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Walnut Valley Pre-Festival Workshops
Winfield, Kansas...With less than six weeks till the start of the 31st Walnut Valley Festival the excitement is starting to build. The Walnut Valley Festival annually draws people from all over the world to the Winfield Fairgrounds to share a common interest, acoustic music. Through-out the history of the festival it has been determined that a large percentage of festival goers bring instruments with them. They spend a great deal of their time while at the festival playing music with campground friends. It was with this in mind, a few years ago the Walnut Valley Association decided to host a limited number of pre-festival, hands-on instructional workshops on the Wednesday prior to the start of the actual festival.
The Walnut Valley pre-festival workshops have been very well attended in the short time they have been a part of the festival. Each year there has been an increase in the number of students. With the wide variety of artists that perform each year at the festival, there is an opportunity to let fans study with artists that are at the top of the field in acoustic music.
This year the list of instructors reads like a "who's who" of award winning musicians, including five national champions, two International Bluegrass Music Association players of the year, a multi- award winning band, a published expert, and seasoned veterans of the music business who have had more successes than can be documented here.
Guitar students will find no shortage of talent to study with this year. Two celebrated guitarists will be teaching students the finer points and details of flatpick guitar. International Bluegrass Music Association guitar player of the year Jim Hurst will offer beginning information to help students move up to the next level. Jim will also share techniques he uses to play bluegrass, swing-style and traditional fiddle tunes. Beppe Gambetta, international touring guitarist and perennial Walnut Valley Festival favorite will be on hand to teach his prospective on alternate tunings, arrangements and the embellishment of tunes. Teaching fingerstyle guitar will be a team of National Champions. From the popular National Public Radio program "A Prairie Home Companion" the 1983 National Fingerstyle Guitar Champion, Pat Donohue. Pat will include in his presentation blues style and the use of a slide. Pete Huttlinger, the 2000 National Fingerstyle Guitar Champion and former lead guitarist for the late John Denver, will help students improve their technique with exercises designed to improve the left and right hand action. Students will also learn tunes specially arranged for the class so that they will be sure to take home music they can add to their repertoire regardless of their skill level.
Instrument classes will also include two for the hammer dulcimer player, a beginning class taught by builder and 1981 National Champion, Russell Cook and an intermediate class instructed by the 1982 National Champion David Moran. The mountain dulcimer instruction will be taught by Robert Force, performer, teacher, and the co-author of the definitive mountain dulcimer book, "In Search of the Wild Dulcimer".
Andy May returns from Nashville to continue with his highly popular Mandolin workshop. Andy will use his extensive teaching and performing skills to help students at all levels enjoy this instrument that has gained steadily in popularity in recent years.
Local favorite, and the 1986 International Autoharp Champion, Karen Mueller will be teaching autoharp with a beginning class in the morning and an intermediate class in the afternoon. The winner of the International Bluegrass Music Association's bass player of the year for the past three years, Missy Raines, will be helping new bass players learn basic skills and advanced players learn the techniques that will help them to play bass in the traditional bluegrass and swing styles.
There will also be classes for singers and songwriters at this year's festival. The popular west coast band Misty River will be featured in a workshop titled "Vocal and Harmony" this workshop will cover aspects of singing including vocal technique, chord structure, and harmony placements. Songsmiths will have the opportunity to study with veteran songwriters Crow Johnson and David Mallett. Crow and David will share their music and approaches mixed with hands-on exercises and tips.
The workshops will be taught at locations indoors to create a good learning environment for the students. They are all held on Wednesday, September 18th. The 31st annual Walnut Valley Festival will be held September 19th through 22nd. To register for the Walnut Valley Pre-Festival Workshops or to purchase tickets for this year's Walnut Valley Festival call 620-221-3250, or drop by the festival office at 918 Main Street in Winfield, Kansas.
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