Like so many other instructional events over the past year, the Ola Belle Reed Songwriter’s Retreat has decided to go virtual for 2021. These weekend getaways for songwriters have been held in honor of pioneering artist Ola Belle in her hometown of Lansing, NC for the past several years, offering face-to-face instruction and workshopping over the course of a three-day weekend.
But this year, as a result of taking the Retreat online, attendees won’t be limited by travel and accommodation requirements and can participate from their homes, wherever those may be, using the Zoom app online.
The 2021 Ola Belle Reed Songwriter’s Retreat will occur over two consecutive weekends in April, with a core group of faculty over both sessions, and some teaching only one course or the other. The material covered will be different over the two weekends, so an interested writer might choose one based on their particular interests, or register for both for the full experience.
Instructors over both weekends include Jon Weisberger, Cathy Fink, and Tom Paxton, covering the worlds of bluegrass, old time, and folk music. Joining them for the first session, April 16-18, will be Alice Gerrard, Joe Troop, and Crys Matthews. The April 23-25 retreat will also feature Mark Simos and Claire Lynch. Anyone who follows bluegrass and acoustic music will recognize this as a very distinguished group of professional songwriters, whose work has been frequently recorded both by themselves, and top artists in multiple fields.
Complete faculty information can be found on the Songwriter’ Retreat web site, along with detailed information about the various classes to be held over the two weekend sessions.
Tuition for either of the retreats is $150, or you can register to attend both for $275. There are also tickets available for the faculty concerts held on the Saturday evenings of each session for $20.
All of the necessary information about the instructors and registration can be found online.
