2009 Music Camp

Monday, August 10 to Friday, August 14, 2009

Join us for Music Camp at the festival site!

Beginner and Intermediate classes in fiddle, guitar, banjo, upright bass, mandolin, dobro and vocal harmony.

The Northern Lights Bluegrass and Old Tyme Music Camp will provide an additional opportunity for people to play and engage in bluegrass and old time music. The music camp provides a friendly, noncompetitive environment for everyone from beginners to advanced players. The camp schedule provides a jam-packed three days of class time, private lessons, thematic sessions and many other spontaneous activities like slow pitch jams, old time dance lessons, songwriting contest, band scrambles, hollering contest, yodelling, and of course, campfire picking!!

WANT TO TRY OUT BLACKSMITH CAMP?
Email: whatsgoinon@jackmillikincentre.com
Postmail:
Attention: Cathy Sproule
718 10th Street E.
Saskatoon, SK S7H 0H1
Phone: 306-220-2640

PDF of Blacksmith Camp Brochure

SCHEDULE
Monday: Registration and BBQ, with open jamming after meeting with instructors
Tuesday to Friday Classes: 9:00-11:30 am and 1:15-3:00 pm
Special Interest Workshops Daily
Friday: Workshop concert on the festival stage, 6 pm
Evenings: Slow Pitch jam for beginners and open jamming for more advanced players

TO REGISTER
PDF of registration brochure (legal-8.5x14).
PDF of registration form (letter-8.5x11).

INSTRUCTORS
Sierra Hull - Int/Advanced Mandolin
Considered the next great bluegrass sweetheart, at 17 years old, Sierra Hull is an emerging talent to watch! Alison Krauss adores her, she's Adam Steffey's favorite mandolin player, and Sam Bush thinks she's "hullacious." Sierra Hull is a high school senior setting the bluegrass world on its ear with her passionate singing and ferocious mandolin playing. Hull and friends are touring across North America this summer, promoting her recently released album, Secrets. The album promises to spread word of her formidable talents throughout the bluegrass community and beyond. Though she self-released an enchanting instrumental CD, Angel Mountain, in 2002, Secrets reflects a staggering amount of growth over the six years that separate the two projects. "What I've seen in Sierra over the months of working on Secrets is a passion for music in general - and specifically for bluegrass," reflects the album's co-producer Ron Block. "She has an intense desire for excellence, a love of good songs, and an attention to detail that is not often found in someone so young...she's only going to get better and better as time goes on. It'll be intriguing to watch how her vision and creativity affect the future of bluegrass in the coming years."

Despite the praise and acclaim that swirls around her, Sierra Hull remains humble, down to earth, and gracious. It is this good nature that has already endeared her to so many and continues to charm and impress all who come into contact with her. www.sierrahull.om

Mark Vaughan - Beginner Mandolin
Mark Vaughan has been playing mandolin in bluegrass, rock, blues, and Celtic bands across Canada for the past fifteen years. Originally from Nova Scotia and now very much at home in Vancouver's bluegrass and old-time music scene, Mark recently contributed his mandolin stylings to Corbin Murdoch and the Nautical Miles' latest CD, "Tell Me Again How This Place Got Its Name". He also composed, performed and recorded the chamber-style score for Jody Kramer's award-winning animated short film "Pinch". His music for this film was nominated in the category of "Best Original Score in a Student Film" for the inaugural Canadian Awards for the Electronic and Animated Arts.

An avid student of the history and tradition of bluegrass and old-time music, Mark has contributed to Bluegrass North magazine and maintains a busy schedule teaching mandolin and performing with several BC bands.

Clay Hess – Advanced Flat-picking
From his time with Ricky Skagg's Kentucky Thunder to his recent stint with the band Mountain Heart, he's one of the best flatpickers out there. Clay was 9 when he first heard live bluegrass at the Lake Snowden Bluegrass Festival in Albany, Ohio. Clay's parents and his older brother played traditional country music, so he originally began learning classic country. Clay credits his older brother as a big influence on his desire to play guitar, though his brother stopped playing around the time Clay started.

His first professional gig came twelve years later at Dollywood theme park where he spent the summer performing with the group True Blue. In July of '92 Clay left Dollywood to return to Ohio. He was working in construction, when Ricky Skaggs called and asked him to fill the guitar slot for Kentucky Thunder. Oddly enough, Clay had just about quit playing between his time at Dollywood and Ricky's call. He spent the next three years performing with Kentucky Thunder. While Clay was part of the band, the IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) awarded Kentucky Thunder their Instrumental Band of the Year Award for both 1999 and 2000. Clay was also awarded a Grammy for his participation in Soldier of the Cross by Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder. A recent accomplishment for Clay has been the creation of the Clay Hess D-18 signature model guitars by CF Martin.

