String Camp

He’s a self-described “street kid” from the Bronx who bailed on college and big city life for a cold-water cabin in Virginia in the 1970s. His mission?  To soak up the passion that was dramatically upending his parent’s life plan for him  – authentic Appalachian mountain music – at the feet of its legendary pioneers, old masters who are now long gone.

Today, Bruce Molsky is one of the most revered “multi-hyphenated career” ambassadors for America’s old-time mountain music. For decades, he’s been a globetrotting performer and educator, a recording artist with an expansive discography including seven solo albums, well over a dozen collaborations and two Grammy-nominations. He’s also the classic “musician’s musician” – a man who’s received high praise from diverse fans and collaborators like Linda Ronstadt, Mark Knopfler, Celtic giants Donal Lunny and Andy Irvine, jazzer Bill Frisell and dobro master Jerry Douglas, a true country gentleman by way of the Big Apple aptly dubbed “the Rembrandt of Appalachian fiddlers” by virtuoso violinist and sometimes bandmate Darol Anger.

Lauren is the owner of Gypsy Girl String Studio, where students learn a wide variety of styles, in addition to workshops, jams, and musical outings. She is the youngest professional to have been elected president of the Maine chapter of the American String Teacher’s Association. She has also taught at camps and clinics around the country such as the Mark O’Connor Fiddle Camp, the Mike Block String Camp, and has her own teaching website jamwithlauren.com

Lauren grew up studying violin, and expanded into fiddle and roots music when she joined her first band at age 16. Since then she has performed regularly with Darol Anger’s Republic of Strings, Crow Molly, and shared the stage with Bruce Molksy, Tim O’Brien, Mike Marshall, Brittany and Natalie Haas and others at festivals such as Wintergrass, Delfest, Rockygrass, and Celtic Connections. Her debut album “All the Brighter” is now available.

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Bronwyn Keith‐Hynes is a Nashville-based bluegrass fiddler originally from Charlottesville, Virginia. Accepted on a scholarship to attend the American Roots Music Program at Berklee College of Music at age 16, she graduated in 2012 with a Professional Diploma in Violin Performance. Bronwyn is fast gaining recognition for her fiddling across bluegrass and acoustic music circles. She has performed with Peter Rowan, Darol Anger, The Milk Carton Kids, Anais Mitchell, The Deadly Gentlemen and Tony Trischka, among others. Bronwyn is a founding member of the IBMA award-winning bluegrass band Mile Twelve, and can be found touring with them all over the planet. In 2014 Bronwyn won first place in the Walnut Valley Old Time Fiddle Championship in Winfield, KS and in 2018 was awarded the Momentum Instrumentalist of the Year Award by the IBMA. Bronwyn has been on staff at Berklee College of Music teaching string lessons at The Five Week Program for several years. She teaches in person in Nashville, and world-wide through Skype.

Joe teaches mandolin at Berklee College of Music, where he graduated (’07) as the first mandolin principal ever from Berklee. He is also part of the new American Roots Program at Berklee. Ask him about string camps he’s taught at, and he runs out of fingers and toes, but they include Mike Block String Camp, Mark O’Connor String Camp, & The Maine Fiddle Camp among many others in the US, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Joe has toured, recorded and played with the absolute best in bluegrass, roots & acoustic based music, showcasing his omnivorous appetite for style. His experience includes, but is not limited to: The IBMA award winning The Gibson Brothers, Joy Kills Sorrow, Jonathan Edwards, Scott Nygaard, Matt Glaser, Emmylou Harris, Bela Fleck, John Scofield, Ricky Scaggs, Alison Brown, Darol Anger, The New England Bluegrass Band, The Stowaways, Brittany Haas & Owen Marshall, and last year’s Ossipee headliner, Marty Stuart!

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Originally from Clemson, South Carolina, mandolinist David Benedict is quickly becoming a notable figure in the bluegrass and acoustic music scene. After graduating with a mandolin music performance degree and spending a 3-year stint in Nashville touring and recording with acclaimed bass player Missy Raines, David made the move to Boston to join Mile Twelve. During this time, David founded the acclaimed and ongoing weekly video series Mandolin Mondays hosted on the Mandolin Cafe. He also received the 2018 IBMA Momentum Award for Instrumentalist of the Year. His recent solo album The Golden Angle demonstrates his ability to integrate seamlessly with the high-caliber company he keeps, including collaborations from Grammy-winning artists Stuart Duncan, David Grier, and others. Jazz guitar sensation Julian Lage notes, “David is one of the most inspiring lights on the creative acoustic music scene today. A talented player and composer who is paving the way for new and exciting music! I can’t wait to see where he takes us!”

Steve currently teaches Bass, mandolin, guitar and fiddle, and uke as an instructor at the 317 Main Community Music Center in Southern Maine. He has also taught at camps across the country including Steve Kaufman’s Flatpik & Acoustic Kamp.

