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Workshop
Information

The following is the workshop information from 2011.  This will be updated for 2012 as soon as the information becomes available.
 

Music 1 Music 2 Music 3 Music 4 Jam Room
12:00 - 12:55 Ed Hilton Songs of John Prine Sharyn Dimmick & Casey Casebeer Traditional Ballads (2 hours) Shay Black Expanding Your Folk Song Repertoire Paul Herzoff Harmonica Tunes Chugs & Riffs from Around the World Brad Bechtel Hawaiian Jam
1:00 - 1:55
Ed Hilton
Songs of Donovan

Sharyn Dimmick & Casey Casebeer (cont)
Chuck Ervin
Stand Up Bass

Sylvia Herold
Swing Guitar for Folkies

Doug Norman
Hank Williams Jam
(2 hours)

2:00 - 2:55
Lisa Hubbell
Songs from the Heart

Sadie Damascus
Work Songs

John Tuttle
The Three R’s of Charts

Joe Cadora
Blues Guitar

Doug Norman
(cont)
3:00 - 3:55
Joe Cadora & Jeannine Menger
Beatles Songs
(2 hours)

Steve Baughman
In Harmony’s Way
A Cappella
Singing Session
(2 hours)
Phil Campbell &
Annie Aronson
Have More Fun at the Folk Jam

Brad Bechtel
Beginning Dobro
Jug Band Jam
CA Jug Band Association
(2 hours)
4:00 - 4:55
Joe Cadora &
Jeannine Menger
(cont)
Steve Baughman
(cont)
4:00
Sharyn Dimmick &
Richard Adrianowicz
Carrying a Tune without a Bucket

Paul Herzoff
Harmonica Jam

CA Jug Band Association
(cont)




 

 

  12:00 noon
Songs of John Prine
Ed Hilton



John Prine emerged as a country/folk songwriter and performer out of the Chicago folk revival of the early 1970s. Some of his most successful songs are Illegal Smile, Sam Stone and Paradise. Bonnie Raitt had a successful version of his Angels From Montgomery. He regularly performs at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco.

Ed Hilton has enjoyed his music since college. His music is regularly played at jams within the San Francisco Folk Music Club



12:00 noon
Traditional Ballads (2 hours)
Sharyn Dimmick & Casey Casebeer



Traditional ballads are narrative songs from the oral singing traditions of many lands, songs with no known author. In this workshop we will sing a ballad or two for you and then encourage you to sing ballads for us and with us. We have two hours to sing our favorite ballads. While we will focus on ballads from British and American traditions, Casey might sing one in French for you. Come prepared to solo with a ballad, to sing along on refrains or just to listen as the stories unfold.

Can't get enough in two hours? Please consider joining us at our Ballad group in Berkeley. We meet once a month to sing ballads and other traditional songs with a grand April free-for-all where we let our hair down and sing anything at all. For meeting information email izabel261@comcast.net.

Sharyn Dimmick founded the Ballad group in Berkeley too many years ago to remember. She has sung traditional ballads since first hearing them on ten-inch records during her childhood. Her recording "Paris" includes a North Carolina version of "Barbara Allen" and the wicked murder ballad "Little Sadie."

Casey learned her first ballad at the age of 7. A founding member of the trad singing duo Wild Thyme, she sang with Peg Hartley at the Black Point RenFaire in the early 80’s.She still sings regularly with Peg (now Peg Healy) and holds in trust hundreds of ballads, traditional songs, drinking songs and rounds from the English, Scots and French traditions. She is a regular participant in the monthly Little Pink, In Harmony’s Way, and Ballad singing circles in Albany and Berkeley, as well as the New Harmony music camp. She is retired, living in the Sierra Nevada, and dividing her time between her mountain home and her music friends in the Bay Area.


12:00 noon
Expanding Your Folk Song Repertoire
Shay Black



Shay Black is known for his extensive knowledge of the Irish, English, Scottish, and other folk traditions, and he loves sharing this knowledge. In this class, Shay will teach a number of songs from differing traditions. His teaching style is through learning by repetition, so no background knowledge of music theory is necessary. He starts from "If you can hum it, you can sing it." Bring a recording device to help memorize melody, and Shay will provide hand-outs with the lyrics ... lots of them!

