EARFUL OF FIDDLE MUSIC AND DANCE CAMP - June 18 - June 22, 2012
2011 Featured Instructors - 2012 Instructors to be announced soon
NIC GAREISS (dance)
Nic Gareiss is a performer, teacher and researcher in the field of
traditional music and percussive dance. Since the age of eight,
he has been intrigued by cultures that employ the feet as rhythmic
entities, transforming dance into a musical activity that appeals
to both the eyes and the ears. This fascination has led Nic on an
international study of shoe-sounds and grooves from Irish
sean-nós dance, to American flat-footing, to Quebecois gigue. From this
wide berth of traditional dance experience, Nic has
gleaned figurations, motives and shoe sounds from percussive dance
traditions worldwide. In 2007, Nic spent a year living in
Ireland studying at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance in
Limerick, Ireland. He has collaborated with Aladair Fraser &
Natalie Haas, Liz Carroll, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, and the David
Munnelly Band and has performed across North American as
well as in Ireland, Scotland, France, Belgium, and Australia.
http://www.nicgareiss.com
SHEILA GRAZIANO (dance)
Sheila Graziano discovered her passion for dance at an early age. Rooted
in ten years of tap lessons as a child, her enthusiasm grew with the
discovery of Appalachian clogging and other forms of traditional dance.
Smitten with the art, Sheila Graziano devotes much of her time to
continually developing her skills and knowledge of traditional
dance, including American, English, Irish, Scottish, and Canadian dance
steps. Ms. Graziano was a founder and member of The Crosstown Cloggers,
Crow's Feet, and The Commonwealth Dance Collective. She performed as a
soloist with The Raisin Pickers stringband for many years. Sheila's
current duo, Matter & Ghost, is a collaboration with Michigan's state
troubadour, Neil
Woodward. She teaches ongoing private lessons, various dance workshops,
and is the dance instructor and choreographer for
two performing high school groups in southeast Michigan's Washtenaw
County (The Saline Fiddlers and Fiddlers ReStrung).
For more information, please go to
http://www.matterandghost.com/BRIDGE.html and click on the 'step
dance' link.
Sheila is very committed to passing on the 'common wealth' of knowledge
of the dances and dance styles that she has learned
over the years, and welcomes the opportunity to work with Earful of
Fiddle campers this summer!
DANIEL GORNO (dance)
Daniel Gorno performs and teaches traditional dances from Ireland,
France, England, Canada and Appalachia. He strives to
entertain, inspire
and educate workshop participants and audiences in experiencing dance as
it has been created and molded
by cultures and generations. He has
studied step dancing and traditional social dancing for 25 years, most
notably with Benoit Bourque, one of Quebecs great stepdancers. Daniel
plays bones and bodhran at dances and school programs with string band
Tanglemere, and leads workshops in jitterbug, waltz, polka, Cajun dance
and even a tango or two. An original member of "Dance
All Night" and
current dancer with "Step in Time," Daniel also calls contras and
squares. Dan grew up on Grosse Ile, Michigan, attended Thomas Jefferson
College and now lives in Northern Michigan where he has been a potter
for 36 years.
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JOHN WARSTLER (guitar)
John Warstler is comfortable playing many styles of music on guitar. He
is at his best when accompanying others whether it be Old Time or Celtic
fiddle, singer songwriters or accompanying almost anything on
fingerstyle and flatpicked guitar. John prides himself on his ability
actively listen and play with a wide variety of melody instruments where
he is able to provide a solid rhythmic foundation for the session. John
feels strongly that in most cases, without this foundation, a session or
a dance is not complete. He has two CD’s to his credit; Solace & Grace
and Solace for the Season . These CD’s feature his unique fingerstyle
playing . They can be heard at his website at
http://www.hymnsonguitar.com .
