferences, concert halls, camps, festivals, and 12 CDs on the Wind River and Stockfisch (Germany) labels. Featured on many of Christine Lavin's seminal Rounder Records compilations, the former artist-in-residence at New York's Omega Institute is also Coordinator for the Swannanoa Gathering's Contemporary Folk Week each summer in Asheville, NC. David is thrilled to return to SAMW from his home on Cape Cod where for the past 7 years he's hosted the Full Moon Open Mic, providing a forum for local musicians to connect and be heard while at the same time collecting donations for local non-profits.

Cosy Sheridan has been called “one of the era’s finest and most thoughtful singer-songwriters.” She first caught the attention of national folk audiences in 1992 when she won both the Kerrville Folk Festival's NewFolk Award and The Telluride Bluegrass Festival Troubadour Contest, then released her critically-acclaimed debut CD Quietly Led on Waterbug Records. She has released nine CDs, her music is featured in the Robert Fulghum multi-media novel The Third Wish and she tours consistently throughout the US. Her concerts are wide-ranging explorations of modern mythology (meet Hades the Biker), love songs for adults, contemporary philosophy for the thoughtfully-minded and her signature parody on aging and women. Throughout this journey, her lyrical dexterity is backed by her distinctive, percussive bluesy-gospel guitar style. A guitar student of instrumental luminaries such as Guy Van Duser and Eric Schoenberg and a voice student at The Berklee School of Music, she brings a depth of experience to her craft. For the past 18 years, she has taught classes in songwriting, performance and guitar at workshops and adult music camps across the country including The Puget Sound Guitar Workshop and The Swannanoa Gathering. In 2008 she co-founded The Moab Folk Camp.

Louisiana-born Charles Williams has won international acclaim since his opera debut at the Festival of Two worlds in Spoleto, Italy. He has acted and sung in theaters and opera houses, and for radio and television around the world. He has performed at the metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, and the Kennedy Center. He toured Europe as a cast member and vocal coach of “The Temptation of St. Anthony” directed by Robert Wilson with music and book by Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon. He is currently on a world tour with the Pomegranate Arts production of “Einstein on the Beach” composed by Philip Glass and directed by Robert Wilson. For more than a decade, Charles has partnered with global-jazz percussionist Tom Teasley to form the duo Word-Beat. Word-Beat has performed and conducted music workshops in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East. Charles is a master teacher/artist in voice at the Levine School of Music in Washington DC. Students come from many countries to study with Charles in his home studio in Alexandria, Virginia. He also travels the country giving master classes and conducting vocal workshops.

Brooks Williams, called “one of America’s musical treasures,” is ranked in the Top 100 Acoustic Guitarists. From festival stages like Glastonbury and Celtic Connections to concert halls like Edinburgh’s Festival Hall Theatre, Williams is one of the most commanding performers in music today. Whether solo or with his critically acclaimed duo, State of the Union, Williams’ soulful singing and hook-laden songs are turning heads. In 2012 he was awarded the Cambridge Arts Award, appeared on Radio Ballads, a six-week BBC Radio broadcast celebrating the London 2012 Olympics, and guested on The Andrew Marr Show on BBC TV. No stranger to teaching, Acoustic magazine writes, “There aren’t many people who can play guitar like Brooks Williams, and fewer still who can teach like he can.” Recent workshops include Anglia Ruskin University in the UK, La Grande Gennerie in France, and The Swannanoa Gathering in the USA. His discography includes 20 CDs (with more on the way!) and two guitar instructional DVDs (praised for their accessibility as well as Williams’ “easy and engaging presence on screen.”) http://www.brookswilliams.com/