Suwannee Banjo Camp

Camp Photos: Click on the photo below to view a collection of photos taken during SBC 2006. L-R (Standing): Mac Benford, Alan Jabbour, Chuck Levy, Mark Johnson, Ken Perlman. Bob Carlin. L-R (Seated) Bill Paine, Fay Baird.

Directors

Ken Perlman has served as music director or co-director for several banjo teaching festivals, including the American Banjo Camp, Banjo Camp North, Bath Banjo Festival, Maryland Banjo Academy, Midwest Banjo Camp, Northeast Heritage Music Camp and Suwannee Banjo Camp. He is also on the teaching staff for SBC. You can find a more detailed biography for him among the instructor and accompanist bios.

Chuck Levy,Chuck Levy is a well known Florida fiddler and banjoist. He has served as the president of the Florida State Fiddlers Association, Director of the Banjo Contest at the Florida Folk Fest and is an olditime banjo consultant to GoldTone. He is also on the teaching staff for the SBC. You can find a more detailed biography for him among the instructor and accompanist bios.

Native Floridian Scott Anderson has been performing in professional bluegrass bands since the late 1980s, beginning with The Bluegrass Parlor Band. In 1993, he co-founded Endless Highway, touring the Southeast and recording one critically-acclaimed CD. Scott co-produced (with Scott Vestal) his solo project “Rivers” in 2001 and was featured in the November 2001 issue of Banjo Newsletter. From 2004-2006, he toured in the US and abroad as a member of The Jim Hurst Band. He currently fronts The Scott Anderson Band and plays as a duo with his daughter Amanda. He has also performed or recorded with Claire Lynch, Vassar Clements, Larry Rice, Byron Berline, Chubby Wise, Allen Shadd, the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra and many others. His website is scottandersonmusic.com

Cathy Barton Para has been playing banjo for more than thirty-five years in both the clawhammer and two-finger picking styles. She worked with Grandpa and Ramona Jones in their crafts shop and dinner theater in Mountain View, AR in the 1970s and 1980s, and she toured with Ramona Jones for several years. Her banjo repertoire is influenced by Grandpa and Ramona, and by Missouri fiddlers such as the late Taylor McBaine and Pete McMahan. Her musical interests also include early country music, and music from the Civil War and Lewis-and-Clark eras. She and her husband Dave Para tour the United States, Europe and Canada and are best known for performing songs and tunes collected from traditional singers and fiddlers in their home state of Missouri and the Ozarks region. Cathy won the Tennessee State Banjo Championship two times, she appeared on the "Grand Old Opry," and on the television shows "Hee Haw" and "Nashville Now." She and Dave have made ten duet recordings.

Mac Benford has been playing the 5-string banjo for 40 years. He was fortunate enough in his formative years to have direct contact with great players like Wade Ward, Kyle Creed, Tom Ashley, and Roscoe Holcomb, all of whom strongly influenced his playing. He came to prominence during the 70s as a member of the legendary Highwoods String Band. Later on, while performing and recording with the Backwoods Band and the Woodshed Allstars, Mac expanded on the traditional role of the clawhammer banjo as a lead and backup instrument. His recently released Kentucky Favorites showcases his ability to capture the melodic subtlety of complex fiddle tunes without sacrificing the ring and drive of the best traditional playing.

Paul Brown is not only one of today's most sought after banjo players, he’s also a fine fiddler and singer. He started playing banjo at age ten, and has spent years learning music from some of the last fiddle, banjo, and guitar players to emerge before the age of radio and recordings in Virginia and North Carolina. Among his big banjo influences are Wade and Fields Ward, Tommy Jarrell, Gilmer Woodruff, Benton Flippen, Fred Cockerham and Kyle Creed. Many of his songs came from his mother, who learned them in the 1920s and 1930s from older musicians near Bedford, Virginia. He’s played with a long list of outstanding musicians young and old, and recorded and produced highly acclaimed albums featuring old time musicians. Paul has appeared at festivals nationwide and taught at music camps since the 1970s. He’s also a broadcast and print journalist, and he reports on traditional music and culture as often as he can.

