Beginning Upright Bass – Ray DeForest
1 – 1:45pm, Room 111
Raymond DeForest will go through the basics of building a bassline to accompany other players as well as bass playing in general.
Raymond plays bass for the SpYder Stompers & Sugar Pie as well as Blue Lunch and other bands. He has been playing blues, roots, jazz and other genres of music in Cleveland since 1974.
Afghan Frame Drumming – Sheela Das
1 – 1:45pm, Room 115
Understanding other cultures brings us together. Join Sheela Das to learn authentic Afghan drumming on one of the world’s most historic and classic drums, the frame drum! (Drums provided thanks to Janice Fields Pohl.)
Sheela Das is a festival performer and multi-instrumentalist for bands including John McGrail and the SpYder Stompers & Sugar Pie. She loves hosting community ukulele and drumming workshops to bring people together. She is on the roster of the Ohio Arts Council in the Music and Multidisciplinary categories.
Beginning Slide Guitar – John Barile
The Three T’s of Slide Guitar: Techniques, Tunings and Tool
2 – 2:45pm, Room 111
John Barile is a multi-instrumentalist who currently resides in Toledo, Ohio. He is maintains a full performance schedule and is constant demand as a side musician for mandolin, guitar and slide guitar. In this session John will provide an overview of his approach to slide demonstrating open and standard tunings, Dobro vs acoustic guitars, slide selection, muting techniques, and volume swells, with demonstrations for blues, ballads and country sounds.
Intermediate Ukulele – Learning to Finger Pick, with Mark Laskey
2 – 2:45pm, Room 109
Everybody’s welcome to attend this lesson where we’ll be learning “Downtown Blues,” a song from Memphis bluesmen Frank Stokes and Dan Sane.
Mark Laskey was introduced to the ‘ukulele as a young boy by his family from Maui. This led to a lifelong love of Hawaiian music and the ‘ukulele. In addition to Hawaiian music, he especially enjoys adapting country blues, jug band and old-time song to the ‘ukulele.
Intro to Fiddle – Janice Pohl
2 – 2:45pm, Room 115
Janice Fields Pohl is on the staff of Campus International School at Cleveland State University. The violinist has performed with Johnny Mathias, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, YoYo Ma, Babyface and many others.
Intermediate Old-Time Banjo – Riley Calcagno and Vivian Leva
3 – 3:45pm, Room 111
Both Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno grew up in the Appalachian string band tradition, have noted parents in the old-time scene, and spent formative years running wild around festival campgrounds. They are steeped in an instrumental culture of hard-picking and virtuosic musicianship; indeed there are plenty of online videos of them tearing through all-night jam sessions. Riley and Vivian are also featured in the Lake Erie Folk Fest’s evening performance at 7:30pm.
Leva recently joined Calcagno’s former teen string band The Onlies, releasing an album of fire-breathing fiddle tunes in late 2020.
Ukeleles for Peace: Ukrainian Folk Songs – Sheela Das
3 – 3:45pm, Room 115
Sheela Das is a festival performer and multi-instrumentalist for bands including John McGrail and the Spyder Stompers. She loves hosting community ukulele and drumming workshops to bring people together. She is on the roster of the Ohio Arts Council in the Music and Multi-disciplinary categories.
Join Sheela to learn songs for peace including a Ukrainian folk tune. Simple chords and melody picking will be taught. And all abilities are welcomed! (Ukuleles on hand from Creative Concepts in Music).
Intermediate Old-Time Fiddle – Riley Calcagno & Vivian Leva
4 – 4:45pm, Room 115
North Carolina-based singer-songwriters Riley Calcagno and Vivian Leva are well-versed in traditional Appalachian music. Workshop leaders Riley and Vivian are also featured in tonight’s concert as a duo and are members of The Onlies.
Beginning Backup Guitar – Kevin Richards
5 – 5:45pm, Room 111
Kevin T. Richards specializes in pre-war acoustic blues, country, traditional and jazz music. He has shared the stage with music greats such as Robert Lockwood Jr., Jorma Kaukonen and John Hammond. Kevin fronts the band SpYder Stompers & Sugar Pie, as well as being artistic director for Roots of American Music, a nonprofit music education organization located in Cleveland Heights, Ohio which provides arts-integrated education to individuals of all ages and abilities. Kevin plays a vast array of instruments including electric and acoustic guitar, fiddle, banjo and mandolin. He has appeared at the National Folk Festival and Merlefest and entertained audiences across the US in concerts, in schools, on radio and television for over a quarter century.
Beginning Bluegrass Banjo – Rick Campbell
5 – 5:45pm, Room 115
Rick Campbell at Raccoon County Music Festival
Rick Campbell is a music teacher who enjoys teaching people of all ages the basics and more of bluegrass music. Rick also formed and leads the bluegrass band Young and Blue which consists of some of his students who play a variety of instruments including guitar, mandolin, banjo, and upright bass.
Rick welcomes all people, at any level, to come and join the Bluegrass Jam & Beginning Bluegrass Banjo workshops at The Lake Erie Folk Fest today.
Shore Cultural Centre