September 10-12, 2010
Staff Biographies

Mac Benford has been playing the 5-string banjo for 40 years. He was fortunate enough in his formative years to have direct contact with great players like Wade Ward, Kyle Creed, Tom Ashley, and Roscoe Holcomb, all of whom strongly influenced his playing. He came to prominence during the 70s as a member of the legendary Highwoods String Band. Later on, while performing and recording with the Backwoods Band and the Woodshed Allstars, Mac expanded on the traditional role of the clawhammer banjo as a lead and backup instrument. His recently released Kentucky Favorites showcases his ability to capture the melodic subtlety of complex fiddle tunes without sacrificing the ring and drive of the best traditional playing.

Greg Canote and Jere Canote The Canote Brothers from Seattle, WA, are as renowned for their affable attitudes and humor as they are for their music. Greg on fiddle, and Jere on guitar, and both on banjo ukes, perform zany concerts, play for dances, lead songs, and promote a good time! The twin brothers started singing soon after they were born and haven't closed their mouths since. They spent their early years in California's Sacramento Valley, inventing songs with their father at the piano and tagging along with their parents' folk and square dance group. They honed their skills performing in many bands and discovered old-time music in the mid 1970s. In 1978 they attended the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, WA, and eventually became frequent teachers there. After touring the country with dance caller and singer Sandy Bradley for four years, they returned to the Northwest for a thirteen year stint on Seattle's National Public Radio show, "Sandy Bradley's Potluck," as Sandy's affable side-kicks. The rigors of finding new material for a weekly radio show kept the twins on their toes, mining and performing gems of American music of the past as well as writing new songs in those styles.

Ryan Cavanaugh may well have taken the art of playing jazz on 5-string farther than any other living player. He grew up in North Carolina playing traditional bluegrass and took first place at the Merlefest, Rockygrass, and Renofest banjo contests. He began studying jazz in high school, and soon began adapting it to banjo, developing in the process a method for playing rapid runs by in effect performing forward rolls on single strings. Discovered by guitar legend John McLaughlin in 2006, Ryan has spent the last few years touring the international jazz scene with acclaimed saxophonist Bill Evans. He also played on several cuts of Evans' recent CD, "The Other Side of Something." Songs For the New Frontier" was released in 2007 (now available only through the iTunes store). "Cavanaugh's bluegrass credibility is undeniable but, while he'll humbly tell you that he's still got so much to learn, he's already a remarkable jazz player." John Kelman - reviewer, All About Jazz magazine (Ryan Cavanaugh MySpace) Web site

Janet Davis was born and raised in Houston, Texas. Music was always an integral part of her family life. Although Janet's formal musical training was primarily in the classical field, she showed a keen, early interest in stringed instruments, particularly those involved in folk and bluegrass music. In college, she played the guitar and sang as a folk and blues musician in many of the Austin, Texas clubs, learning from such greats as Lightnin' Hopkins, Janis Joplin and others who played the same venues. Janet is equally adept on both Dobro® and 5-string banjo. Her books are popular worldwide. She has written numerous best selling books for the 5-string banjo as well as dobro. Mel Bay has several of her books listed as "Best Sellers." Janet also teaches and plays ALL bluegrass instruments and several others. She has been a columnist with Banjo Newsletter for 29 years. Janet Davis Music Company is celebrating its 30th Anniversary this year.
Web site

Paul Elliott Paul Elliott has been playing fiddle professionally for over 25 years and is at home in a range of styles from old timey to be-bop. Paul has toured and performed with a variety of artists including Michelle Shocked, Buell Neidlinger, The Good Old Persons, and John Reischman. He has recorded extensively for radio, television, and film as well as an impressive list of CDs that includes Scott Nygard's "No Hurry" on the Rounder label.

Deemed a "banjo virtuoso" by the Washington Post, Adam Hurt draws on diverse musical influences from the North Carolina piedmont, the mountains of central West Virginia, the Ohio River Valley, and beyond to create his own elegantly innovative clawhammer banjo playing. At age 24, Adam has already placed in or won most of the major old-time banjo competitions including Clifftop, Mount Airy, and Galax, and won the state banjo championships of Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio, as well as the state fiddle championships of Virginia and Maryland. A gifted and respected teacher, Adam has conducted banjo workshops at the Swannanoa Gathering, the Augusta Heritage Center, and Appalshop, among other venues around the country.

Peter Langston, a strong and imaginative player, plays anything with strings on it (even the banjo!), and is equally adept at backup and hot improvisation. He has played in bands on both the East Coast (Metropolitan Opry, Wretched Refuse) and the West Coast (Puddle City, Entropy Service, Portland Zoo), and has performed with such notables as Doc Watson, Reverend Gary Davis, Tony Trischka, Peter Rowan, Alison Brown, Johnny Gimble, and Mike Seeger. Peter has led a double life as a musician and a computer whiz and has taught audio recording, computer science, and songwriting at the college level. He is a frequent staff member at music and dance camps such as California Coast Music Camp, Sierra Swing, the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, the Northeast Heritage Music Camp, Camp Bluegrass, Alta Sierra, and the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop.

