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[I'm learning how to use the AC forums and originally posted this in the wrong place; please excuse this redundant posting]
Dear AC,
I am writing to share information about a banjo-related event I am organizing in Harpers Ferry, WV on May 22-23, 2010. It is an event that contributes to a broader understanding about the banjo before, during, and after the Civil War. One of the highlights of the weekend is that attendees will have access primary source material about the banjo and how to apply it in a manner that reflects period descriptions. I hope you will take the time to review this information below. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.
HARPER’S FERRY NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK,
EARLY BANJO WORKSHOP WEEKEND:
19th century techniques for 21st century players
Featuring Greg C. Adams and Tim Twiss
· LOCATION: Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, WV
· BANJO WORKSHOPS: May 22-23, 2010
o Two Day Tuition: $100 (register before May 1)
$120 (register after May 1)
o One Day Tuition: $65 (Saturday or Sunday) (see workshop schedule below)
· Public Presentations: May 22nd and May 23rd (starting at noon each day)
· Sunday Public History Concert and Presentation: 2-4pm
PUBLIC HISTORY CONCERT AND PRESENTATIONS:
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park invites you to learn about the multicultural history of the early banjo (ca 1620-1870). Come and experience two multimedia presentations about the early history of the banjo and its presence in 19th century Maryland. Sunday, from 2-4pm, enjoy a concert highlighting the banjo’s West African heritage, Caribbean birth, and rise into 19th century American popular culture.
FOR BANJO PLAYERS and Interested Individuals
19th Century Techniques for 21st Century Players: If you can play the basic “bum-ditty” rhythm often associated with clawhammer banjo, then you can learn how to reshape your technique to explore banjo music from as early as the 1850s and 1860s. If you play Bluegrass banjo, then you can learn how finger style playing techniques are reflected in some of the mid-19th century’s banjo instruction books. If you are a guitar player, percussionist, or string player with a musical curiosity and respect for the past, then this series of workshops will introduce you to some of the unique rhythmic and melodic blends found in banjo music as it once was. Banjo scholar Greg C. Adams and early banjo virtuoso Tim Twiss invite you to experience what makes 19th century banjo playing similar to but distinct from popular 21st century playing techniques. The workshops are designed to provide new “tools” for your banjo-playing toolbox by emulating some of the oldest (and earliest) documented techniques from the 19th century.
PREREQUISITES FOR BANJO WORKSHOPS
· Recommended skill level: intermediate banjo players
· Bring your own 5-string banjo (early banjo NOT required)
· Ability to keep time with a steady pulse
· Ability to count rhythms in 2/4 and 4/4 time
Contact Greg C. Adams with any banjo-related questions or comments (gregcadams@gmail.com)
BANJO WORKSHOP REGISTRATION:
Contact the Living History Offices at 304-535-6063 or email melinda_day@nps.gov
Tuition includes:
· 3 workshops
· Saturday and Sunday lunches
· Mentoring and jamming
· Opportunity to share what you have learned in a group performance during Sunday concert
Additional costs:
· Travel to and from Harpers Ferry, WV
· Saturday night lodging and meals (lodging information included in registration packet)
PRELIMINARY SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
Saturday, May 22
· Banjo Workshop 1 (9:30-11:30 AM) (banjo students)
· Banjo Roots Presentation (12:00-1:30 PM) (to the public)
· Banjo Workshop 2 (2:00-4:00 PM) (banjo students)
· Dinner on your own followed by evening practice, mentoring, and jamming
Sunday, May 23
· Banjo Workshop 3 (9:30-11:30 AM) (banjo students)
· Banjo in 18th and 19th Century Maryland (12:00-1:00 PM) (to the public)
· Banjo Concert (2:00-4:00 PM with intermission) (to the public)
ABOUT GREG C. ADAMS AND TIM TWISS:
Greg C. Adams, of Germantown, MD, is one of the ‘rising stars’ in the current revival of interest in the early banjo (ca 1620-1870). Greg is a highly-acclaimed player of nineteenth century stroke style down picking and Grand Prize winner at the 2009 Charlie Poole Music Festival (Eden, NC) for his classic ‘finger-style’ up-picking (ca 1866-1920). As a musician, archivist, and banjo roots researcher, Greg’s focus is on information sharing between musicians, scholars, and the public. As part of his interest in the banjo’s African heritage, he has made two trips to West Africa to study the Jola ekonting (akonting) (2006, 2008) and was co-recipient of a Maryland State Arts Council FY2009 Apprenticeship Award to study the 4-string ngoni with renowned griot and historian Cheick Hamala Diabaté. Greg is currently a graduate student in the Ethnomusicology Program at University of Maryland, College Park and is also Project Director of the Banjo Sightings Database Project http://www.neh.gov/ODH/Default.aspx...d=111&id=101. His personal website is www.myspace.com/banjargreg.