DAVID BOWEN (banjo)
David Bowen is a multi-instrumental musician and vocalist and two-time
medal winner for guitar playing in the prestigious Fleadh Cheoill
Eireann All-Ireland music championship competitions. He has performed in
over thirty music festivals in the United States, Canada, and Ireland,
including The Alaska Folk Festival, San Diego Saint Patrick’s Festival,
The Houston International Festival The Wheatland Festival, and The
Canada Celtic Roots Festival. Other music appearances include The Ozark
Folk Center, Colonial Williamsburg, The Ann Arbor Ark, RTE Ireland radio
and television, and concert performance at the Miko Russell Center in
Doolin, County Clare. David is a resident of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
JOHN NICHOLSON (guitar)
John Nicholson is a multi-instrumentalist performer of original
and traditional Folk Blues, Old- time and Celtic styles of music. Based
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he plays and tours regularly with his wife,
Susan in their award-winning group Frogwater
http://www.frogwater.us.
Mr. Nicholson has written and performed music for various theater and
film projects, and teaches guitar for the University of Wisconsin,
Milwaukee School of Continuing Education and the Irish Fest School of
Music.
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JOHN RICHEY (fiddle)
The 80’s folk scene introduced new types of music to John like; David
Bromberg, John Hartford, Chieftains, NGR. He was drawn to Irish music
and American Old Time fiddle. Since 1990, the fiddle became his primary
focus. John has played in several bands over
the past decade that include performances at Milwaukee Irish Fest and
Blissfest. One of his greatest passions is playing for Contra and Ceili
dances. He currently is playing in the Northern MI trio, Harbor Hoedown.
John really enjoys traveling across the US to different festivals to
refine his technique, learn tunes and learn about the regional styles.
Here in Boyne, John hosts a Celtic
session on Sunday afternoons at Freshwater studio.
SUSAN NICHOLSON (Fiddle)
Susan began playing violin at the age of 7, with instruction from a
wonderful O.S.F. nun, Sr. Muriel. Susan enjoyed the violin;
playing in orchestra and theater pit ensembles as well as solo recitals,
but once out of school, she became more entranced with travel and
stopped playing altogether. Then, she met fiddler Jan Earnest who
introduced her to Irish & Scottish music. She joined Jan's band the
Glenghillies, (later the Ghillies), and they played festivals, pubs,
private and civic events, and even had the honor
of sharing the stage with Ireland's Chieftains on a number of occasions!
After the Ghillies disbanded, Susan joined forces with
Ghillie-mate John Nicholson to begin Frogwater.
They've been at it ever since; now combining music & marriage (with
children!), creating their unique blend of Celtic, Blues,
Old-timey, Cajun and original material. Susan has enjoyed recording and
performing with varying artists and bands, and has
received a WAMI (Wisconsin Area Music Industry) award for "Best
Specialty Instrument", as well as multiple awards with
Frogwater. It's a love of traditional (and particularly Celtic) music
that has always fueled Susan's musical heart and keeps it
pumping!
BRUCE BAUMAN (fiddle)
Since his childhood (square dancing and fiddle music was part of growing
up in southeast Michigan in the 1950’s) and as one of
the Founders, in 1974, of the Wheatland Music Organization, dedicated to
the presentation and preservation of the Traditional Arts, Bruce has
long studied traditional fiddling. In 1977 he began fiddling in earnest
and devoted the next twenty-two years learning to play as he closely
watched fiddlers come and go through WMO educational programs.
In 1996 he was offered a teaching position through Wheatland’s emerging
Community Education Lesson Program, and there have been over 175 private
fiddle students since then. He continues to have students through
Wheatland. Since 1996 he has conducted multiple workshops at every
Wheatland Music Festival and Traditional Arts Weekend, with a few
hundred participants taking part over the years.
There are four albums of instructional fiddling through his “Earful of
Fiddle” business. There have also been regular teaching opportunities
through other Michigan traditional music organizations, the Blissfest
(Petoskey), the Looking Glass (Lansing) and the Hiawatha (Marquette)
Traditional Music Organizations.
Further opportunities to teach have come through Bruce’s membership in a
traditional string band, the Rhythm Billies, and he has played for
traditional dancing all over Michigan for over thirty years. The Rhythm
Billies have two albums of Old-Time music, “North
of North Carolina” (1994) and “Phrenology” (2008).
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