Guitar | Riley Baugus | All Levels | Period 2 | Week 3 (July 20-25, 2025)
Old time guitar can be much more than just playing chords and strumming. That is the basis for playing old time, however there are more things we can do. Bass runs have always been a part of creative old time guitar playing. We’ll look at how to find, and understand bass runs, moving between chord and different rhythm techniques used by guitar players from the 1920s and 30s, as well as the modern use of the old time guitar!
About the Instructor
Riley Baugus worked as a welder and blacksmith for 18 years before becoming a professional musician. He has performed throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, Ireland, Scotland, and England. He has played with several old-time string bands, including The Farmer’s Daughters, The Konnarock Critters, The Red Hots, Backstep, and the Old Hollow Stringband. He tours regularly with Dirk Powell and Tim O’Brien, and frequently performs and tours with dancer Ira Bernstein, with the duo show Appalachian Roots.
He often performs as a guest musician with the Dirk Powell Band and the North Carolina folk band Polecat Creek. He sang on the soundtrack to the 2003 film Cold Mountain. He has recorded with Robert Plant, Alison Krauss, Willie Nelson, Dirk Powell, and Martha Scanlan. He taught banjo at the Augusta Heritage Center’s Old Time Week in Elkins, West Virginia and at the Midwest Banjo Camp in Olivet, Michigan.