Mountain Road Fiddle Camp
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MOUNTAIN ROAD FIDDLE & MUSIC CAMP 2008

AUGUST 15-17: THE BRAZENHEAD INN & IRISH PUB, Mingo, WV



A weekend for playing and socializing with fellow fiddle (and non-fiddle) students. Nightly sessions and Ceili dance! The camp starts Friday evening on the 15th of August and ends that following Sunday the 15th.   All ages and levels welcome.

Fiddle with Alex Caton. Learn new tunes, phrasing, how to perform Irish and gypsy fiddle tunes.  Fiddle also taught by Pete Vigour, a veteran of Old-Time music.  Irish Step and Set Dancing with Lori Madden. Joe Fallon will teach bass, banjo and drum. Phil Audibert teaches Irish style DADGAD as well as Standard guitar and voice.  Ellen Vigour offers mandolin and American set dance.  See teacher biographies below.

 

New this year…

Some Friday classes and one Sunday class offered for those who prefer not to take four classes in one day  ~~  More singing! Especially with a Sunday Morning Sing-a-long  ~~   More Opportunities to Dance~~ A Friday night Teacher performance.



Classes/ Lessons will include:

************************

- Irish, Old Time & Gyspy Fiddling
-Irish Drum Instruction
- Irish Step & Set Dancing

-Traditional Singing

-Clawhammer Banjo, Mandolin and Bass Instruction
- DADGAG and Standard Guitar
- Nightly Sessions and Ceili dance
s.



Cost: $140 for four classes or $120 if registered and paid before June 1st
Please send a check to 120 Pine Crest Lane, Gordonsville, Va 22942.

Family members of registered students can take individual classes at the rate of $35 per class.  Registered students can also add classes to their required four, at the rate of $35 per class.

General Schedule:
Friday Evening-- Arrive and relax.  Some classes offered.  Picnic from 6 to 8 PM. Teacher
Introductions and Performance at 8 PM followed by a Jam session.
Saturday-- Classes all day.  Dance in the evening, late night jam session.
Sunday—Morning singing class.  Otherwise, folks leave at their leisure.


Proposed Class Schedule:


Friday August 15th


Time:

Teacher/ Class/ Level

5-6 PM

 

Pete
Old-Time Backing for Guitar, Banjo.
& Mandolin
All levels

 

Phil
Irish Guitar
Accompaniment

 

Beg/Int

Joe
Bass

 

Beg/Int

Ellen
Old-Time
Fiddle
All Ages

Beg/ Int

                                                           
Saturday August 16th


Time:

Teacher/ Class/ Level

Class 1:
9-10 AM

Alex
Gypsy Fiddle

 

Int/Adv

Pete
Youth
Old-Time
Fiddle
Beg/ Int

Lori
Irish
Step Dance
Starts at 8:45 Beg/Int

 

 

 

Class 2:
10:15-11:15

 

Pete
Old-Time
Fiddle
Int/Adv

Lori
Irish set dance
Social Dance
Beg/Int

 

Joe
Irish Drum

Beg/Int

 

Class 3:
11:30-12:30

Interns/Alex
Youth Fiddle
Beginners paired with interns

 

Lori
Irish
Step Dance

Int/ Adv.

Phil
Irish Guitar

 

Beg/Int

 

 

LUNCH

Class 4
2-3 PM

Alex
Irish Fiddle

Int/ Adv

Pete
Fiddle
Old Time
Beg/Int

 

Phil
Irish Guitar

Int/Adv

Joe
Irish Drum

All levels

Ellen
Mandolin
Old Time
All levels

Class 5:
3:30-4:30

Alex
Irish Fiddle

Beg/Int

 

 

Phil
Trad. Singing

All levels

Joe
Old-Time
Banjo
All levels

 

Sunday August 17th


Time:

Teacher/ Class/ Level                                                                      

9-10 AM

TeachersTBA
Old Time Singing (and bring your guitar if you like) 
All levels.


 

A note on the schedule:

If you’d like to see a class not offered, or want another class like the ones you see, please tell us.
Beg/ Int—Beginner to Intermediate
Int/ Adv—Intermediate to Advanced
Feel free to ask Alex or any of the teachers what level you may be considered.
Fiddle students are encouraged to take at least 2 or 3 fiddle classes.
Youth Fiddle classes are intended for kids under 13. 
Non-youth Fiddle Classes are for those 13 years and up, or based on skill level. 
OTHER INFORMATION:
Please be sure to bring your instruments, and we ask that those with drums might share with those who do not have any. Please bring snacks and bottled water. Feel free to record your lessons.


Students will arrange accommodations and food. Rooms and camp sites are available, and it's always a good idea to make reservations in advance at the inn.

Contact the Brazenhead Inn:
toll free: 866-339-6917 or http://www.brazenheadinn.com


Please contact Alex Caton for more information or to reserve a spot.

