The Midwest Banjo Camp, held on the campus of Olivet College in Olivet, Michigan will host their 15th annual event this June 6-9.
A variety of instructional tracks are available, which include both old time and bluegrass banjo, plus 19th century banjo, tenor banjo, bass, fiddle, fingerstyle guitar, flatpicking guitar, and mandolin. They bring a large faculty on to campus for this weekend, ensuring that all students have quality time with the teachers, regardless of their level of skill or experience.
Students can place themselves in one of four tracks – novice, lower and upper intermediate, or advanced – which they feel best suits them. But they are free to jump between these tracks to take other classes on the schedule at any time. There is also a course for absolute banjo beginners that expects students to be rank beginners on the 5 string. They will be shown some basic skills and techniques in bluegrass and old time styles after an introduction to the instrument.
This year the Camp will offer a track on beginning jam skills for all instruments.
A list of the 2019 faculty includes:
- Bluegrass Banjo – Danny Barnes, Janet Beazley, BB Bowness, Greg Cahill, Ryan Cavanaugh, Gina Clowes, Julie Elkins, Bill Evans, Alan Munde, and Tony Trischka
- Old-Time Banjo – Roy Andrade, Cathy Barton Para, Riley Baugus, Frank Evans, Adam Hurt, Joe Newberry, Ken Perlman, Lukas Pool, Stephen Wade, and Dan Walsh
- 19th century banjo – Greg Adams
- Tenor banjo – Don Vappie, Keith Baumann
- Fiddle – Jane Rothfield
- Fingerstyle guitar – Mike Dowling, Chris Reitz
- Flatpick guitar – Rick Faris, Dave Para
- Mandolin – Nick Dumas, Keith Baumann
- Bass – Mark Schatz, Tom T. Ball
Full details can be found online, including registration information and a complete class listing.
