SPBGMA WORKSHOP FEATURING ALISON BROWN, LARRY MCNEELY AND JACK HATFIELD

21ST ANNUAL SPBGMA BANJO WORKSHOP – Directed by Jack Hatfield
Sunday, February 4th, 2018
Sheraton Music City, Nashville, Tennessee
Featuring ALISON BROWN, LARRY MCNEELY, JARDA PRUCHA AND JACK HATFIELD

The Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America (SPBGMA) event is a four-day indoor bluegrass festival/show/awards ceremony in Nashville. The SPBGMA show features round-the-clock jamming, top name performers, the highest-paying and most respected bluegrass band contest in the world, plus the SPBGMA Bluegrass Awards show on Sunday (the bluegrass equivalent of the CMA awards). SPBGMA draws the top amateur and semi-pro bands from all over the country, with non-stop jamming, various workshops and promoters’ meetings, and vendors with everything a bluegrass fan could ever want… In MUSIC CITY yet! In addition to the workshop, the students and their families can attend the Grand Ole Opry, see the famous shops and clubs such as Ernest Tubb’s Record Shop, Blue Bird Cafe and Linebaughs’ on Broadway, and visit the world famous Station Inn to hear top bluegrass artists perform.

The SPBGMA workshops have featured names such as Eddie Adcock, Tom Adams, Ron Block, Charlie Cushman, Bill Keith, Bela Fleck, J.D. Crowe, Terry Baucom, Richard Bailey, Bill Evans, Charlie Cushman, Sammy Shelor, Scott Vestal, Greg Cahill, Ned Luberecki, Doug Dillard, Wayne Erbson, Ross Nickerson, Doug Dillard, Butch Robins, Bill Evans, Sonny Osborne, Scott Vestal, James McKinney, Alan Munde, Kristin Scott-Benson and Pete Wernick. Banjo builders/setup techs have included: Steve Huber, Mark Taylor, Frank Neat, Curtis McPeake, Geoff Stelling, Gary Price, Tony Wray, Bill Palmer, Snuffy Smith, Charlie Cushman, Arthur Hatfield, Mike Smith, and Tom Nechville. Banjo Newsletter contributors who have participated include: Janet Davis, Murphy Henry, Bill Evans, Ross Nickerson, Pete Kelly, Tom Adams, Ian Perry, Ira Gitlin, Andy Cushing, Jim Pankey, and Eddie Collins.

Full or half-day attendance is available. Students may attend all four sessions, or attend only the morning or afternoon sessions. The morning sessions include Intermediate discussion with Jack Hatfield and the Late Intermediate/Advanced session with Larry McNeely. The afternoon sessions include a banjo setup presentation with Jarda Prucha and the Advanced discussion with Alison Brown. Morning-only attendees may return for the jam at 3:30.