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California Banjo Extravaganza Banjo Mini-Camp
Sunday November 15, 1-4:30pm, $70
Bluegrass, Old-Time & Beyond: workshops for all levels Two 75 minute small group workshops followed by a general session with all participants.
The 4th Annual California Banjo Extravaganza Banjo Mini-Camp
Sponsored by EMG Pickups, Deering Banjos, Homespun Tapes & Straight Up Strings.
Workshop info: Instruction in bluegrass (Bill Evans), three-finger progressive styles (Ryan Cavanaugh) and old-time/clawhammer (Riley Baugus)!
For all levels of bluegrass AND clawhammer banjo players, Baugus, Cavanaugh and Evans will each teach two 75-minute small group sessions and then come together for a final session with all students. This is a hands-on, “bring your banjo and let’s pick” event with topics designed for beginning, intermediate and advanced banjo players.
Experience this unique opportunity to learn up close from three of the best players – and teachers – in the world. Handouts are included in all sessions and audio and/or videotaping is allowed.
At the conclusion of the Mini-Camp, store your instrument safely at the Freight, grab dinner in downtown Berkeley and come back to enjoy the California Banjo Extravaganza in concert at 8 p.m.
Session I: 1-2:15 PM Round Peak Style Banjo from North Carolina with Riley Baugus. Learn to play a tune in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Round Peak clawhammer style as championed by players such as Tommy Jarrell and Kyle Creed. Explanation of tunes, techniques and culture will be provided.
Single-String Techniques for Three-Finger Banjo with Ryan Cavanaugh. Practical ideas for incorporating all three picking fingers (thumb, index and middle) into your single-string playing, just like Ryan and Noam Pikelny! Unlock your single-string creativity with these easy to use exercises and techniques.
Bluegrass Back-Up Techniques & Learning to Jam In Every Key with Bill Evans. Use vamping and up- and down-the-neck picking techniques, along with your capo, to hold your own in a bluegrass jam on a song in any key in this practical jam survival guide. Don’t forget your capo! It’s recommended that you have a fifth string capo (or spikes) already installed on your instrument.
Session II: 2:30-3:45 PM
Southern Appalachian Clawhammer Banjo Techniques with Riley Baugus. We will focus on differences in technique and approach to several Southern mountain clawhammer styles including Round Peak, southwestern Virginia and eastern Kentucky.
Getting Into Jazz: Modern Chord Voicings and Substitutions with Ryan Cavanaugh (intermediate to advanced). Get started on the road to playing jazz by exploring different ways of fretting (or voicing) chords. Learn to move creatively from one chord to the next through a jazz chord progression by changing just a few notes – just like the real jazz players do!
Creating Solos in Scruggs Style with Bill Evans. Creating solos in Earl Scruggs’ roll-based style is one of the most exciting things you can do with your banjo. Bill will show you how to find basic melodies, choose rolls and incorporate licks to get that authentic bluegrass sound and work up your own solos. Several examples from Earl’s playing will be analyzed.
Session III: 4-4:30 PM
Grand Finale with Riley, Ryan, Bill and all students: Q & A, comparing styles and approaches, playing your requests and a concert preview.
Note: Pre-registration is strongly recommended for this event. Those choosing to register on the day of the event should arrive by 12:15 p.m., while others should arrive by 12:30 p.m. Participants may choose any workshop topic.
About the teachers…
“Riley Baugus embodies quintessential American old-time music. The instrumental component is impeccable, while Baugus’ vocals sound like they’ve been echoing through the Appalachian Mountains for about 150 years,” Billboard magazine.
“Ryan Cavanaugh is the most versatile banjo player in the world whose name isn’t Fleck…He can play anything, and he’s proven he’s crafty enough to impress John-Oh-My-God-McLaughlin.” No Depression
“Bill Evans has a world view shared by a precious few. It shows in the breadth of this own bluegrass playing and, especially, through his composing. Evans infuses his work with hints of jazz, classic and music of other realms, all fitting snuggly into his conception of the bluegrass sound.” –David Royko, The Chicago Tribune
Riley Baugus was born and raised near Winston-Salem, North Carolina and started playing banjo at the age of 10. He was inspired by the traditional Appalachian music that he heard in his family’s community in the Blue Ridge mountains and went on to learn his craft while still a youngster from such old-time greats as Tommy Jarrell, Dix Freeman and Robert Sykes. Riley has played with numerous old-time string bands, including The Red Hots and the Old Hollow Stringband and has recorded on his own for Rounder and Sugar Hill records. He sings on the soundtrack to the Academy Award winning film Cold Mountain and performs on the Grammy award winning Raising Sand by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant and Willie Nelson’s Country Music. Riley performs internationally, often with Dirk Powell and dancer Ira Bernstein.
Ryan Cavanaugh is leading the pack among young instrumentalists pushing the progressive boundaries of the five-string banjo. Currently touring with the Jeff Austin Band (Jeff performed with the Yonder Mt. String Band for 14 years), this North Carolina musician honed his jazz chops for over a decade as a member of saxophonist’s Bill Evans’ band Soulgrass. He’s won every major banjo contest in the world, including MerleFest and Rocky Grass, and he is now focusing on his own compositions, which he performs in both acoustic and jazz-fusion contexts. Bringing an unequaled sophistication in both harmonic and melodic approaches, you are simply not going to believe what you’re hearing when you experience this great banjo player perform.
San Francisco Bay Area musician Bill Evans has spent a lifetime bringing together folks who love and play the five-string banjo. His books Bluegrass Banjo For Dummies and Banjo For Dummies are among the most popular instructional books in the world and his 2012 CD In Good Company topped both folk and bluegrass charts. In recent years, you’ll find him performing with his solo show The Banjo in America, with flatpicking legend Dan Crary and singer-songwriter in the new trio Crary, Evans and Spurgin, with banjo greats Alan Munde & Tony Trischka and legendary Tennessee fiddler Fletcher Bright. Over the last fifteen years, Bill has performed on the Freight stage with David Bromberg, David Grisman, Peter Rowan, the Steep Canyon Rangers, J. D. Crowe, Kathy Kallick, Claire Lynch and Jody Stecher, among many others.
Questions? Email Bill Evans at bill@billevansbanjo.com.
visit the Riley Baugus website |
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Workshops with Ryan Cavanaugh, Riley Baugus & Bill Evans
