2012 Instructors

We are thrilled to have a dream-team faculty, listed below in alphabetical order.

ANDRA FAYE’s BIO TO BE ADDED SOON!  In the meantime, please visit: www.AndraFaye.com

DEL REY (2011)

Del began playing guitar when she was four. As a teenager, she met bluesman Sam Chatmon who inspired her to become a blues queen. Her guitar playing combines country blues, stride piano, classic jazz and hillbilly boogie through the sensibility of an autodidact trailor-park esthete. Her live performances are full of complex guitar grooves and sly humor.

Del Rey plays concerts world wide and also presents a concert/lecture on women musicians called Women in American Music. She collaborates and tours frequently with Austin guitarist Steve James and plays ukulele with Ukeshack . Since 2004 Del has been collaborating with Maria Mulduar on tributes to Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Johnny Cash, and she is featured on Ms. Muldaur’s cd Sweet Lovin’ Old Soul. Del Rey also writes about music for various publications, including Acoustic Guitar.

Del Rey has recorded four solo albums, When The Levee Breaks (Hobemian 2006)X-Rey Guitar (Hobemian 2000), Hot Sauce (Hobemian 1995) and Boogie Mysterioso (Hobemian 1993). In 2003 she released a collection of performances Del Rey:Live.

Del recorded an album of uke ‘n’ bass instrumental duets with Matt Weiner At The Ukeshack #1(Hobemian 2007) and also on uke with The Yes Yes Boys she recorded Why Say No? (Hobemian 2002) With Steve James, Tonight (Hobemian 2004) and Twins (Hobemian 2002). With Del Rey and the Blues Gators she recorded Chartruese (Hobemian 1991) and Cafe Society (Kicking Mule 1985).

ERNIE HAWKINS (2011)

Ernie Hawkins has been featured in SingOUT!, Fingerstyle Guitar, Dirty Linen, Acoustic Guitar, Blues Revue and Vintage Guitar magazines. He has appeared on “A Prairie Home Companion”, “Mountain Stage” , “Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour” and XM radio. Ernie appears on Maria Muldaur’s Grammy and Handy nominated and Indie Award winning album “Richland Woman Blues” and was the guitarist for the national support tour.

“Ernie Hawkins is an important link in the unbroken chain of blues and gospel artists. His guitaristry and love of the style is incomparable. From the Rev. Gary Davis into the future with his own style Ernie is one of the special ones!” — Jorma Kaukonen

rJOHN MILLER (2011)

John Miller was inspired to play guitar by seeing John Hurt perform at the 1963 Philadelphia Folk Festival. He has gained a reputation over the years as a stellar solo guitarist and accompanist, an excellent composer, and an inspiring teacher. John Miller recorded five solo albums for Blue Goose and Rounder in the ’70s, and in recent years has continued to record solo CDs and with a variety of ensembles. He has been a long-time teaching mainstay at Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, the Greater Yellowstone Music Camp, the Port Townsend Country Blues Workshop and the European Blues Association Blues Week. John is recognized as one of the foremost authorities on Country Blues guitar and has released instructional DVDs focusing on the music of Mississippi John Hurt, Elizabeth Cotten, Bo Carter, Furry Lewis, Robert Wilkins, Texas Blues and Memphis Blues. He is also an instructor noted for his clarity in communicating and making clear the nuts and bolts of music theory, as featured in his new 2-volume DVD set, “Intro to Chord Theory and Chord Voicing for the Guitarist”, from Stefan Grossman’s Guitar Workshop.

MARTIN GROSSWENDT (2011)

A multi-instrumentalist and singer long recognized as an interpreter of ’20s and ’30s blues, Martin Grosswendt was once described by Utah Phillips as “a rumor in his own time.” 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.” He plays six- and twelve-string guitar, mandolin, five-string banjo, fiddle, bass, Cajun accordion, and Dobro. Martin is equally at home playing the old-time music of the Southern Appalachians or the Cajun and Creole music of Southwest Louisiana.

Known for his blues guitar and mandolin work, Martin has been a performer, session musician, and teacher for nearly four decades. For the last several years he was music director for and taught at Banjo Camp North, Mandolin Camp North and Old Time Music Camp North in Massachusetts. Martin has performed and taught at festivals and camps throughout the Northeast. His most recent recording is Call and Response, a collection of pre-war acoustic blues.

MIKE DOWLING (prior year)

Grammy-winning guitarist Mike Dowling draws inspiration from deep in the musical bag of American roots guitar. He’s firmly grounded in authenticity and possessed of a musical soul as old as the vintage music he favors. Fluent in several styles and difficult to pigeonhole, Mike has captured the hearts of acoustic music fans throughout the world with his engaging voice, self-deprecating wit, and elegant interpretations of an arsenal of old blues, swing, ragtime, and original compositions

“I don’t play guitar when Dowling’s in the band. You don’t take the game warden fishing” — Jethro Burns

SHAWN PERSINGER (2011)

Shawn Persinger is among the most innovative and eclectic composers, guitarists, singer/songwriters performing today. He’s been called a cross between The Violent Femmes and Leo Kottke; Stravinsky composed for AC/DC; a mix of Ani DiFranco and John McLaughlin; Michael Hedges plays The Minutemen; but what he really is, is what countless critics have written, “A true original.” Drawing on a wealth of influences, Shawn has combined the best of rock, jazz, folk, concert, world music and the avant-garde to develop a sound that is uniquely his own. From his work with the groundbreaking avant-rock band, Boud Deun to his solo guitar music, his aggressive folksinger style to his pieces for the “concert” music world, Shawn has proven that his musical sensibility is unlimited. Shawn has released three solo CDs in the past four years: “Peerless,” “Reasonable Horse,” and his most recently released record, “The Art of Modern/Primitive Guitar,” all of which have earned him international popular and critical acclaim. Praise for his playing ability and composition style by publications as far reaching as Rolling Stone, Guitar World, The Washington Post, The Village Voice and countless others, has helped Shawn sell thousands of CDs worldwide. With continuous national airplay, an endorsement from Elixir Guitar Strings and support from Taylor Guitars’ “Discover the Indies” program Shawn is continuing to develop a wide and diverse following globally.

Since 1999 Shawn has been touring, playing on 5 continents, in 35 countries and countless cities. Success has followed him throughout Europe, Asia and, of course, North America. He is currently touring the states and is continuing to develop sounds that, like Tom Mulhern of Guitar Shop said, “Will have your fingers wondering if they can do that.”