BLUFF COUNTRY GATHERING
May 16-19, 2024
2024 Staff
Eric and Suzy Thompson have devoted their lives to the pursuit of weird
and obscure old-time American music--warped fiddle tunes in odd tunings,
cinematic ballads, country blues songs that contain mysterious metaphors, and
more. Using fiddle, guitars and mandolin, they bring these early 20th century
sounds right into the present day. Eric's flatpicking is exceptional for its
purity of tone, speed and soulfulness, playing often with notable musicians like
Ramblin' Jack Elliott and David Nelson. Suzy is a powerful singer, a strong
blues guitarist and an award-winning fiddler who works with performers like Jim
Kweskin, Geoff Muldauer, Del Ray and Ann Savoy. The Thompsons were founding
members of many influential roots music groups including the Black Mountain
Boys, Any Old Time Stringband and the California Cajun Orchestra. They are
making their fourth appearance at the Bluff Country Gathering.
www.ericandsuzy.com
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Martha
Burns
sings old-time American songs the old-time way: heart songs, cowboy songs,
tragic ballads and comic ditties, songs from the mountains and songs from the
range. Her haunting voice is perfectly suited to her old-time repertoire and
she’s an accomplished guitarist whose accompaniments bring out the pith in a
song or provide the solid backup fiddlers crave. Martha played for several years
with the late Allan Block, a legendary East Coast fiddler. She has lived all
around the country, but currently resides in Washington, DC.
http://marthaburns.net/home.php
Paul
Brown
can’t get enough of down home old time and bluegrass music. And he loves to
share it. He started singing the songs his mom knew from central Virginia when
he was a little kid. He picked up the banjo at age ten and the fiddle and
guitar as a young man. He steeped himself in the music of his elders the best
way possible: by playing with them at home and on the road for decades. You’ll
love his authentic, solid sound as a singer, guitarist and prize-winning banjo
picker and fiddler. Paul is a retired NPR radio journalist, long a familiar
voice on NPR’s world newscasts, who started his radio career at the renowned
old-time and bluegrass station WPAQ in Mount Airy, NC. He’s a veteran of the
Toast String Stretchers, the Surry County Boys with Robert Sykes, and the Smokey
Valley Boys with Benton Flippen. He studied banjo intensively with Round Peak
legend Tommy Jarrell, and he’s recorded and produced numerous iconic old-time
music albums.
Terri McMurray has great chops on 5-string banjo, banjo uke, and
guitar. She looked and listened hard during her years around some of the great
master traditional musicians in North Carolina and southern Virginia, and it
shows in her playing. Terri played for more than 20 years with the Toast String
Stretchers, the most active band in the well-known metropolis of Toast, NC,
between Round Peak and Mount Airy. She was a founding member of the Old Hollow
String Band with Kirk Sutphin and Riley Baugus.
Trevor McKenzie is the
Director at the Center for Appalachian Studies at Appalachian State University
in Boone, NC, an accomplished multi-instrumentalist playing fiddle, banjo,
mandolin and guitar, and is a fine traditional singer to boot. He grew up on a
cattle farm outside of Rural Retreat, VA and his first exposures to music came
through church and his father's record collection, started attending fiddlers'
conventions as a youngster and getting more involve with the traditional music
of the Southwest Virginia area. Since 2010 he has been a member of the Elkville
String Band and often performs with Paul Brown and Terri McMurray. Trevor says
"I consider myself a historian who uses music as a conveyance to share stories.
I really enjoy delving into old songs and tunes that bridge the past and the
present of communities around this part of the world".
Trevor McKenzie – Blue Ridge National Heritage Area (blueridgeheritage.com)
The
Ozark Highballers began playing as a band in May of 2014 while busking at
the Fayetteville, Arkansas farmer's market. Since then they have played at the
Brooklyn Folk Festival, the Ozark Folk Center, the St. Louis Folk and Roots
festival, and the Stephen Foster Old Time Weekend in Florida.
