Tutors
ADVANCED CLASSES -As we have done in previous years at October, we hope to stage a couple of advanced classes depending on tutor's availability. |
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TONY FURTADO - BANJO MASTERCLASS
Tony Furtado is a major musical force without a doubt. He has his black-belt in voice and bottleneck guitar and his banjo playing scares the crap out of me.” |
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STANDARD CLASSES -
Our standard classes bring together the best of British and European based tutors to teach you the finer points of Bluegrass and Old Time Music. |
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Patrick Couton - Autoharp
A professional musician for over thirty years, Patrick Couton began his career aged six playing flute before progressing to accordion then guitar. He then moved onto Old Time Banjo and Dobro. In 1971, Patrick added the Autoharp to his arsenal of instruments and quickly got into traditional Iris music and “old Jazz”. His first Autoharp dedicated CD -Autoharp Ce Soir - was re-issued in the US by famous luthier ad Autoharp maker Oscar Schmidt which was received to great acclaim on the other side of the Atlantic. As a result of that exposure, Patrick subsequently toured the US with George Fischer between 1980 and 84 and those trip included many appearances at the Prairie Home Companion. |
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Ben Somers - Bass
Ben Somers grew up surrounded by music as his father Steve Somers was and still is a very active professional musician. Steve was a long time colleague of Peter Sayers well known for his part in the UK country and bluegrass scene. |
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Paddy Kiernan - Bluegrass Banjo
Paddy is one of Ireland's most in-demand banjo players and teachers. He currently plays with progressive folk band Pine Marten, Persian/Irish crossover band Navá, Roots/Bluegrass band Lands End, the Niall Toner Band, and gigs regularly throughout Ireland and the UK. His banjo playing has also been featured in the dance world, in works by Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre Company and the National Ballet of Ireland. Constantly pushing boundaries on his instrument, Paddy was the first 5 string banjo player to graduate from the University of Limerick’s MA in Traditional Music Programme. He also maintains a busy teaching schedule, both privately and at Walton's New School of Music in Dublin City Centre. |
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Noel Dashwood - Dobro
Noel is quickly becoming the dobro player of choice on the British scene. He is absolutely dedicated to the instruments and at festivals, you rarely see him without his Resophonic seeking out sessions! |
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Niles Krieger - Bluegrass FiddleOriginally from Connecticut, Niles Krieger is now based in Newcastle upon Tyne and plays with up-and-coming UK bluegrass groups The Kentucky Cow Tippers and Assembly Lane. He graduated from Newcastle University’s Folk and Traditional Music course in 2015 and has since completed his master’s degree, which involved researching the social history and repertoire of the fiddle in 18th Century New England. As a performer and teacher, however, Niles is most likely to be found playing bluegrass. His smooth, bluesy style marries the traditional with the contemporary and is influenced heavily by the likes of Kenny Baker, Byron Berline and Stuart Duncan, although it incorporates aspects of the many different types of music he is inspired by. In addition to playing the fiddle, Niles plays mandolin and guitar and sings. |
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Yves Aerts - Guitar
Yves is widely known for his phenomenal guitar playing and for his smooth and velvety voice. He started playing guitar at the age of 14 exploring singer-songwriters before moving on to Bluegrass flatpicking. Yves has spent a significant amount of time in the US picking up the bluegrass style of Tony Rice, Tim Stafford and David Grier. |
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Percy Copley - Mandolin
Percy Copley has been around the British Bluegrass festival circuit quietly plighting his trade for as long as one can remember. Percy, a man of many talents is equally adept on Mandolin, Banjo (tenor and five string), Guitar and Ukulele…, in fact you name the instrument it and it is likely he can get a tune out of it! Percy is on the entertainment staff at Eurodisney in France and has been there since the park opened in 1992. Recently relocated to the depths of South Wales, we’ll see more of him and that’s a good thing. |
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Andy Quelch - Old Time Banjo
Andy Quelch is one of those musicians who doesn’t make a lot of noise but then appears on stage or in a session and turns heads! He is a multi-instrumentalist with over 25 years’ experience of playing American traditional styles and has become sought after in the UK Old-time and bluegrass scene for his driving and inventive rhythm playing on Banjo and Guitar. |
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Emily Smith - Old Time Fiddle
Emily Smith’s love for American fiddle styles was ignited 20 years ago by an early Stringbean Akeman recording of Little Maggie with Chubby Wise on fiddle. Since then she has been a regular student and teacher at Sore Fingers, learning from the great American and UK players and sharing her own knowledge at our October weekends. |
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Sue Pomeroy - SingingWith harmonies at the heart of her performances and song-writing, Sue Pomeroy has always been steeped in bluegrass, old-time and country music. She has hardly missed an opportunity to soak up influence from the masters herself by attending workshops with the likes of Val Mindel and Alice Gerrard (and by being a fierce attendee at SFSS!). It was the quality of vocal harmonies in her previous band The Woodberrys which won them the band competition for Ely Folk Festival in 2012. Sue now performs in a duo The Rye Sisters with versatile singer Ishani Siriwardena. The Rye Sisters won the ‘BBC Song for Lincolnshire 2016’ song-writing competition. As a result of this, and their growing reputation from their busy gig schedule, they are becoming known for beautiful singing arrangements and harmonies in American music with wide appeal. They also love old-time song harmonies and recently performed at Orwell festival to much acclaim. Both teachers by trade, Sue and Ishani can easily demonstrate and impart the techniques and knowledge for singing powerfully and in perfect harmony. |
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Phil Doleman - Ukulele
Phil’s voice is as big as his ukulele is small, and his love of vintage blues, hokum, jug band and jazz shines through in his intricate picking and driving rhythms on both uke and tenor banjo. Phil has travelled all over the UK and to Europe and the US, performing and leading workshops at festivals, theatres, clubs and events. He has appeared on several albums, performed on BBC radio and TV, taught over 1500 ukulele players, and shared the stage with some of the world’s finest players. |
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