James McKinney is both a Scruggs and Reno style expert, one of the foremost jazz players of the bluegrass banjo world, and one of the most technically precise banjoists around. He won the Southern U.S. Banjo Championship at age 15. Before long he had won dozens of state and regional championships, including the National Banjo Championship at Winfield, Kansas. He made the first of several appearances on the Grand Ole Opry at age 19 and worked for a time at Opryland theme park as a banjoist and musical arranger. James moved to Nashville for good in 1990 to play full time in the James and Angela McKinney Band. He has taught countless workshops, and he has been on the staff at a number of major banjo camps, including the Midwest Banjo Camp, Suwannee Banjo Camp, Smokey Mountain Banjo Academy, and the SPBGMA workshop. He has performed and/or recorded with Vassar Clements, Porter Wagoner, Barbara Mandrell, John Hartford, and Johnny Cash. His latest CD is called "Mind Over Banjo." Web site

Bruce Molsky Compass recording artist Bruce Molsky comes at southern roots and blues on fiddle, banjo, guitar and song with great depth of spirit. A two-time Grammy Nominee, Bruce is well-known for his collaborations with musicians from here and abroad, and his wide-angled approach to traditional folk music has influenced a generation of players.
As a banjo player, Bruce learned most of his lessons from musicians of the Round Peak region of North Carolina, and also in Virginia. Like his fiddling, his banjo style is often highly syncopated and percussive.
Bruce is a member of Andy Irvine & Dónal Lunny's acclaimed Mozaik, and he tours frequently with Aly Bain & Ale Möller, as well as Fiddlers 4 with Darol Anger & Michael Doucet. Bruce's solo concerts, CDs and educational programs have become staples for fans of American traditional and world music everywhere. Web site

Alan Munde needs no introduction to long-time Bluegrass fans. From his early creative work with Sam Bush in Poor Richard's Almanac to his traditional bluegrass apprenticeship with Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys to his 21-year stint anchoring the landmark Country Gazette, Alan has blazed a trail as one of the most innovative and influential banjo players of all time. Along the way, Alan also recorded and contributed to numerous instrumental recordings, including the 2001 IBMA Instrumental Album of the Year -- "Knee Deep in Bluegrass." Alan has supplemented his recorded work with several instructional publications for the banjo; from 1986-2006 he taught Bluegrass and Country Music at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas.

Ken Perlman: Perhaps the best-known exponent of the "melodic" clawhammer style, Ken is known where-ever banjos are played as a master of clawhammer technique and an expert teacher of clawhammer mechanics. He has been a Banjo Newsletter columnist for 20 years; he has written several books on clawhammer instruction including the well known works Melodic Clawhammer Banjo and Clawhammer Style Banjo, he has recorded several series of audio and video banjo instruction, and he has taught at well over a dozen music camps including the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp, Common Ground on the Hill, and the Tennessee Banjo Institute.

Laura Smith was born and raised in Hawaii, surrounded by the music of the islands, her Dad's piano and tenor banjo playing, and the rich harmonies of the church choir. She started playing old time banjo in 1973 when she attended the Sweet's Mill Music Camp in California and was introduced to a wide range of live traditional music. She has been playing and singing ever since. Laura sang with Larry Hanks for many years, and together they toured Great Britain. She has taught classes at the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop for 18 summers. Classes have included banjo, guitar, song repertoire, and hula. She has also taught at the Georgia Strait Guitar Workshop. Laura has been a public school teacher for the last 17 years and uses music daily in her classroom.

Mike Stahlman: is a Portland, Ore. banjo player whose playing style was heavily influenced by Earl Scruggs and Alan Munde. Mike has taught bluegrass banjo at Portland Community College in Portland since 1997, and currently plays banjo and tours with the Oregon-based Lee Highway. He also plays with The Loafers. Mike has recorded two banjo instrumental CD's -- "Bluebonnet," and "First Dance."

Molly Tenenbaum has been playing and teaching old-time banjo, and old-time music in general, for over 25 years, and is known for her subtle and traditional style. Her teaching philosophy is to get people having fun with the banjo as quickly as possible, and to help them recognize the patterns and techniques of the music so that they can continue to learn on their own and play with others. She is a member of two string bands, Dram County and The Queen City Bulldogs (anagram names: The Yodeling Quest Club or Obliquely Decent Thugs). Her solo CD is Instead of a Pony.

Pete Wernick, "Dr. Banjo," is renowned worldwide for his contributions to bluegrass music: the hot-picking force in several trend-setting bands including Hot Rize and Country Cooking, respected author and teacher, and 15-year President of the International Bluegrass Music Association. In a recording career starting in 1971, Pete has recorded dozens of original instrumentals and songs, including two bluegrass chart-topping hits, and is known for his soulful tradition-based style. Since 1980, Pete has conducted over 100 instructional camps nationwide and overseas, and continues to refine his teaching methods. His instructional videos and books include bestsellers such as Bluegrass Jamming, Bluegrass Banjo, Branching Out on the Banjo, How to Make a Band Work, and many others. Pete maintains an extensive web site, DrBanjo.com, and currently performs with his bluegrass/classic jazz fusion group, Flexigrass, his singer/guitarist wife Joan (.Nondi.) in a bluegrass duet, and occasional reunions with Hot Rize.