Irish-born Shay Black has lived in the east bay for fifteen years, and his most regular gig these days is the weekly "Starry Irish Session" at The Starry Plough pub in Berkeley. With a background steeped in traditional and folk music, he regularly performs with brothers Michael and Martin, and also at times with sisters Frances and Mary Black. In Europe, he has also toured and recorded with the late great Stan Hugill and the fabled sea shanty group Stormalong John and Irish band Garva. Shay continues to be an avid songcatcher. He has a huge song collection, and has taught repertoire building at many music camps and festivals. He currently teaches "Expand your Folk Song Repertoire" as a weekly Monday class at the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley. The class series runs for six weeks during which Shay teaches songs from the Irish, Scottish and English folk traditions, along with some standards and anthems.

www.Black-Brothers.com
Shay_Black@hotmail.com



12:00 Noon
Harmonica Tunes, Chugs, and Riffs from Around the World
Paul Herzoff




Introduction to the world's most widespread and popular musical instrument. All your ideas about the harmonica – it’s history, and its place in the world's music – are correct! Now come and learn some different ones – and why it's a good thing for you to learn to play. Blues harp is a glorious institution, but it's only a small portion of the world culture of harmonica. This workshop will look into various folk harmonica styles, with demonstrations and recordings.

Those who attend are encouraged to play along or to show off their specialties. It's a chance for those interested in the instrument to gather, and it's also a chance to spread the word to newbies of the harmonica's versatility and ubiquity – keys to its acceptance in many musical traditions.

Bring any old harmonica in the key of "C" to participate in introductory material and see how simple it can be to start.
Not an all-out beginners' class, but more of a pep talk and (hopefully) inspirational demonstration of the fun one can have with the "Pocket Piano". The workshop will be lecture/demonstration and jam combined (and might continue after the official ending time if there is a group desire to do so.)

Paul Herzoff started playing harmonica in college and never stopped. He loves to spread knowledge of this most versatile and popular instrument – a gateway to a lifetime of homemade music. A dozen years of teaching beginners has taught him the joy of introducing people to the language and lore of the gloriously humble harmonica.


1:00
Songs of Donovan
Ed Hilton



Donovan Leitch emerged from Scotland onto the British folk scene in 1965. His popularity spread, including to the US. His influences, as is true of American traditional music, were the folk traditions of Scotland, Ireland and England. He was also influenced by Woody Guthrie and Ramblin' Jack Elliot. He now lives in Ireland.

Some of his most popular songs were Catch the Wind, Colours, and Sunshine Superman.

Ed Hilton became a Donovan fan at age 13 while listening to his older brother David's albums.

1:00
The Lowdown on the Upright Bass
Chuck Ervin

Curious about the upright bass? Do you play occasionally? Learn solid technique that will let you to play (and gig!) for hours. We'll cover left- and right-hand techniques, root-fifth theory, damping, timing, and more. We'll play a song or two so you can put this new-found knowledge into practice right away. A couple of loaner basses will be available to share, but if you can beg or borrow a bass, bring it! All acoustic bassists are welcome.

Chuck Ervin studied jazz bass with Glenn Richman, bassist with renowned vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, and currently plays folk music with Euphonia, classic country with the Mike Stadler & Mary Gibbons Band, jazz and pop with guitarist Chris Grampp, and occasionally Celtic folk/rock with Wake the Dead, among others. He has performed with many Bay Area musicians, including Keith Little, Sylvia Herold, Ray Bierl, Tony Marcus, Ed Johnson, and Julian Smedley. He teaches group classes at music camp and at his Oakland home, as well as individual lessons.



1:00
Swing Guitar For Folkies
Sylvia Herold


Learn a few movable chord shapes and start playing jazz, swing and Western swing classics! Demystify the guitar neck and bump up your playing to the next level. Amaze your friends with swinging guitar chops and fun songs! Participants should be comfortable with basic, first-position chords: A, C, D, E, G and F.

Sylvia Herold has been teaching swing guitar at music camps and private group lessons for at least 20 years. She has developed a unique, easy-to-execute method for teaching swing guitar that is fun and challenging.


2:00
Songs from the Heart
Lisa Hubbell



We'll go around in a circle, each sharing songs that have moved us to tears, kept us going, or changed us. They don't have to be singalongs, and can be in any genre, sung accompanied or not. Please come ready to listen and share from the heart.

Lisa Hubbell is a songwriter who has had three songs published in the folknik, and one in the Quaker hymnal "Worship in Song". She writes about friendship, risk-taking, and staying grounded; and loves singing harmony and learning songs that take practice to sing without crying. She has shared stages with Peter Blood & Annie Patterson, Betsy Rose, and Emma's Revolution. For now, performing is on the back burner while she works on a second master's in Library Science.
http://www.myspace.com/lisahubbell 



1:00
Hank Williams Jam (2 hours)
Doug Norman

 



Every one of us, truth be told, needs to get down to basics every once in a while, remembering the music from our youth and from the early years of popular music and radio. At this Hank Williams jam, Doug Norman and those who attend will have a chance to play some of those tunes that had such a huge part in creating country, rock 'n' roll, and Americana music.

