Banjo | Evie Ladin | Intermediate/Advanced | Period 2 | Week 3 (July 21-26, 2024)
Syncopations, retuning, jam skills, backing up yourself and others singing, improving tone, picking up tunes on the fly – practice ideas and skills for playing with others in the most successful and gratifying ways. Short of learning repertoire, I find most people have the hardest time making the leap from practicing tunes they know to having the confidence to jump in to playing with others. Includes hearing the nuances between different versions of the same tune so you can adapt to those you’re playing with. Let’s level up!
About the Instructor
Banjo player, singer, songwriter, ace flatfooter and square-dance caller, Evie grew up steeped in traditional folk music/dance. She started performing with her sister Abby at the age of 8, and it was around that time that John Cohen of the New Lost City Ramblers took the sisters to get their first banjo, after which they took lessons from a young Bob Carlin. Heard from A Prairie Home Companion to Lincoln Center, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass to Celtic Connections, Brazil to Bali, Evie has taken home ribbons in folk song and banjo from Mt Airy, NC Fiddler’s Convention, and Neo-Trad Band from the Appalachian Stringband Festival, Clifftop, WV. Based in Oakland, CA, Evie tours internationally with partner Keith Terry and her Evie Ladin Band; and has released numerous CDs and clogging instructional DVDs. In addition to her popular Peghead Nation course, Evie teaches group classes at the infamous Freight & Salvage, at countless camps, and privately. A highly entertaining performer and patient instructor, Evie enjoys facilitating arts learning in diverse communities, always connecting the music with the dance, and educating people about the roots of Appalachian culture and history. “Evie’s mastery of the clawhammer banjo is an absolute wonder, and the soulful, salty tanginess of her voice grips the listener and refuses to let go as it narrates some wild musical tales” — WOMAD Festival, UK www.evieladin.com