The Bluegrass University at Jenny Brook includes seven beginner classes for adults.  The classes are two and a half hours of hands-on instruction.

UNIVERSITY PREVIEW:  Friday at 6:30 pm.  Learn about the Classes & Teachers at the Bluegrass University found on the map in your program book!

MEET & GREET:  Saturday at 1:00 pm.  Meet and get to know your potential teachers.

Students Per Class:  Minimum = 3, Maximum = 9.

MEET THE 2024 BLUEGRASS UNIVERSITY INSTRUCTORS

Banjo – Bruce Stockwell

Bruce Stockwell has been playing bluegrass banjo since 1968 and teaching since the ’70s. By age 16 he had won banjo contests, recorded his first album, and opened for Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, John Hartford, and many others. In the late ’70s he worked with Phil Rosenthal and Mike Auldridge as Old Dog producing two albums on Flying Fish. Since the 1980s, Bruce has performed with his two brothers (and now wife Kelly) in various acoustic/electric formats, currently as the Stockwell Brothers Band. In 2005 he won the Merlefest Banjo Contest, and in 2008 a NH Arts Grant led to the formation of Hot Mustard, a double-banjo bluegrass band.

Mandolin – Quinn Eastburn

Quinn Eastburn is a multi-instrumentalist, bluegrass musician, and teacher from the Boston area. He started playing at age 4 and was soon fronting a band, performing at festivals and on many stages including Club Passim, the Stadium Theatre, and the Boston Esplanade (for 92.9’s Earthfest). He has soloed with orchestras and performed with many notable musicians including Rick Faris, Darol Anger, Martin Sexton, Alastair Moock, and Tony Watt. For several years, Quinn has been privately teaching a variety of instruments to people of all ages and leading a group class on music theory and sight singing for adults. He will be attending Berklee College of Music starting this fall.

Fiddle – Ellen Carlson

With a Masters in Education and 15 years of teaching math, Ellen knows what it means to be accountable for people learning what is taught. Over 50 years of playing fiddle combined with this teaching experience make her a sought-after teacher for workshops and lessons. She has taught at Fiddle Hell, Grey Fox, Kaufman Kamp (TN), Joe Val, Pemi Valley, and along with Pete and Joan Wernick at the Wernick Jam Camps. She has run her own camp for over 25 years, Fiddleheads Acoustic Jam Camp. Starting the NH Fiddle Ensemble in 2010 she has grown this “orchestra” from 20 to over 140 and is currently the Executive Director of this successful nonprofit along with Melissa Caron. She is a member of the NH State Council on the Arts Teaching Roster.

Singing – Chris Brashear

Chris Brashear is a songwriter and singer with a wide vocal range and a clear, distinctive voice. Chris brings over thirty years of professional music experience as a performer, producer, teacher, and recording artist. He has taught at numerous camps and festival workshops across the country, including the Augusta Heritage Bluegrass Camp (WV), Joe Val, Banjo and Mandolin Camps North, Walker Creek Music Camp (CA), Roots & Boots Music Camp (AZ), Berea College Music Festival (KY), the Berkeley Old Time Music Convention (CA), and Mars Hill Roots Music Camp (NC). He has solo recordings produced by Jody Stecher and Jim Rooney. According to Alice Gerrard (of Hazel & Alice), “Chris Brashear is one of the finest singers in bluegrass today. With an amazing range and depth, he sings with authenticity and soul and brings you into any song he sings, whether it’s a song he’s written or one of the classics.”

Dobro – Dave Bevins

Dave Bevins (dobro wizard) started at home with his family, The Chilson Hill Gang.  As a teenager, he guested many times with the Country Gentlemen and Don Stover.  He became a 4-year member of Green Mountain Bluegrass with Dan & Stan Tyminski and after that joined the Mardi Gras band.   In 2003 he won the National Resonator Dobro guitar competition.  Dave has appeared & recorded with John Cowan, Pat Flynn, Scott Vestal, Victor Krauss, Andrea Zohn, & Andy Leftwich.  He also has a CD recorded in Nashville, produced by Pat Flynn & engineered by Bert Battaglia, who also engineered Belas Fleck’s ‘Perpetual Motion’ CD. For the last 15 years, he’s performed at festivals from Indiana to Georgia and here in the northeast with the Atkinson Family.

Bass – Steve Roy

Steve Roy is a multi-instrumentalist from Eliot, Maine who plays and teaches upright bass, mandolin, fiddle, guitar, and ukulele. As a sideman, he has toured nationally and internationally with many of the acoustic world’s top acts, including Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum, John Reischman and Eli West, Molly Tuttle, Joe K. Walsh, Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen, Joy Kills Sorrow, Hit and Run Bluegrass, and many others. He is currently a faculty member at 317 Main St. Community Music Center in Yarmouth, ME, and at Portsmouth Music and Arts Center in Portsmouth, NH. Steve is the Program Director at Nimblefingers Old Time & Bluegrass Workshops in British Columbia, and he has taught many other music camps and workshops throughout the USA and Canada, including Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Kamp (TN), Ossipee Valley String Camp, Walker Creek Music Camp (CA), Aloha Bluegrass Academy (HI), and many others.

Guitar – Tony Watt

IBMA and SPBGMA award-winning bluegrass musician Tony Watt has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and on the Grand Ole Opry. He has toured with Leigh Gibson, Alecia Nugent, and Alan Bibey & Grasstowne, and his performance, jamming, and teaching videos on YouTube have over 1.3 million views. Tony is an Associate Professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, teaching bluegrass within the Ensemble Department. He is a graduate of IBMA’s Leadership Bluegrass and is the Vice President and Education Co-Director of the BBU. Tony is also the director of The Bluegrass University, which presents JamVember, and a new event named JamVember in July held in Greenfield, MA. And, he is the host of Bluegrass Tuesdays at Lily P’s in Cambridge, MA, which is one of the longest-running and most successful bluegrass nights in the country. Tony currently teaches lessons, classes, and jam sessions throughout the Boston area and online via Zoom.

All classes are $35.00 and paid to your instructor at the time of your class.

TONY WATT:  [email protected]

JENNY BROOK:  [email protected]