Fall Banjo Retreat

Sonny Osborne, Bill Evans, Alan Munde, JD Crowe, Charlie Cushman, & Ned Luberecki

October 17, 18, 19 2008

SOLD OUT!  Please call to be placed on the waiting list.   615-952-2267

New! Printable flyer and registration form

Instructor bios                                                                      Photos of retreat location 

 

The weekend's offerings will be geared to 5-string banjo players at all levels. Sessions will feature Sonny teamed with the other instructors as well as sessions with Bill, Alan, JD, Charlie, and Ned.

Topics include: tips for bluegrass banjo beginners, tone and timing, the fine points of Earl Scruggs' style, back-up, special licks and techniques, playing slow songs, and dissections  of your favorite Osborne solos.

Sonny will also bring along many of his signature instruments, including his famous prewar Gibson Granada and RB-3 as well as the new Osborne Chief banjo.

During an introductory "meet the teachers" session, Sonny will discuss the early days of bluegrass and the career of the Osborne Brothers (and just about anything else that's on his mind at the time!).

 

Bill, Alan, JD, Charlie, and Ned will offer sessions for beginning, intermediate and advanced level players. Bill will present sessions on J.D. Crowe's style and intermediate to advanced bluegrass back-up and lead techniques. Master classes with the instructors will offer one-on-one attention, which often results in noticeable, immediate improvements.

In addition, historic bluegrass videos, including vintage performances from Flatt and Scruggs, Bill Monroe, and others, will be available. After supper the instructors will present mini-concerts, with Bill performing "The Banjo in America," his solo concert featuring over 200 years of American banjo music played on a variety of historical banjos.

The workshop begins with lunch at noon on Friday, then your first class. We wrap up around 4:00 pm on Sunday.

Tuition includes all classes, concerts, meals and accommodations. Meals provided from Friday lunch through Sunday lunch. NashCamp's site and food are unparalleled in a workshop setting.

"The NashCamp Fall Banjo Retreat will provide a great opportunity to learn from one of bluegrass banjo's greatest masters - Sonny Osborne," says Bill Evans. "But even more importantly, the retreat will help each player, regardless of level, to become a better player."

A personal letter from Bill Evans...

Hello Banjo Camp bluegrass players (and other interested banjo players and fans),

I hope that everyone is having a great summer and that you've found a lot of time for picking and festivals. I wanted to invite all of you to something that's become quite a special event for me, the NashCamp Fall Banjo Retreat.

Sonny Osborne and I came up with the idea several years ago to have an annual camp where we could interact closely with banjo students in a smaller and more intimate context than is allowed at many other gatherings.

The camp begins at noon on Friday and ends around 4 pm on Sunday. Days are filled with small group workshops and plenty of one-on-one interaction between students and teachers. Groups are divided according to ability into beginning, intermediate and advanced levels. Evening activities include concerts, watching historic videos and lots and lots of jamming. Workshop topics last year dealt with right hand technique, back-up, beginning and advanced jamming techniques, as well as several sessions discussing both Sonny Osborne's and Earl Scruggs' contributions to the instrument.


And while I really am proud of our teaching and our programming, perhaps the most memorable thing about this camp is the setting. You really get the feeling that you've escaped from the outside world and can focus on what we all really love, the banjo!

And what about that food? Well, it's just flat out great. The Mad Platter, a well known Nashville gourmet restaurant provides meals and I've gotten spoiled over the years by such dishes as steak, salmon, roasted chicken, and great salads and deserts. Forget Weight Watchers for the weekend.

This e combination of the location and the food (and the hospitality and vivacity of camp director Cindy Sinclair) make this simply an unparalleled experience in music camps.

 

You can learn more by following the links on this Web site, or call Cindy Sinclair at 615-952-2267 (Central Time Zone). Or, if you'd rather talk to me, give me a call at 888-599-2233 or 510-528-1924 (Pacific Time Zone).

I hope some of you will think about traveling to Nashville and being with us this fall. Thanks for your consideration of this post and thanks, as always for your love for the banjo!

Sincerely,

Bill Evans