September 7-9, 2007
Staff Biographies

Janet Beazley plays banjo and sings with the California band, Chris Stuart & Backcountry. She also co-produced and engineered both CSB band albums as well as solo projects by Chris Stuart and guitarist Eric Uglum. Janet's solo CD, 5 South, is just out on the Backcountry Records label and is the focus of the profile article in the August 2005 issue of Banjo Newsletter. Janet has taught banjo, music theory, and harmony singing classes at the British Columbia Bluegrass Workshop in B.C., Canada, the Northern Bluegrass Circle Music Society Workshop in Edmonton, Alberta, the California Bluegrass Association Music Camp in Grass Valley, CA, and will be teaching at the Midwest Banjo Camp in East Lansing, MI this June. She holds a doctorate in early music performance and when not on the road with the band she teaches at the University of Southern California, University of California at Riverside, and Claremont Graduate University.

Paul Brown spent years learning music directly from some of the last fiddle, banjo, and guitar players to emerge before the age of radio and recordings, including banjoist and fiddler Tommy Jarrell, banjoist Gilmer Woodruff, guitarists and singers Paul Sutphin and Fields Ward, fiddlers Robert Sykes and Luther Davis, and mandolinist Verlen Clifton. He has played since 1978 with fiddler Benton Flippen, and he has been a member of numerous ensembles, including the Bent Mountain Band with Andy Cahan and Mike Seeger, Benton Flippen & the Smokey Valley Boys, Robert Sykes & the Surry County Boys, and the Toast String Stretchers. Paul has been on the staff at music camps across the country since the early 1970s - from the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Washington, to Pinewoods in Massachusetts. His most recent appearances on CD are "Way Down In North Carolina" with Mike Seeger, "Benton Flippen: Old Time, New Times," and "Blue Ridge Mountain Holiday: The Breaking Up Christmas Story." Paul has a website at http://www.brownpaul.net/.

Greg Canote and Jere Canote The Canote Brothers from Seattle, WA, are as renowned for their affable attitudes and humor as they are for their music. Greg on fiddle, and Jere on guitar, and both on banjo ukes, perform zany concerts, play for dances, lead songs, and promote a good time! The twin brothers started singing soon after they were born and haven't closed their mouths since. They spent their early years in California's Sacramento Valley, inventing songs with their father at the piano and tagging along with their parents' folk and square dance group. They honed their skills performing in many bands and discovered old-time music in the mid 1970s. In 1978 they attended the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, WA, and eventually became frequent teachers there. After touring the country with dance caller and singer Sandy Bradley for four years, they returned to the Northwest for a thirteen year stint on Seattle's National Public Radio show, "Sandy Bradley's Potluck," as Sandy's affable side-kicks. The rigors of finding new material for a weekly radio show kept the twins on their toes, mining and performing gems of American music of the past as well as writing new songs in those styles.

No one plays old time clawhammer style banjo quite like Bob Carlin. Faithful to the timeless Appalachian traditions, Bob has brought that distinctive southern banjo sound to appreciative audiences all over the world. Performer and record producer, Bob has spread the word through workshops, concerts, and recordings. Bob has a long list of accomplishments that span from performing and producing a variety of CDs; doing fieldwork associated with the industry; teaching as well as publishing in written word.

Bill Keith: A renowned explorer of the frontiers of banjo picking and of the instrument's harmonic potentialities, Bill Keith largely invented the three-finger picking style known as "melodic" banjo. He first came to international attention in the early 60s when he played and recorded with Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys. He co-authored the original Earl Scruggs banjo instruction book and record, and has also written several other banjo instruction books, including the first ones ever published in French and Italian. He has recorded several albums for Rounder, Green Linnet, and Hexagon, and has toured widely throughout North America, Western Europe, Japan, and Australia. He devised and, through the Beacon Banjo Company, still markets the famous tuning pegs that bear his name.

Peter Langston seems to play anything with strings on it (even the banjo!), and is equally adept at backup and hot improvisation. He has played in bands on both the East Coast (Metropolitan Opry, Wretched Refuse) and the West Coast (Puddle City, Entropy Service, Portland Zoo), and has performed with such notables as Doc Watson, Reverend Gary Davis, Tony Trischka, Peter Rowan, Alison Brown, and Mike Seeger. Peter has led a double life as a musician and a computer whiz and has taught both audio recording and computer science at the college level. Peter has been a frequent member of the staff of various music and dance camps, including the California Coast Music Camp, Sierra Swing, the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, Alta Sierra, and the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, which he helps run.