Roy Pilgrim is
a Fayetteville native who began playing music with neighbors at the age of
eight. An avid student of early American fiddle music, he is also a horse
logger. He and Aviva live and garden on their farm just south of Fayetteville,
Arkansas. He has recently recorded 10 segments of “Fine Fiddlers of the Ozarks"
which is broadcast on Ozark Highlands Radio and focuses on popular and less
known musicians and fiddle tunes from the Ozark Mountains.
Aviva
Pilgrim was born in
Washington State and lived several years in Virginia before moving to Arkansas
in 2014. She plays guitar, cello, sings and sometimes fiddles in the band, and
is also a print-maker, gardener, and builder of early 1900s-style parlor
guitars.
Clarke Buehling is
a well-respected and renowned banjo player. His forte is classic banjo and he
has file cabinets full of sheet music from the late 1800s to prove it. His
previous band, the Skirtlifters, has been a staple of Ozark string band music
since the 1980s. Clarke's expertise extends to include the earliest stroke and
finger-style minstrel banjo playing.
Seth Shumate is
a versatile harmonica player who applies techniques of the pre-WWII harmonica
masters to complement, often note for note, the melody of the fiddle as well as
performing a well-developed rhythmic style of backup playing drawing on the
old-time expertise of players like Dave Rice and Mark Graham. Seth's grandfather
and great-grandmother both played harmonica in the Arkansas Ozarks of Stone
County.
One of
the most respected players in old time music today, Beverly Smith is in
demand as a singer, fiddler and dance caller, as well as a banjo, mandolin and
guitar player. Besides her fine recordings of early country duets with Carl
Jones, Alice Gerrard and John Grimm, her guitar playing has been featured on
recordings of fiddlers like Bruce Molsky and Rafe Stefanini. Beverly has played
with The Heartbeats, Big Hoedown and The Rockinghams, performed across the U.S.,
Canada, the UK and Europe. She is known as a thorough, humorous, kind and
patient teacher and has taught fiddle, guitar, singing and dance at numerous
camps and festivals. Beverly is happy to call Marshall, NC home.
2024 Workshop
Schedule
|
FRIDAY |
9:00-10:15 |
10:30-11:45 |
1:45-2:45 |
3:00-400 |
4:15-5:00 |
|
Sons of Norway Hall |
Carter Family Guitar
|
Fingerstyle Banjo-Basic CLARKE |
Fiddle ROY |
Shape Note Sing |
Open Jam ERIC, SETH, BEVERLY |
|
Community Ctr. Council Chambers |
Mandolin-Playing Fiddle
Tunes |
Fiddle-Marcus Martin Tunes SUZY |
Harmonica-Fiddle Tunes SETH |
Fingerstyle Banjo 2 CLARKE |
Fiddle ROY |
|
Community Ctr. Kitchen Area |
Harmonica 101 SETH |
Turn on Your Ears PAUL & TERRI |
Guitar-Fiddle Backup MARTHA |
Songs of the Mississippi Sheiks SUZY |
|
|
Community Ctr. Gym |
Fiddle BEVERLY |
Old Time Guitar Basics AVIVA |
Clawhammer Banjo TREVOR |
Calling square Dances BEVERLY |
SOUND CHECKS |
|
SATURDAY |
9:00-10:15 |
10:30-11:45 |
1:45-2:45 |
3:00-4:00 |
4:15-5:00 |
|
Sons of Norway Hall |
Singing with Guitar AVIVA |
Uke Can Do It TERRI & PAUL |
Blue Ridge Ballads TREVOR |
Fiddle Showcase |
Fiddle ROY |
|
Community Ctr. Council Chambers |
Banjo Tunes CLARKE |
Fiddle ROY |
Two-Finger Banjo Tunes, Songs, Tunings |
Harmonica-Got Rhythm? SETH |
Open Jam TREVOR, MARTHA, CLARKE |
|
Community Ctr. Kitchen Area |
Fiddle Tunes of Dennis McGee SUZY |
Mandolin Rags ERIC |
Lead Guitar Tricks ERIC |
Mandolin Leads for Songs ERIC |
|
|
Community Ctr. Gym |
Harmonica History SETH |
Sing with the Carter Family MARTHA |
Square Dance Calling BEVERLY |
|
|
About the Bluff Country Gathering
The Bluff Country Gathering is a four-day event presenting traditional American music, dance and singing styles. Workshops, conducted by a staff of nationally acclaimed musicians, singers, dancers and folklorists, are designed to pass along the traditions of old-time music to participants at all levels of experience. If you want to take workshops, you must register for the whole weekend. Cost is $250 and includes workshops, concert, dance. The registration form is at the bottom of this page. A limited number of scholarships are available. Application deadline March 1. Application information is below.
