FIDDLE CAMP NORTH® April 13, 14, & 15, 2012 Director: Mike Holmes Music Director: Phil Zimmerman Fiddle Coordinator: Dave Reiner

Click here for FCN & MCN 2011 Class Schedule

Click here for FCN & MCN 2011 Class List & Descriptions

Click here to read a discussion about Hand Held Recorders

Click here to see Panoramic Camp photo

Click here to read some of the emails and comments about Camp

Camp Photos

For Fiddle Camp North we have an outstanding staff. Assembled by Music Director Phil Zimmerman and Fiddle Coordinator Dave Reiner, FCN in Charlton, MA is the place to be April of 2012. Read below to see the bios of our staff for and I'm sure you will agree that FCN is not to be missed if you want to learn to play or get better on the fiddle. MIH

Fiddle Camp North is a weekend-long celebration of the Fiddle in Bluegrass, Old Time, Irish, Scottish, Jazz, Cape Breton, and New England styles! World-class Fiddlers make up our full-time and "adjunct" faculties. We have invited several top flight banjo and guitar players to teach about playing with other instruments and jamming, and to be on hand to help make those all-night jams something special.

Fiddle Camp North 2012 After 10 years in the same place, our Camps will be held at Prindle Pond Conference Center, a beautiful wooded setting in Charlton, Massachusetts. There are two campuses -- FCN will be using the Pondside campus. Buildings are heated, so you don't have to worry about our unpredictable New England weather, but you must bring your own towel, pillow, blanket, and linens or a sleeping bag; Prindle Pond does not provide them. At the Pondside campus, each building has several rooms, most of which have 2 to 4 bunk beds; there are shared baths. In addition there are a few single rooms with private baths. There is no smoking allowed in any of the buildings. Local accommodations are available in nearby Sturbridge for those who want to bring the family, or just prefer more privacy.

Meals: Meals are provided as part of the tuition package, and vegetarian meals are available. Dinner will be served promptly at 6 PM Friday. The meals schedule for the rest of the weekend will be announced in the program book at camp time.

Camp will open Friday at 12:30 PM for registration, jamming, and instruction. Registration will occur beneath the West Building in the Sassafrass room -- look for the giant banjo. We'll have hands-on workshops, round robin demonstrations and guided jam sessions for three days, a Friday night "meet the faculty concert," a formal concert Saturday night, and lots and lots of time for jamming and getting to know each other. Our resident instrument specialist will be there from 12 PM on Friday and all day Saturday. Lecture-demonstrations about setup will be offered. Instrument vendors and makers, plus recordings, accessories and books will be on sale in our market area. Attendees are encouraged to bring fiddles and stringed instruments for sale or trade. Camp ends at about 3:00 PM on Sunday

Thursday night lodging is available for those traveling a long way, whether driving or flying to FCN. Since people arrive at widely different times, only housing, no food, is available. Jamming with students and faculty invariably breaks out, and just hanging out is a nice, relaxing time between the work-a-day world and the intensive training at FCN. Our goal is learning -- but having a good time doing so.

As always, the full range of classes, beginner to advanced, will be offered and the Help Desk will be available to all levels for anyone who needs some extra help.

The Beginners' Track provides instruction for absolute beginners (those who haven't played before), and those who can play a little bit, but still can't play with other people or pick out tunes on their own. Click below for more information. We are not set up for novices under the age of 18.

Read the Beginners' Track Page for information about this exciting offering.

Advancing Beginners and Intermediates will find classes geared to their levels and needs. Advancing beginners may still only play a few phrases and chords, but they have some basic Fiddle experience. In general intermediates know some tunes but aren't able to play up to speed yet. They are still working on rhythm. They may already read tab or notation, but can use help playing by ear and learning to arrange a tune or song on their own. Classes at the Advancing Beginners/Intermediate level will include Learning To Play What You Hear, Playing Slow Tunes, Controlling The Pick, Choosing Your Next Fiddle, Bluegrass Fiddle Monroe Style, Introduction to Modern Bluegrass Style, Old Time Fiddle -- Brothers Music, Translating Fiddle Tunes To The Fiddle, What To Do When Another Instrument Has The Lead, Accompanying Singing, and many more. At Fiddle Camp the emphasis is on using tab minimally - just to get you started playing.

For the Advanced Players, there will be added classes in Arranging Tunes or Songs For The Fiddle, Introduction To What It Takes To Be An Effective Sideman, Playing For A Living, Playing And Composing For Commercials, and more.

The weekend will include at least 100 class hours plus guided jams at all speeds and levels. After each evening program there will be plenty of time for free jams, again at various levels. Most of the classes are hands on, practical learning situations. A few are demonstrations or mini-concerts, but even in these classes the intention is for you to take something away that you may want to learn or speak with the instructors about later. You are encouraged to bring a recording device of some kind.