Alex will register your information and your four class preferences
(i.e. beginner fiddle, intermediate drumming, beginner dance, etc.)

540-832-7787 or info@alexcaton.com


Checks can be made payable to "Mountain Road Fiddle Camp". Payment is due by the beginning of camp, that Friday the 15th.
Cancellation Policy:  Students pay in full at the time of registration.  If a student cancels before August 1st, they will be refunded all but $20.  Registration is non-refundable on or after August 1st.
Testimonials from Mountain Road Fiddle Camp 2007

“This is my third year in a row and it just keeps getting better and better! The Brazenhead Inn is the perfect venue to host fiddle camp…The teachers are exceptional too! The Ceili (Dance) Sat. night is a great way to wrap up the experience.”

“Fabulous! We will come back if at all possible.  The place is lovely.  The music is beautiful.  A lot of thought went in to designing it and we are so grateful!”

“We love fiddle camp.  It’s great to be immersed in music for a weekend, and it’s a good social scene for the kids, beautiful setting.  We always look forward to it.”

 

Teacher Biographies

Alex Caton founded the Mountain Road Fiddle Camp in 2005 after she fell in love with the Brazenhead Inn in West Virginia.  Her aim was to create a musically productive and fun atmosphere for her fiddle students to learn new material and jam on familiar tunes, plus try their hands at something new—such as dance, drum or guitar.  The camp has outgrown her wishes to become an annual event that teachers, family members and students (fiddle as well as singers, dancers, guitarists, bassists, Irish drummers, mandolin and banjo players) all look forward to with excitement. 

Alex has been teaching fiddle for 12 years, she is a founding member of Charlottesville Tune School, a group devoted to involving participants of all ages in the living musical heritage of Old Time string band music, and a teacher and board member of the Blue Ridge Irish Music School. When Alex is not teaching or planning for fiddle camp, she is playing Irish and Old Time music with Odd Legged Jenny, with her band mates Pat Egan and Joe Fallon, and also gypsy music with her group Verbunk.  Alex also enjoys singing and performing on guitar, banjo and bass.  For Mountain Road Fiddle Camp she teaches primarily Irish, Old Time and Gypsy fiddle.




Lori Madden is the Director, Dance Instructor and founding member of BRIMS (the Blue Ridge Irish Music School located in Charlottesville, Virginia), as well as Executive Director for the 214 Community Arts Center.  Lori has been teaching dance and leading BRIMS Trad Ensemble since 2000. She is also a member of the dance troupe Humorous Abandon, and has taught and performed at the Lake Eden Arts Festival near Asheville, NC.  Lori has taught beginner through advanced dance at Mountain Road Fiddle Camp every year since 2005.




Phil Audibert first cut his musical teeth on the 1960’s Folk revival movement, until the British Invasion lured him away on a musical journey that led him from Washington DC to Argentina and back.  Since then, he has played solo and/or joined or formed a variety of bands performing everything from Blues to Country to classic Rock and Roll.   Something of a jack of all trades (and master of none), Phil has also been a Radio News Director, a feature writer, a photographer, a cattle farmer, an innkeeper, and a ski instructor. He returned to his musical roots when he formed the Traditional Irish Music band, the Ryegrass Rollers in 2001 which released the critically acclaimed C-D Rue the Day in 2003. Now, he and fiddler Alex Caton have branched out to form the duo, Odd Legged Jenny, playing music from both sides of the Atlantic.  Phil has taught guitar and voice at Mountain Road Fiddle Camp since 2005. 




Joe Fallon (guitar, banjo, bass) began his musical journey playing guitar as a teenager and listening the music of Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie. In the early 70s he was a staple of the Boston traditional music scene playing bass with various bands. He was a member of the influential Backwoods Band and joined The Critton Hollow String Band in 1981. Joe sings, plays bass, banjo, guitar, and most recently button accordion. Joe appears on four Critton Hollow recordings.  Joe joined the Mountain Road Fiddle Camp staff in 2007, as a bass, banjo and drum instructor. 

 

Pete Vigour grew up in a musical family and has played and sung string band music all his life. His band, Uncle Henry's Favorites, has played for dances and parties for 20 years. Pete teaches music full-time and is a founding member of C-Tunes, The Charlottesville Tune School, a school devoted to involving participants of all ages in the living musical heritage of Old Time string band music.  Pete joined the Mountain Road Fiddle Camp staff in 2008 as Old Time fiddle, voice and guitar instructor.



Ellen Vigour
plays mandolin, sings and calls dances for her band, Uncle Henry's Favorites.  She teaches mandolin and fiddle part time and works full time as a Special Education teacher in Charlottesville. 





PHOTOS FROM Mountain Road CAMP 2005
: (click to enlarge)




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