This workshop will examine backup and arrangement options for both the fiddle and the clawhammer banjo in a duo and small ensemble setting. Participants will be sent a video recording of a simple tune and a song in advance of the workshop to become familiar with. We will use these tunes in the workshop to demonstrate different textures and rhythmic pathways we can use to create engaging arrangements. We will also look at the power of dynamics and how to become a more dynamic and connected player. This workshop will be hands-on as much as possible.
Through twenty years and a couple of thousand shows together in bands such as The Foggy Hogtown Boys and The Lonesome Ace Stringband, John Showman and Chris Coole have developed a deep and instinctual musical bond. Their music lurks in a truly unique space that is somewhere on the outskirts of old-time, bluegrass, and folk. The songs of John Hartford, Hank Williams, Dock Boggs, and The Band share space with the fiddle tunes of Eck Robertson and Ed Haley. The duo’s original songs and tunes take in all these vistas and paint something both personal and timely.They have performed across North America and Europe at festivals such as Merlefest, Rockygrass, Winnipeg Folk Festival, Mariposa, Wintergrass, Gooikroots, and The John Hartford Memorial Festival. In 2022, the duo released two albums; “ Afield” a collection of old-time fiddle tunes, and “Much Further Out than Inevitable – A Tribute to Some Music of John Hartford.”
