Mando & Banjo Week at the Swannanoa Gathering

[jmagill]

Just FYI, there's still some room left for Mando & Banjo Week, Aug. 5-11.

Mandolin instruction from Mike Marshall, Mike Compton, Don Stiernberg, Caterina Lichtenberg, Marla Fibish, Radim Zenkl & more...

Banjo instruction from Tony Trischka, Alan Munde, Pete Wernick, David Holt, Seamus Egan & more...

PLUS Lynn Dudenbostel, Byron Berline, Jason Anick, Joe Craven, Michael Doucet, Jack Lawrence and more.

Check out our link at the top of the 'Classifieds' page or visit the Mando & Banjo Week page directly.

I hope to meet some of you there!

Cheers,

[John Ritchhart]

Looking forward to it, Jim. If you see Paul Kovac this year tell him I said hello. John R.

[Phil Goodson]

Wow! I'm surprised that there are still spaces available. With that list of instructors, I signed up in February, figuring that I'd better hurry to get a place. Guess it's the economy.
Look forward to seeing you in a few weeks jbrwky!

[Wilbur James]

I am looking forward to being there as well, lots of learning opportunities from many greats!

[KristinEliza]

This will be my first year at this workshop. Really excited to work with these instructors!

[UsuallyPickin]

Yup , never been and so freaking excited about going. Counting down the days. Marshall Stiernberg and Berline I spect my brain will overflow sometime Wednesday.... thanks go to the inventor of the digital recorder....... see you there people .. R/

[David Surette]

Looking forward very much to going back. I will be there as one of the two humble guitar servants of the fiddlers of Fiddle Week, and will bring my 1918 F-2 as well. Planning on lots of jamming.

[Gan Ainm]

Really look forward to my 4th Gathering. (It's been quite a while, all the others were Irish/Celtic weeks). Since then my musical taste and ambition (if not talent) has expanded to include all the genres being taught so it is a true embarrassment of riches. Here's hoping the temp stays below 90!
Colin

[Lynn Dudenbostel]

Well, I'm home from my first Swannanoa Gathering. What great week! Plenty of work, met lots of nice folks, and got to visit with old friends. I just regret that I worked thru the concerts the first two nights. I finally went Wednesday night and saw a great show. I'm already looking forward to next year...but will be in "recovery mode" for the next few days. Late nights seem to be the norm during these events!

[Wilbur James]

This was my first year and my first response is wow! Between the classes and then the concerts by world class performers it just doesn't get any better, I am looking forward to next year, Thanks to everyone who helped make this a wonderful experience, and thank you Lynn for a great adjustment and set up on my mandolin!

[pickloser]

I had a great time! Mike Marshall and Don Stiernberg are stellar teachers and awe-inspiring players. I have brought home so many things to learn and work on, that it will take all year to make a dent. Katerina Lichtenberg (hope I spelled that right) was totally charming; she made me wish I had had the courage to take one of her classes. Mike is a lucky man to have such a lovely family. I so enjoyed meeting Lynn Dudenbostel, who sent me home with a wonderful sounding old D18, much the better for having had him work on it. I met Tony Trishka, my favorite banjo player, who is a really great guy. Two good jams with Philphool and UsuallyPickin, and I worked up enough nerve to take a shot at the swing jam once. Another highlight for me was working out a swing number over the week with the folks in our student band. What fun! I recommend Swannanoa for the instruction, but the jamming was dissappointing. They try and throw too many folks together to play any bluegrass worth playing. Five banjos? You gotta be kidding me.

[KristinEliza]

Thank you Jim, and every one else involved in pulling this event together! What a fabulous time and fabulous instructors! Mike Marshall and Caterina Lichtenberg were absolutely fabulous instructors with wonderful personalities...fantastic people! Marla Fibish taught me a few new tunes and confirmed some of my genre / session / performance beliefs.

I really enjoyed the orientation performances...I was able to be introduced to several of the instructors whom I was unfamiliar with, and it made me quite upset that I couldn't take more classes! (but four was definitely enough!)

I agree with pickloser...the jamming wasn't up to my expectations (which doesn't say much, since I'm not a hard core jammer). But I can see several reasons for this:

1. This being my first year, I didn't know many people and the nuances of the jamming here...maybe there are 'secret' jams or locations.
2. The weather confined and/or killed a lot of the jamming. It would be nice if there were more indoor areas to jam. I don't think the campus is great for jamming (no indoor common areas...quiet hours in and around the dorms after 10 PM - although, there were a few people in my dorm breaking that rule).
3. Not a lot of guitars / basses!
4. Loooooooooong concerts.

But every workshop / event has it's quirks...and I'm sure some of these issues have been addressed before! If every workshop was the same, why would we go to more than one?

Really enjoyed meeting and playing (and even dancing) with a lot of new people!

Fingers got a rest today...but time to start applying everything I learned tomorrow!

[Phil Goodson]

Agree with all of the above. Thanks, Lynn, for a good tune-up on the Brock! Plays great.

The secret to the jams is to hand pick and then spirit away the pickers you want. True that finding a good indoor spot is problematic, but not impossible!

Pickloser gave a great performance of Avalon, both vocally and mandolinistically!

Thanks again to Mike & Don for their great classes, and to Mr Surette for AMAZING guitar accompaniments during the on-stage concerts.

[Gan Ainm]

What a great time! It was perhaps my favorite camp experience out of many. I did focus on the lessons rather than the jamming, and boy I got my money’s worth. I took intermediate bluegrass with both Radim Zenkl and Mike Compton and while very different approaches both were thoughtful and prepared teaches as well as obviously brilliant players. I also had the good fortune to be in small advanced Irish courses with both Marla Fibish, a new teacher to me, who emphasized tone production and rhythm power, and Seamus Egan (tenor banjo) “The Great” who has not done the camp thing in a while but was a relaxed and gracious teacher. I would highly recommend both as teachers. The food was much better than camp usual, the concerts amazing, some thought long, but I was mesmerized so they could have gone on 2 hours longer and I would have been happy. There was youthful energy and talent, and more experienced wisdom and deep knowledge amongst the staff, and a really good feeling all around. The Warren Wilson College kids (helpers) were a great bunch. Well done, hope to return soon to take Katrina and Mikes Marshall and Don Steirnbergs and and and… Oh and nice to meetcha Kristin.
Colin

[Gan Ainm]

So excited I misspelled Don Stiernberg, Caterina Lichtenberg- sorry-'though suspect it's not the first time.

[pickloser]

I think it's the leftover excitement. I misspelled Caterina, Trischka, and in the SKAK thread, Gambetta. Okay, so I'm a sloppy speller too.

[KristinEliza]

Everyone see the photo on the FB page of the pavilion? They are obviously not happy with it...but...nice! Yes...get a bunch of banjo and mando players together and silliness just happens...

[jmagill]

Everyone see the photo on the FB page of the pavilion? They are obviously not happy with it...but...nice! Yes...get a bunch of banjo and mando players together and silliness just happens...

Actually, Tom in Building Services (the guy who has to take it apart) laughed when he saw it....

Thanks everyone for coming. We look forward to reading the suggestions on your evaluations, and to seeing you all again next year!

Cheers,

[David Surette]

What an amazing week! Jamming and performing with so many top players was an honor and a blast, and the skill level of the students was really strong. Plus so many great hangs, as well. Looking forward to next year already.