Steve Charles - Intermediate Guitar
Specializing in Brazilian music, Steve Charles brings a very unique perspective to Viper Central. He composes and plays cavaquinho for Vancouver bands Corcovado and Sapeca. Since encountering Bluegrass and Old-time music, Steve has quickly established himself in the scene, composing and performing in the tradition. He flatpicks a mean guitar with the duo Redgrass, and is a proud member of Viper Central holding down the bottom end on upright bass, emerging only to share his love affair with the clawhammer banjo.

Steve has taught high school and elementary school and continues to act as a clinician in festivals. He has performed with many theatre companies including Boca del Lupo, North Shore Light Opera, Presentation House and Gateway Theatre. He has written music for the liturgy and has composed extensively for jazz and world music ensembles. He recently produced Whiskey Hollow Bound, a celebrated compilation featuring six emerging Vancouver-based bluegrass and old-time artists.

Ken Olson - Beginner guitar
Ken Olson may be best known in music circles as part of the successful bluegrass and gospel group, The Baler Strings. When the group disbanded, Ken looked for another avenue to share his talents. His first solo project, Just a Closer Walk, was recorded with many of the friends he had sung and played with in the past. The result was a new group, Ken Olson and Friends, who made its debut in 2002 at a Country Gospel Music Association function and went on to win numerous nominations and awards. As a CGMA Canadian award winner, Ken was eligible for awards at the International Convention in Branson, Missouri, which he attended in 2003-2006, and performed before members from Canada, the U.S. and Australia. Accompanied by his group, Ken continues to appear at CGMA breakfasts and jamborees around Saskatchewan, as well as seniors' complexes, nursing homes and at outreach concerts in Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Yorkton and Portage la Prairie, MB. Ken taught beginner guitar at the 2008 Northern Lights Camp and was a great instructor and helped to lead many of the campfire jams.

Cory Walker - Int/Advanced Banjo
Banjo player and longtime bandmate of Sierra Hull, this young talent has played the IBMA stage, led workshops for the Country Music Hall of Fame, and has appeared on TV and radio specials.

Cory has two recordings with his brother Jarrod, currently available. The second one, "No Need For Words" has received extensive airplay on Sirius Satellite Radio and other stations. This most recent CD, recorded in the summer of 2006 includes guests artists Ricky Skaggs, Chad Brock, Robert Hale, Darrell Webb, Cia Cherryholmes, Mark Fain, Jason Moore, Jim Hurst, Cody Kilby, Clay Jones, Phil Leadbetter, Matt Leadbetter, Jim VanCleve, Andy Leftwich, Scott Vestal, and Clay Hess. Cory and Jarrod play in the "Bluegrass Parlor Band". Their band stays very busy in the Spring and Fall Seasons playing throughout Florida and southern Georgia.

Cory is the banjo/resonator guitar player for Sierra Hull and Highway 111 and was involved in the recording of Sierra's new Rounder project, where he was the banjo player, playing alongside Sierra, Dan Tyminski, Tony Rice, Barry Bales, Stuart Duncan, Jim VanCleve, Jerry Douglas, Clay Hess, Rob Ickes, Ron Block and Alison Krauss.

Tyler Rudolph - Beginner Banjo
Tyler Rudolph's musical interests range from early jazz to bhangra, though he is particularly passionate about bluegrass, old-time, and the fusion of folk traditions. An accomplished songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Tyler is at heart a storyteller who captures universal themes through tales and anecdotes. Instrumentally he is driven by improvisation and harnessing the melodic potential of his music.

Leaving Winnipeg for the west in 1995, Tyler picked up his first banjo and went on to firmly establish himself in Vancouver's acoustic music scene. For three years he served as programmer and host of Bluegrass for Breakfast and High on Grass on UBC's CITR 101.9FM. He has since performed with numerous Canadian roots acts, but his main projects include Viper Central and the Bogghoppers, a Montréal-based old-time trio. Tyler is a regular facilitator at Jam Camp, a non-profit arts education initiative. He also works as an instructor and studio musician, with credits on Sarah Noni Metzner's award-winning sophomore release Daybreak Mourning. He is currently completing his M.Sc. in applied conservation biology at the Université du Québec à Montréal.

Christian Ward - Int/Adv Fiddle
Christian lives in Hesperia, California, and has become recognized as one of the hot fiddle players of the new generation of bluegrass. Christian, along with his brother Austin, played at the 2005 CMA Fan Fest with Ricky Skaggs and Earl Scruggs. He is also in high demand as a session player and displays an amazing virtuosity, but also a taste and maturity in his playing that goes beyond his years. He has just released his first album, with his step-dad, Eric Uglum, and his brother, Austin Ward, called The Old Road to Jerusalem, in which he contributes a self-penned fiddle tune, Stonewall. Although young in years, Christian is already known for being a great teacher and has taught at both Sorrento and Camp HeHoHa.