Tim Twiss, of Highland, MI, is one of the most distinguished interpreters of nineteenth century banjo music today. As a formally trained classical guitarist, multi-genre performer, and music instructor, Tim has defined himself in recent years as an Early Banjo Stroke Style Specialist. As part of his initiative to make early banjo music accessible, he has posted over 375 performances of 19th century banjo music to Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/giggletoot. Tim is a member of the Michigan Humanities Council 2009-2012 Touring Arts Directory and is a two-year recipient of Friends of the Porkies Artist-In Residence program where he produced two song cycles of early banjo music in an historically-informed 19th century style. He has recorded, performed, and produced two CDs for the early banjo, including the 2008 release of “Grape Vine Twist.” As owner of Highland, Michigan’s Milford Music, Tim also hosts and maintains the Banjo Clubhouse—a website dedicated to early banjo music: http://www.milfordmusic.com/Banjo%20Audio.htm. He is co-winner of the 2007 Antietam Early Banjo Gathering contest.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Greg
--
Greg C. Adams
Project Director, Banjo Sightings Database Project (Vernacular Music Material Culture in Space and Time)
NEH Level-I Digital Humanities Start-Up Grant (http://www.neh.gov/ODH/Default.aspx...d=111&id=101)
BSD Blog: http://vmmaterialculture.blogspot.com/
*******
Dear AC,
I am writing to share information about a banjo-related event I am organizing in Harpers Ferry, WV on May 22-23, 2010. It is an event that contributes to a broader understanding about the banjo before, during, and after the Civil War. One of the highlights of the weekend is that attendees will have access primary source material about the banjo and how to apply it in a manner that reflects period descriptions. I hope you will take the time to review this information below. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.
HARPER’S FERRY NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK,
EARLY BANJO WORKSHOP WEEKEND:
19th century techniques for 21st century players
Featuring Greg C. Adams and Tim Twiss
· LOCATION: Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, WV
· BANJO WORKSHOPS: May 22-23, 2010
o Two Day Tuition: $100 (register before May 1)
$120 (register after May 1)
o One Day Tuition: $65 (Saturday or Sunday) (see workshop schedule below)
· Public Presentations: May 22nd and May 23rd (starting at noon each day)
· Sunday Public History Concert and Presentation: 2-4pm
PUBLIC HISTORY CONCERT AND PRESENTATIONS:
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park invites you to learn about the multicultural history of the early banjo (ca 1620-1870). Come and experience two multimedia presentations about the early history of the banjo and its presence in 19th century Maryland. Sunday, from 2-4pm, enjoy a concert highlighting the banjo’s West African heritage, Caribbean birth, and rise into 19th century American popular culture.
FOR BANJO PLAYERS and Interested Individuals
19th Century Techniques for 21st Century Players: If you can play the basic “bum-ditty” rhythm often associated with clawhammer banjo, then you can learn how to reshape your technique to explore banjo music from as early as the 1850s and 1860s. If you play Bluegrass banjo, then you can learn how finger style playing techniques are reflected in some of the mid-19th century’s banjo instruction books. If you are a guitar player, percussionist, or string player with a musical curiosity and respect for the past, then this series of workshops will introduce you to some of the unique rhythmic and melodic blends found in banjo music as it once was. Banjo scholar Greg C. Adams and early banjo virtuoso Tim Twiss invite you to experience what makes 19th century banjo playing similar to but distinct from popular 21st century playing techniques. The workshops are designed to provide new “tools” for your banjo-playing toolbox by emulating some of the oldest (and earliest) documented techniques from the 19th century.