Steve is as versitile as they come, playing in a band called Grassputian as a bluegrass guy, and a band called Jazzputian as a jazz guy simultaneously, while also enjoying folk, rock, funk, classical, country, old time, rockabilly, heavy metal etc. etc. etc! He is a multi-instrumentalist and has toured with Laurie Lewis, Hit and Run Bluegrass with Rebecca Fraiser, Chris Stewart and the Backcountry, among others. He is also well known in the Portland scene, playing with bands such as The Stowaways, and Erica Brown and the Bluegrass Connection.

He is a fantastically fun and energetic teacher and we are thrilled to be introducing a new instrument–ukulele, to the camp this year, and having him teach it!

So says Danny–“i’ve been at this a pretty long time. the main thing i use to get my ideas across has been the banjo. it has an unusual sound and is capable of a wide range of expression, however it isn’t very developed yet, in terms of what is being done with it in a current macro sense. it’s untapped.

a lot of what i do was informed by punk rock and dub music from the 70’s, i bought those records when they were new, thus starting a lifelong obsession of buying records. i received a degree from the university of texas [austin] in audio production, and loved the classes there about the history of audio and recorded music. that’s where i first started hearing experimental music, that’s also where i learned to be very comfortable in a recording studio. later i became the principle songwriter/producer/singer for bad livers, and eventually launched my own private record label [minner bucket records], publishing company, and solo career in about 1998.

i have some good friends in bands of various sizes, some of them are these quite famous people, though i try to learn from anyone that has an “idea.” my whole thing is music, and trying to make my own sound. i have developed a specific technique i call barnyard electronics which is an aesthetic combining various bits of bluegrass, noise, rock, and electronic music. the live aspect involves a computer program i built in max/msp and a banjo. i do about 150 domestic shows a year with that set-up.”

 Native New Zealander, Catherine (BB) Bowness started playing the banjo at the age of 12 after hearing a friend play the beverly hillbillies theme song. A few years later, BB received the Frank Winter memorial award at the Auckland Folk Festival allowing her to travel to the USA, where she studied with banjo players Tony Trischka, Alan Munde and Noam Pikelny. In 2009, she became the first banjo player accepted to the New Zealand School of Music, graduating in 2011 with a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Perfomance. BB was selected to attend the 2013 Savannah Acoustic Music Seminar, studying with world-class artists such as Julian Lage, Mike Marshall and Darol Anger. She won first place at the 2015 Freshgrass Banjo Contest and currently keeps busy recording, teaching and performing throughout New England.

Evan Murphy was raised in Milton, MA. He received his degree in music from Boston College and spent several years after graduating in New York City where he studied bluegrass guitar with Grammy-Nominated artists Michael Daves and Chris Eldridge. When Evan moved back to Boston in 2014 he cofounded Mile Twelve alongside some of the musicians who inspire him most. He now plays full time with them and teaches privately from his home in South Boston. Evan was featured at the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Songwriter Showcase in 2018 and was nominated for a momentum award as Vocalist of the Year.“

For several years Brooklyn-based guitarist Grant Gordy has been a major voice on the American “acoustic music” scene, and one of the most highly regarded young instrumentalists of his generation. Having held the guitar chair in the legendary David Grisman Quintet for six years, he’s also worked alongside such musical luminaries as Edgar Meyer, Steve Martin, Tony Trischka and Darol Anger. Grant has performed all over North America and Europe, everywhere from Carnegie Hall to Montreal Jazz Festival; Jazz at Lincoln Center to Bonnaroo.

His music has been heard on NPR’s Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Tiny Desk Concerts, and he’s received attention from international music periodicals such as The Fretboard Journal, Acoustic Guitar Magazine, Japanese bluegrass publication Moonshiner, Just Jazz Guitar and Flatpicking Guitar Magazine.

Born-and-raised in New York City, Nate Sabat is a bassist, vocalist, songwriter, and arranger currently based in Somerville, Massachusetts. He attended LaGuardia High School as a vocal principal and went on to study upright bass at the Berklee College of Music. He has performed on stages throughout Europe, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the United States. With his ability to pay close attention to detail and quickly internalize musical form and feeling, Nate has become an in-demand sideman both on stage and in the studio. He has worked with artists such as fiddle maestro Darol Anger, banjo legend Tony Trischka, bassist/composer Bruno Raberg, gypsy-jazz musicians Albert Bello and Oriol Saña, Canadian rock band Fish & Bird and singer-songwriter Jenny Ritter. Nate has written vocal music for NPR’s Radio Lab, written string arrangements for the Heifetz International Music Institute, and written songs that are in rotation on Sirius XM’s Bluegrass Junction channel. The debut project under his own name, Walking Away, was released on November 30th, 2018. At the core a rock project, it draws from influences as wide as the Stanley Brothers, Dvořák, Joni Mitchell and XTC.

More instructors including vocal & songwriting, and guitar, will be announced soon!