Janet Davis was born and raised in Houston, Texas. Music was always an integral part of her family life. Although Janet's formal musical training was primarily in the classical field, she showed a keen, early interest in stringed instruments, particularly those involved in folk and bluegrass music. In college, she played the guitar and sang as a folk and blues musician in many of the Austin, Texas clubs, learning from such greats as Lightnin' Hopkins, Janis Joplin and others who played the same venues. Janet is equally adept on both Dobro® and 5-string banjo. Her books are popular worldwide. She has written numerous best selling books for the 5-string banjo as well as dobro. Mel Bay has several of her books listed as "Best Sellers." Janet also teaches and plays ALL bluegrass instruments and several others. She has been a columnist with Banjo Newsletter for 30 years. Janet Davis Music Company is celebrating its 28th Anniversary this year.

Adam Hurt Deemed a "banjo virtuoso" by the Washington Post, Adam Hurt draws on diverse musical influences from the North Carolina piedmont, the mountains of central West Virginia, the Ohio River Valley and beyond to create his own elegantly innovative clawhammer banjo playing. At age 24, Adam has already placed in or won most of the major old-time banjo competitions including Clifftop, Mount Airy, and Galax, and won the state banjo championships of Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, and Alabama. A gifted and respected teacher, Adam has conducted banjo workshops at the Swannanoa Gathering, the Augusta Heritage Center, and Appalshop, among other venues around the country. In 2006, he released his second CD, "Insight," on the Ubiquitone label. www.adamhurt.com

Bill Keith A renowned explorer of the frontiers of banjo picking and of the instrument's harmonic potentialities, Bill Keith largely invented the three-finger picking style known as "melodic" banjo. He first came to international attention in the early 60s when he played and recorded with Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys. He co-authored the original Earl Scruggs banjo instruction book and record, and has also written several other banjo instruction books, including the first ones ever published in French and Italian. He has recorded several albums for Rounder, Green Linnet, and Hexagon, and has toured widely throughout North America, Western Europe, Japan, and Australia. He devised and, through the Beacon Banjo Company, still markets the famous tuning pegs that bear his name.

Brad Leftwich Brad Leftwich is the author of the Mel Bay book Round Peak Style Clawhammer Banjo. Best known as a fiddler, Brad has in fact been playing banjo longer. He first took it up more than thirty years ago, inspired by his grandfather, a banjo picker from Carroll County, Va., and by his father, a singer and guitar player in the old-time style. Brad has learned much of his music from traditional musicians in the region formed by Surry County, N.C., and Grayson and Carroll Counties, Va., and in particular from Tommy Jarrell and other banjo players from the Round Peak community of Surry County. He was a member of the Plank Road String Band in the mid-seventies, he has been performing with his wife Linda Higginbotham as Leftwich & Higginbotham since the early 1980s, and with Tom Sauber and Alice Gerrard as Tom, Brad & Alice since the late 1990s. For more info on Brad, go to his website, www.bradleftwich.net

Chuck Levy has earned the title of Florida's Banjo Champ, as well as being a prize-winning Florida fiddler. Originally from Ohio, has been playing oldtime music in north central Florida of the last 7 years. He is equally at home on 5 and 6 string banjos (five strings plus a short string), whether fretted or fretless, playing clawhammer and minstel styles. He draws inspiration from the music of the Midwest, southern Appalachians, and most recently the flatlands of Florida. His repertoire includes its share of uncommon tunes as well as a few intriguing originals. He leads the string bands "Physical Medicine" and "Fear No Weevil", and has been on staff at the Suwannee Banjo Camp, and the Suwannee Old Time Camp. Chuck teaches fiddle and banjo in Gainesville, Florida.