Debby McClatchy was introduced to old-time banjo through the New Lost City Ramblers. Her Tennessee Smokey Mountains Mom used to sing Carter Family and Charlie Poole songs as lullabies, and the banjo felt right at home. A mostly full-time professional musician for thirty-eight years, she is one of the few players of the more minstrel-show influenced frailing style (as compared to the Round Peak clawhammer style), specializing in song accompaniment, and has been in demand as a teacher and performer ever since. She also currently runs a monthly old-time teaching jam in a local Victorian hotel. She has taught previously at the Maryland Banjo Academy, Fiddle and Dance at Ashokan, Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, Augusta Heritage Workshop in WV, and the John C. Campbell Folk School, to name a few. She has eleven recordings, now all available on CD through her web page. Also proficient in fiddle, guitar, and concertina, she is a sensitive and giving teacher, as well as a dynamic and engaging performer.

Michael Miles: is renowned in the clawhammer world for his for his sparkling versions of Bach cello suites and his adventurous original compositions. A dedicated music-educator, he served from 1984-98 as Program Director at Chicagošs Old Town School of Folk Music; during which time he developed and expanded an old-time banjo program that ultimately served hundreds students. Michael has written, directed and performed in a number of critically acclaimed musical plays which feature the banjo prominently, including The Magic Banjo, American Songbag, How Africa Met Ireland in American Song, and Chicago Rhythm & Rhymes. His latest CDs include "American Bach," "Magic Banjo," and "New Century Suite."

Ken Perlman: Perhaps the best-known exponent of the "melodic" clawhammer style, Ken is known where-ever banjos are played as a master of clawhammer technique and an expert teacher of clawhammer mechanics. He has been a Banjo Newsletter columnist for 20 years; he has written several books on clawhammer instruction including the well known works Melodic Clawhammer Banjo and Clawhammer Style Banjo, he has recorded several series of audio and video banjo instruction, and he has taught at well over a dozen music camps including the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp, Common Ground on the Hill, and the Tennessee Banjo Institute.

Laura Smith was born and raised in Hawaii, surrounded by the music of the islands, her Dad's piano and tenor banjo playing, and the rich harmonies of the church choir. She started playing old time banjo in 1973 when she attended the Sweet's Mill Music Camp in California and was introduced to a wide range of live traditional music. She has been playing and singing ever since. Laura sang with Larry Hanks for many years, and together they toured Great Britain. She has taught classes at the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop for 18 summers. Classes have included banjo, guitar, song repertoire, and hula. She has also taught at the Georgia Strait Guitar Workshop. Laura has been a public school teacher for the last 17 years and uses music daily in her classroom.

Mike Stahlman: is a Portland, Ore. banjo player whose playing style was heavily influenced by Earl Scruggs and Alan Munde. Mike has taught bluegrass banjo at Portland Community College in Portland since 1997, and currently plays banjo and tours with the Oregon based Sawtooth Mountain Boys. He has recorded two banjo instrumental CD's -- "Bluebonnet," and the recently released "First Dance."

Pete Wernick, "Dr. Banjo," is renowned worldwide for his contributions to bluegrass music: the hot-picking force in several trend-setting bands including Hot Rize and Country Cooking, respected author and teacher, and 15-year President of the International Bluegrass Music Association. In a recording career starting in 1971, Pete has recorded dozens of original instrumentals and songs, including two bluegrass chart-topping hits, and is known for his soulful tradition-based style. Since 1980, Pete has conducted over 100 instructional camps nationwide and overseas, and continues to refine his teaching methods. His instructional videos and books include bestsellers such as Bluegrass Jamming, Bluegrass Banjo, Branching Out on the Banjo, How to Make a Band Work, and many others. Pete maintains an extensive web site, DrBanjo.com, and currently performs with his bluegrass/classic jazz fusion group, Flexigrass, his singer/guitarist wife Joan (.Nondi.) in a bluegrass duet, and occasional reunions with Hot Rize.

Vivian Williams (accompanist) is well known in the U.S. and Canada for her fiddling ability. She performs regularly for old time dancing and is one of the leading old time and bluegrass fiddlers on the West Coast. She has won many fiddle contests in the U.S. and Canada, including: 1999 National Senior Champion (Weiser) and Washington State Senior Champion, three times Washington State fiddle champion, three times National Ladies Champion, four times winner of the West Coast International in Canada, and the Smithsonian Fiddle Contest in Washington, DC. Vivian plays primarily in the old time fiddle styles found among fiddlers in the Pacific Northwest, with a heavy influence of bluegrass. She is a noted composer of fiddle tunes, and her tunes have been recorded by many prominent folk and bluegrass musicians.