Bring your voice, your instruments, your yodel and your lonesome. Ever want to sing in front of a honky-tonk band? Well, this isn't quite that gig, but it's close. Doug will play guitar, and pedal steel player Eric Jaeger and bass player Jon Steel will add some of their flavor to our jammin'.



2:00
Work Songs
Sadie Damascus

For this hour of Work Songs, please bring any work songs you'd like to sing or lead. They should be sort of generic, not tell a story – “Erie Canal" is good; "Davy Jones" not so good; "The Farmer is the Man" is good; "The Devil and the Farmer's Wife", not so good. Work songs express the common nature of the work, and often carry the job's rhythm, from old Irish Weaving songs and Scots Bothy songs to American cowboy, mule driver, prison work gang, moonshiner, farmer, field worker, union, train, or factory songs. Sea chanteys are for another workshop, please, not this one.

Sadie grew up listening to field recordings, Leadbelly, blues singers, traditional British and Celtic music, the Seegers, her parents' songs, and a thousand other folk musicians. You have probably heard her sing at Renaissance and Dickens Fairs, and other folk festivals. You can contact Sadie at damascus@ap.net.



2:00
The Three R’s of Charts
by John Tuttle




Charts can be very useful tools for communicating among musicians, and for learning or teaching songs. Charts can also be vague, frustrating, counterproductive, or just plain wrong. In this workshop we’ll look at some of the many different styles of charts in use today. And we’ll explore the underlying principles that separate good charts from bad ones, whatever the style. We’ll do some listening and writing, singing and playing – bring your instrument. You’ll come away with handouts, and hopefully some techniques to improve both your reading and writing of charts.

John Tuttle studied music theory and composition at SUNY Binghamton and at UC Berkeley. He is an accomplished composer, arranger and music director, as well as pianist and guitarist. He has experience in a wide variety of musical situations from classical concert halls to theater pits, recording studios, cruise ships, bar bands, jazz jams, and folkie coffee houses. John is a member of Quake City Jug Band – www.quakecityjugband.com.



2:00
Blues Guitar
Joe Cadora




Joe’s Blues Guitar workshop will concentrate on blues progressions and moving chord forms in several keys. Emphasis will be on achieving that pulsing rhythm on the bass strings so essential to blues guitar. Introductory riffs and blues turn-arounds will also be demonstrated. Ability to read chord charts is necessary.

Joe Cadora was a student of Danny Kalb (lead guitarist of The Blues Project, also session player for Dylan and Judy Collins). The techniques he will present come down through Dave Van Ronk, Danny’s teacher, and through Josh White, Van Ronk’s mentor.


3:00
Beatles Songs (2 hours)
Joe Cadora & Jeannine Menger


This will be a structured jam in which we explore the music of the lads from Liverpool. Bring your favorite Beatles’ songs or sing and play from our handouts. Joe Cadora and Jeanine Menger will help out with Beatles chord progressions, which often contain surprising changes, and with John, Paul and George’s tight harmonies. Come by and learn why these brilliant songs changed the landscape of popular music forever. Voice, guitar and other instruments welcome.

Joe Cadora has played folk and rock guitar for over forty years after being inspired by the Beatles’ music while he was still in grade school. While attending Rutgers University in his native New Jersey, he and his band, Ice Nine, opened for Bruce Springsteen at The Ledge. He has performed with long time Bay Area bar bands, The Mercuries and The Evidence, and the music of the Beatles has always been an important part of his repertoire.

Jeannine Menger has been a fanatical Beatles fan since late 1963 when her older sister introduced her to "She Loves You". The Ed Sullivan show followed soon after an the rest is truly history. Soon after that Jeannine formed a band in grade school that played rock music for two years. She has been a dedicated musician since 1973, specializing in Beatles tunes. She has been in three other bands in her adult life, playing rock and folk-rock. She comes to the Bay Area from San Diego. The love you take is equal to the love you make.



3:00
In Harmony's Way
A Capella Singing Session
Steve Baughman



Come and sing chorus songs, drinking songs, gospel songs, shanties, or whatever, with In Harmony's Way, the Bay Area song ensemble. This is just a session, no structure, no handouts, no lectures, no teaching. Everyone will just sit around and sing. Come and join in. You can lead a song or two if you'd like.