PREREQUISITES FOR BANJO WORKSHOPS
· Recommended skill level: intermediate banjo players
· Bring your own 5-string banjo (early banjo NOT required)
· Ability to keep time with a steady pulse
· Ability to count rhythms in 2/4 and 4/4 time
Contact Greg C. Adams with any banjo-related questions or comments (gregcadams@gmail.com)
BANJO WORKSHOP REGISTRATION:
Contact the Living History Offices at 304-535-6063 or email melinda_day@nps.gov
Tuition includes:
· 3 workshops
· Saturday and Sunday lunches
· Mentoring and jamming
· Opportunity to share what you have learned in a group performance during Sunday concert
Additional costs:
· Travel to and from Harpers Ferry, WV
· Saturday night lodging and meals (lodging information included in registration packet)
PRELIMINARY SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
Saturday, May 22
· Banjo Workshop 1 (9:30-11:30 AM) (banjo students)
· Banjo Roots Presentation (12:00-1:30 PM) (to the public)
· Banjo Workshop 2 (2:00-4:00 PM) (banjo students)
· Dinner on your own followed by evening practice, mentoring, and jamming
Sunday, May 23
· Banjo Workshop 3 (9:30-11:30 AM) (banjo students)
· Banjo in 18th and 19th Century Maryland (12:00-1:00 PM) (to the public)
· Banjo Concert (2:00-4:00 PM with intermission) (to the public)
ABOUT GREG C. ADAMS AND TIM TWISS:
Greg C. Adams, of Germantown, MD, is one of the ‘rising stars’ in the current revival of interest in the early banjo (ca 1620-1870). Greg is a highly-acclaimed player of nineteenth century stroke style down picking and Grand Prize winner at the 2009 Charlie Poole Music Festival (Eden, NC) for his classic ‘finger-style’ up-picking (ca 1866-1920). As a musician, archivist, and banjo roots researcher, Greg’s focus is on information sharing between musicians, scholars, and the public. As part of his interest in the banjo’s African heritage, he has made two trips to West Africa to study the Jola ekonting (akonting) (2006, 2008) and was co-recipient of a Maryland State Arts Council FY2009 Apprenticeship Award to study the 4-string ngoni with renowned griot and historian Cheick Hamala Diabaté. Greg is currently a graduate student in the Ethnomusicology Program at University of Maryland, College Park and is also Project Director of the Banjo Sightings Database Project http://www.neh.gov/ODH/Default.aspx...d=111&id=101. His personal website is www.myspace.com/banjargreg.
Tim Twiss, of Highland, MI, is one of the most distinguished interpreters of nineteenth century banjo music today. As a formally trained classical guitarist, multi-genre performer, and music instructor, Tim has defined himself in recent years as an Early Banjo Stroke Style Specialist. As part of his initiative to make early banjo music accessible, he has posted over 375 performances of 19th century banjo music to Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/giggletoot. Tim is a member of the Michigan Humanities Council 2009-2012 Touring Arts Directory and is a two-year recipient of Friends of the Porkies Artist-In Residence program where he produced two song cycles of early banjo music in an historically-informed 19th century style. He has recorded, performed, and produced two CDs for the early banjo, including the 2008 release of “Grape Vine Twist.” As owner of Highland, Michigan’s Milford Music, Tim also hosts and maintains the Banjo Clubhouse—a website dedicated to early banjo music: http://www.milfordmusic.com/Banjo%20Audio.htm. He is co-winner of the 2007 Antietam Early Banjo Gathering contest.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Greg
--
Greg C. Adams
Project Director, Banjo Sightings Database Project (Vernacular Music Material Culture in Space and Time)
NEH Level-I Digital Humanities Start-Up Grant (http://www.neh.gov/ODH/Default.aspx...d=111&id=101)
BSD Blog: http://vmmaterialculture.blogspot.com/
*******
