Teachers old and new

David Cahn is a versatile instrumentalist who has played banjo, guitar, fiddle, mandolin, bass, and accordion in numerous northwest bands over the past twenty years. He's toured with Rodney Miller and appears on two of his CDs which include several of David's original tunes. He's also recorded with Clyde Moody, Charlie Moore, Wade Mainer, Helen Carter, and Mark Simos, and is featured on the Rounder recording "Young Fogies II" with his old-time band, "The Queen City Bulldogs" (1st place, Clifftop, 1994). He's performed at Wintergrass for the past four years with Greg and Jere Canote, and taught at the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, The Festival of American Fiddletunes (where for 15 years he's led the beginners band lab), Pinewoods, Augusta, and many other camps and festivals around the country and abroad.

Steve Cheseborough brings to life the country blues and hokum of the 1920s and '30s in the tradition of Charley Patton, Memphis Minnie, Tampa Red and Bo Carter . by faithfully re-creating the music and by recounting the lives, legends and lore of the men and women who created this music. Cheseborough appeared in the documentary Last of the Mississippi Jukes, and is the author of Blues Traveling: the Holy Sites of Delta Blues. A longtime resident of Mississippi, Chezz recently relocated to the Pacific Northwest.

I have a deep commitment to acoustic music as evidenced by the level of teachers I have sought out for myself and the styles of music I play. I am equally commited to passing this music on to my students by teaching solid technique, theory, arranging, and practice habits. I believe the best way for a student to become accomplished in the style he/she chooses is to learn as many examples of that style as possible and have fun while doing so. After all, the point is to PLAY music! Methods I use to teach are note reading, tablature, and ear training. One of my goals is to bring the student to the point where he/she learns songs and tunes by ear. Patience is the key here, so we go over it, and over it, and over it, and over it. I've studied with Will Bledsoe, Steve Kaufman, David Grier, Robin Kessinger, Paul Chasman, Dwight Diller, Eric Schoenberg, John Miller, Woody Mann, Eddie Pennington, Wayne Henderson, Russ Barenberg, and Eric Thompson. I am currently writing flatpicking guitar articles for OBA's Bluegrass Express and the WBA Bluegrass Gazette.

Nan Collie has been performing around the northwest with the group Motherlode for 25 years. She is a singer-songwriter who brings, warmth, honesty and an open heart to her music and to her life. She has been a teacher for 31 years, and enjoys connecting with others around a good old tune and good times. She lives happily in the country outside of Portland with her garden, her trees and her tractor.

William Coulter's love of traditional melody is framed by a classical sense of composition and realized with an impeccable and sensitive guitar technique. William's well exercised craftsmanship and his unusual ability to direct the voices of the guitar as if they were a steel-string choir make the music come to life in his hands.

With his extensive discography and history of acclaimed performances, William Coulter continues to approach the music he makes on the guitar with an essential humility. He lets the music speak and sing for itself. He creates the impression that his music rises up from the curved wood and shining strings on its own spirited impulse, a song made by the wind rather than by frets and fingers.

As well as performing and recording, William works as a producer and recording engineer, and teaches guitar at the University of California, Santa Cruz. During the summer he teaches at a number of music camps including the National Guitar Summer Workshop, Alasdair Fraser's Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling School and the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop.

Barry named his guitar after the person that got him started in his musical career: Grandma. Music ran in the family bones, and Barry was no exception. After spending some time with rock, folk, bluegrass, and celtic music, his musical evolution took him to the discovery of songwriting in 1996. The next year, he went on to win the Kerrville Emerging Songwriters Contest, and was chosen as a finalist in the Wildflower and Napa songwriting contests. His lyrics are simple, to the point, and cover the ridiculous to the sublime, giving romance the heart it deserves, and making fun of the more tender moments of life. He is a sought-after accompanist, with his playing having been described as clean, elegant, and sparkling.

Barry, an accomplished working musician, performer, and songwriter, has been performing since the early seventies with groups such as: In Cahoots, Wildgeese, Crannell and Krevans, and has shared the stage with Clive Gregson, Kevin Burke, Michael O'Dohmnaill, Kate Wolf, and Bill Staines. He is currently in musical collaboration with Julianna Waters, calling themselves Heart and Hammer.