PUBLIC EVENTS: A concert on Friday night features all the staff musicians. The Barn Dance on Saturday night includes live music by staff musicians and caller. No experience or partner required for this dance.
CONCERT: Friday May17 at 8:00 PM at the Lanesboro Community Center. Tickets available at the door only. $15.00
BARN DANCE: Saturday, May 18 at 8:00 PM at the Lanesboro Community Center. Tickets available at the door only. $10.00
REGISTRATION: $250 for all events. If you plan to take workshops, full registration is required. No refunds after May 1. Registration accepted beginning January 5, 2024.
Please fill out the entire registration form. Registrations not accepted until January 5, 2024. PDF Form
Name: __________________________________________________________________________________
Address: ________________________________________________________________________________
Phone: __________________________________________________________________________________
Email: __________________________________________________________________________________
Name/address on the roster? Yes _____ No _____ (The roster will be available to all students.)
Any student age 16 or under must be accompanied by a fully registered parent or guardian.
Meals: Please select only one Veggie___ Meat___
If you have food allergies or special needs, you must notify us before May 1st.
Interested in volunteering? Most of our registered students help out doing small jobs at the weekend, like setting up tables and chairs for meals and concerts, helping in the kitchen, sitting at the sales table during the public concert or dance, to name a few. Even the smallest help is greatly appreciated. If you check yes, someone will contact you about matching you to an agreeable task.
Yes, I'd like to help. _____ No, not this time. _____
Make checks payable to Bluff Country Gathering and mail to 18287 Gap Drive, Spring Grove, MN 55974.
Or pay online and be sure to submit your registration information.
Housing is not provided by the Gathering. Lanesboro has many B&Bs, boarding houses, motels and campgrounds in town and nearby. For a listing of these go to www.lanesboro.com or call the tourist office at 800-944-2670.
Thursday Night Potluck dinner starting at 6 pm at the Sons of Norway Hall. Bring a dish to share. Plates/cups/napkins/silverware will be provided. The kitchen will not be available for cooking/ cleaning up/storing leftovers.
Friday and Saturday Lunch will be at 12:00 PM in the Community Center.
Sunday Potluck will be at 9:30 AM in the Community Center.
What else to bring? Recording devices are suggested, since most of the workshops will be taught aurally.
E-mail: bluffcountrygathering@gmail.com
Bluff Country Gathering
18287 Gap Dr.
Spring Grove, MN 55974 (507) 498-5452
The Bluff Country Gathering is a 501(c) non-profit organization. Any donations are tax deductible.
Scholarships
The Bluff Country Gathering strives to offer a limited number of scholarships each year. Scholarships cover admission to all workshops, the Friday night concert, Saturday night dance, Thursday night potluck, Friday and Saturday lunches, and Sunday potluck brunch.
Scholarship applications must be received by 11:59pm CST on March 1, 2024. The number of scholarships the Gathering can award varies year to year based on the number of requests and funds available. Applicants will be notified whether or not the Gathering is able to award their scholarship by March 30, 2024.
Please note: As the Gathering does not provide housing, scholarship recipients will still need to cover their own housing and transportation costs, along with the cost of any meals not listed above.
SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS CAN BE FOUND HERE: https://forms.gle/FUHKm1moi15haQvt8
If you would like to request a hard copy of the application, please contact bluffcountrygathering@gmail.