Desmond Lagace - Beginner Fiddle
Desmond Lagace is a self-taught musician from Swan River, Manitoba. He has been playing the fiddle for over 20 years, and along the way has also picked up the guitar, banjo and mandolin. His main fiddle styles are old-time, bluegrass and Metis, but he has interest in most genres of fiddling.

Over the few years Desmond has ventured into music production, completing three independent releases in 2002, 2006 and a new project of traditional tunes in 2008. In this time, Desmond has also produced CDs for other clients as well. Desmond is currently working as an instructor in the school system, teaching many students the art of fiddling, mostly in the Metis style. He also teaches a number of private students out of his home, as well as judging fiddling competitions, conducting fiddling workshops and playing with several bands. www.desmondlagace.4t.com

Jacob Eller - Upright Bass
Jacob is from Chilhowie, Virginia. Jacob has spent his whole life around old time and bluegrass music. Jacob's father is a bluegrass musician as well as a much respected builder of fiddles and mandolins. Former bassist with the bluegrass band No Speed Limit, he has shared the stage with the Lonesome River Band, the Del McCoury Band and has toured with Ralph Stanley. Before joining No Speed Limit, Jacob provided his steady bass for Virginia bands Cleghorn and Canebreak.

Tim Tweedale - Dobro
Tim is one of the most in-demand slide guitar players in British Columbia, playing with bands such as the Blue Island Trio, Headwater, and Corbin Murdoch & the Nautical Miles. Also a prolific composer, the fiery intensity in his playing is the spice in the Viper Central melting pot.

Tim plays dobro, lap steel and pedal steel in a wide variety of genres. These range from traditional bluegrass and Hawaiian traditional music to blues, jazz, country and rock. He has played on over a dozen recordings over the past five years.

Tim has joined renowned jazz guitarist Steve Fisk at several jazz festivals, international roots-rocker Bocephus King for a Canadian tour and Juno-nominated indie artist Tariq for a number of shows. Tweedale also composes instrumental music for his group "The Blue Island Trio", which has been played on CBC radio one and radio two. Tim's goals are to continue collaborating with artists who have interesting and new approaches to musical styles, to investigate the roots of his instruments in Hawaiian, bluegrass and country music, and to compose.

Lorraine Cobb - Vocal Harmony
Originally from Kamloops, Lorraine spent years playing the piano from a young age. It was only five years ago, by a happy circumstance at a music festival, that she discovered bluegrass music. Since then, with guitar in hand and voice rising in song, she has gone on to become a well-respected singer and guitarist in the Vancouver bluegrass and roots music scene.

Lorraine has toured extensively across western Canada with The Mountain Bluebirds. She also played with Jody and the Lost Hearts during their short but sweet collaboration in early 2006. Lorraine has also taught several vocal harmony workshops, and has inspired others with her beautiful voice, energy and inexhaustible cache of songs.

Kathleen Nisbet - Vocal Harmony
Her soulful singing and fiddling have come from a lifetime of performing across Canada with numerous groups and musical genres before tapping into her Métis roots to explore Canadian fiddle music. Kathleen Nisbet has been playing the violin since she could walk. Classically trained from a young age, she later picked up her grandpa's fiddle and expanded her musical journey into folk, rock, country and gospel music. She attended the Vancouver Academy of Music and later studied with former Winnipeg Symphony concertmaster Arthur Polson, before tapping into her Métis roots to explore Canadian fiddle music.

She has performed all over Canada, from St. John's Newfoundland, to remote Kyuquot on Vancouver Island singing and playing fiddle with Canadiana gospel group, the Russ Rosen Band. Kathleen has also performed with other artists including Cara Luft (formerly of the Wailin' Jennys), Grammy nominated hip hop artist Fresh I.E., and Ghanaian singer songwriter Vicky Bila. She has recorded with The Russ Rosen Band, Jonathan Inc, Graham Ord, and on GMA award-winning artist Brian Doerksen's album "Shine". Kathleen has also recorded her own CD, "Tunes for the Kitchen".

Subject to change

LOCATION
The festival and workshops will be held at the well-established Ness Creek Festival site near Big River, SK. Many recreation opportunities are available at nearby Nesslin Lake, so whether you’re coming with one or many workshop participants, each can enjoy their stay in beautiful Northern Saskatchewan. Lodging options include canvas tents, limited indoor cabins, and ample camping spaces. Although the Northern Lights Bluegrass workshop and festival site provides a remote getaway in a rustic setting, water and shower facilities are available, and optional food services will be provided.

PDF of map
PDF of Saskatchewan map

For more information on the workshops,
contact Lynn Oliphant at 306.374.1068