3:00
Have More Fun at the Folk Jam
Phil Campbell & Annie Aronson


Jam sessions are a great way to be part of a community and become a better musician. Jam sessions are informal gatherings, but there are tips and tricks to being a better jammer and having more fun. This workshop will teach you how to choose a great jam song, how to lead your song so that others can play along easily, subtle (and not so subtle) aspects of jam etiquette and how to avoid common problems so everyone, no matter what level, can have a great time.

Annie and Phil play together as Hobbyhorse, an imaginative folk duo with a soft spot for traditional songs of the British Isles. They also host an internet radio station called Radio Guitar that features mostly acoustic, all instrumental guitar music. Phil is a popular music teacher of guitar, mandolin and piano on the Peninsula and South Bay. Annie is an artist and designer. She is the creator of the Guitar Art Shop – guitar-inspired designs to benefit Radio Guitar. Visit their websites:

Hobbyhorse - www.hobbyhorsemusic.com
Radio Guitar - www.radioguitar.com
Guitar Art Shop - www.guitarartshop.com
Phil Campbell lessons - www.philcampbell.com



3:00
Jug Band Jam (2 hours)
CA Jug Band Association



Recently jug band jams have been a big hit at the SF Folk Music Club hoots, so it figures to bring one to the Free Folk Festival. There will be jug blowing, uke strumming, tub thumping, kazoo blaring, banjo banging, washboard scratching, and the like. Bring your favorite jug, ragtime, blues, hokum, novelty old time, early jazz, medicine show songs. Expect a fun, irreverent, and anarchistic good time – that’s "the jug band way!

http://www.jugfest.org


4:00
Carrying a Tune Without a Bucket: A Singing Workshop for Those Who "Can't Sing"
Sharyn Dimmick & Richard Adrianowicz



Are you one of the people who was asked to mouth the words in school choir? Do people look pained when you sing "Happy Birthday?" Has anybody ever told you not to sing?

Singing is everyone's birthright. If you do not have organic hearing damage, you can be taught to sing in tune. Richard Adrianowicz and Sharyn Dimmick will lead a workshop based on the work of W.A. Mathieu, composer and jazz musician. If you want to preview the class, get "The Listening Book" and read the chapter titled "Tone-Deaf Choir." They will give you a few moments to tell your sad stories before they help you to sing, listen and gain confidence in yourself. Please note: they have not taught this workshop before and don't know precisely what is going to happen.

Sharyn Dimmick has been singing most of her life. She is known in the Bay Area for her traditional ballad singing and her songwriting. She has recorded one CD, "Paris," featuring traditional and contemporary songs, including the Leonard Cohen hit "Hallelujah." Richard Adrianowicz has long graced the local folk scene with his mellifluous tenor. He currently sings sea music with Peter Kasin – they have recorded four CDs together – and previously sang in the beloved but defunct band called "Out of the Rain."



4:00
Carrying a Tune Without a Bucket: A Singing Workshop for Those Who "Can't Sing"
Sharyn Dimmick & Richard Adrianowicz



Are you one of the people who was asked to mouth the words in school choir? Do people look pained when you sing "Happy Birthday?" Has anybody ever told you not to sing?

Singing is everyone's birthright. If you do not have organic hearing damage, you can be taught to sing in tune. Richard Adrianowicz and Sharyn Dimmick will lead a workshop based on the work of W.A. Mathieu, composer and jazz musician. If you want to preview the class, get "The Listening Book" and read the chapter titled "Tone-Deaf Choir." They will give you a few moments to tell your sad stories before they help you to sing, listen and gain confidence in yourself. Please note: they have not taught this workshop before and don't know precisely what is going to happen.

Sharyn Dimmick has been singing most of her life. She is known in the Bay Area for her traditional ballad singing and her songwriting. She has recorded one CD, "Paris," featuring traditional and contemporary songs, including the Leonard Cohen hit "Hallelujah." Richard Adrianowicz has long graced the local folk scene with his mellifluous tenor. He currently sings sea music with Peter Kasin – they have recorded four CDs together – and previously sang in the beloved but defunct band called "Out of the Rain."




4:00
Harmonica Convergence
Paul Herzoff




This harmonica jam at previous festivals gathered a bunch of experienced players who stayed for an hour and jammed with clever electronic gadgets. Big fun was had. Beginners got to try playing out into a microphone, newbies got an earful of what harp players do for fun, and experienced players got to show their stuff and hear others' licks. This jam will do it again – with planning this time… and more toys!

Bring any keys, any types of harmonica, other instruments, lip balm, etc.
Paul Herzoff started playing harmonica in college and never stopped. He loves to spread knowledge of this most versatile and popular instrument -- a gateway to a lifetime of homemade music. A dozen years of teaching beginners has taught him the joy of introducing people to the language and lore of the gloriously humble harmonica.