Payment Options See Registration form for fees and payment arrangements. Note: The first $100 of the registration fee is a processing fee and is not refundable. Please fill in, print out, and mail the Online Registration Form Attractive gift certificate available

Contact information:     Mike Holmes     (774) 207-0284

Camp address:     Fiddle Camp North     PO Box 1755     Orleans, MA 02653

FCN 2012 STAFF Some multi-instrumentalists will do double duty at MCN & FCN

Don Stiernberg learned to play the mandolin from Jethro Burns. More than three decades later Don is still playing, teaching, and writing about the mandolin. He is recently completed work on his sixth recording for Blue Night Records, and a jazz mandolin method book for Mel Bay. Don has been a columnist for Mandolin Magazine since it's inception and is a respected teacher at mandolin camps from coast to coast and abroad.

Dave Reiner, Fiddle Coordinator for the new Fiddle Camp North, is best known as co-author of Oldtime Fiddling Across America (Mel Bay Publications), and as author of Anthology of Fiddle Styles. He is also a fine mandolin player and teacher. He currently plays fiddle and mandolin with the Reiner Family Band and with Granite Grass in and around New England. Dave is the former Wisconsin state fiddle champion and has won many contests in the Northeast. A veteran of years of giving insightful and entertaining fiddle workshops, Dave will teach multiple levels with special interest in bowing patterns, Northeastern tunes, tune variations, twin fiddling, and unusual tunes. He will share his skills between MCN & FCN.

Skip Gorman has played old time and bluegrass styles of mandolin for 46 years. For two years he has had the distinction of being selected to be among the first mandolin instructors at the International Bluegrass Museum's Bill Monroe Weekend in Owenboro KY. Ken Burns, has used Skip's mandolin music in his PBS series Baseball. A nationally recognized fiddler and singer of cowboy ballads, Skip has recorded for Rounder, Folk Legacy , Columbia and Old West recordings. His latest projects are Mandolin In The Cow Camp and Old Style Mandolin, Vols. 1 & 2.

Mike Holmes (MCN Director) is best known as publisher of Mugwumps Magazine now Mugwumps Online. He is the former chairman of the National Council for the Traditional Arts, and the National Folk Festival, and is widely regarded as an expert on the history of American stringed instruments. Mike has performed acoustic music on the North American and international circuit, and appeared on recordings of traditional and contemporary musicians. He is equally proficient on mandolin, guitar, and old time banjo; he also sings. His Smithsonian/Folkways book & CD set is titled Mandolin Instruction, Old Time, Country & Fiddle Tunes; it has recently been chosen for inclusion on iTunes. Mike is also director of Banjo Camp North, an annual event, held in May and Old Time Music Camp North, held in October.

Martin Grosswendt (Old Time Music Director) has played old-time and blues mandolin since 1970. Known as a musician’s musician in a variety of genres, he also plays guitar, Dobro and bass, and is a powerful singer. He is a veteran of countless recording sessions and produces recordings for other artists as well as his own. His first album, Dog on a Dance Floor, was released on the Philo label in 1980; his most recent recording is Call and Respons, a collection of pre-war acoustic blues released in 2004. Martin has performed and taught at festivals and at WUMB’s Summer Acoustic Music Week and has been a Master Artist’s assistant at the Augusta Heritage Workshops.

Alan Kaufman has performed Old Time Music for more than 30 years. A fine player on mandolin and guitar, Alan is author of Beginning Old Time Fiddle published by Music Sales. He currently is responsible for starting and leading well-received Old TIme Music jams in the greater Boston area. At camp he will teach mandolin, primarily with the novice and beginner track, repertoire, and lead jamming sessions. Alan will also teach Old Time mandolin, using fiddle tunes and duet-style playing in the Monroe and Blue Sky Boys tradition, among others.

Mike Rivers has played old time music since 1960. He perfomed with the Greasy Run Toad Trompers, one of the first of the eclectic string bands who played a mixed bag of Southern, Northern, Western, swing, ragtime, and Celtic music on string band instruments. As a recording engineer and producer, Mike has recorded albums of various artists for Folkways, Folk Legacy, Rounder, Troubador, Flying Fish, among others. He has run concert sound for the Smithsonian, National, and Lowell Folklife Festivals. Mike will teach backup guitar and conduct seminars in sound production and recording.

Neil Rossi is a multi-instrumentalist who is best known for his fiddle and mandolin work. He is sought after as accompanist in both Bluegrass and Old Time settings. Beginning in 1960 when he heard the Osborne Bros, he spent hours every day learning banjo, three-finger picking. Later, he bought a mandolin and, in 1964, began learning fiddle. In 1966 he formed The Spark Gap Wonder Boys, and over the years has gravitated more to the fiddle and mandolin as his primary instruments. He has played those with The David Bromberg Band, The Yankee Rebels, Diamonds In The Rough, and Bob Yellin & The Joint Chiefs Of Bluegrass, among others. Neil currently plays mandolin and sings baritone with the Vermont based, traditional, bluegrass band Big Spike Bluegrass.

Glenn Nelson, resident instrument specialist, has been building, restoring and repairing instruments for 20 years. Glenn and his wife Barbara started Mockingbird Music in Berlin, Massachusetts, where they build custom stringed instruments and specialize in the repair and restoration of vintage instruments. At FCN he will be available to do minor setups & repairs on site, and to accept instruments for more extensive work. Charges will apply for materials and time spent. Glenn will also participate in some jazz and modern playing workshops.

More info to come... Come back later to see class proposals and schedule.