James McKinney - is both a Scruggs and Reno style expert, one of the foremost jazz players of the bluegrass banjo world, and one of the most technically precise banjoists around. He won the Southern U.S. Banjo Championship at age 15. Before long he had won dozens of state and regional championships, including the National Banjo Championship at Winfield, Kansas. He made the first of several appearances on the Grand Ole Opry at age 19 and worked for a time at Opryland theme park as a banjoist and musical arranger. James moved to Nashville for good in 1990 to play full time in the James and Angela McKinney Band. He has taught countless workshops, and he has been on the staff at a number of major banjo camps, including the Midwest Banjo Camp, Smokey Mountain Banjo Academy, and the SPBGMA workshop. He has performed and/or recorded with Vassar Clements, Porter Wagoner, Barbara Mandrell, John Hartford, and Johnny Cash. His latest CD is called "Mind Over Banjo." His web site is www.mckinneybanjo.com

Sana Ndiaye was born in the southern region of Senegal in the village of Djembering. He first played akonting as a small boy, following the tradition of the Jola people. In his mid-twenties, Sana moved to Dakar and met up with the members of a local hip-hop group called the Gokh-bi System (Neighborhood System), who were looking to expand by adding players of traditional instruments. American music producers soon became interested in this band, which has since become one of the best-known African hip-hop groups in the U.S. Sana has traveled many times to the U.S. to tour with Gokh-bi System; he also works as a soloist.

Ken Perlman. Perhaps the best-known exponent of the "melodic" clawhammer style, Ken is known wherever banjos are played as a master of clawhammer technique and an expert teacher of clawhammer mechanics. He has been a Banjo Newsletter columnist for over 25 years; he has written several books on clawhammer instruction including the well known works Melodic Clawhammer Banjo and Clawhammer Style Banjo , and he has recorded several series of audio and video banjo instruction. He has taught at well over a score of banjo and general music camps including the American Banjo Camp, Banjo Camp North, Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, Common Ground on the Hill, Maryland Banjo Academy, Midwest Banjo Camp, Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp, Smokey Mountain Banjo Academy, and the Tennessee Banjo Institute. His most recent recording -- a duo project with fiddler Alan Jabbour -- is called Southern Summits. His most recent solo recording is Northern Banjo, and his most recent book is Everything You Wanted to Know About Clawhammer Banjo . For more on Ken, go to his website, www.kenperlman.com

Tony Trischka is one of the most influential banjo players in the roots music world. For more than 35 years, his stylings have inspired a whole generation of bluegrass and acoustic musicians. He was not only considered among the very best pickers, he was also one of the instrument's top teachers, and has created numerous instructional books, audio recordings, and videos. In the 1970s, Trischka made his recording debut with the bands Country Cooking and Breakfast Special. In the early 1980s, he began working with the group Skyline, which recorded a number of CDs between 1983 and '88. Along the way, he has recorded numerous solo recordings, including Bluegrass Light, Heartlands, Banjoland, Robot Plane Flies over Arkansas, Hill Country, World Turning, Bend, New Deal, and his newest: Territory. He has worked as a musical leader for Broadway shows, appeared on television, and also on National Public Radio’s Prairie Home Companion and Mountain Stage shows. In 2007, Tony was declared Banjo Player of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA). His website is www.tonytriscka.com

Location: The camp will be held at O'Leno State Park, High Springs, Florida.

Travel: The nearest airport is in Gainesville, Florida; Jacksonville is also within a reasonable drive (It's roughly a two hour drive from O'Leno to the Jacksonville Airport).

Tuition and board: Until Dec. 15, 2009, our early bird discount is in place: a single fee of $310 covers covers tuition and our meal plan. Beginning midnight on Dec. 15, our fee goes up to $335.

Note: No tuition increase this year! We managed to keep last year's rates in place.

Meal Plan: Our meal plan covers all meals from dinner on Friday, March 20 through lunch on Sunday, March 22. There will routinely be omnivore and vegetarian options at each meal; vegan meals are available, but only via special order (there is no extra charge for vegan service, but please contact us about it well ahead of camp). Students may opt out of the meal plan only by special request.

Vegetarian vs. vegan. For those unsure of the distinction, entrees classed as "vegetarian" often contain dairy products such as milk or cheese. Vegan meals contain no animal products whatsoever.

Non-playing spouses and companions: Students may bring non-playing spouses and companions to SBC. They will each be charged a one-time fee of $100, for which they will be enrolled in the meal plan. They may also attend concerts, demos, jams, and other, similar programs. They may not atgtend classes. Please fill out a separate registration form for each spouse/companion, and write the words "non-playing enrollee" in the special needs slot.

Accomodations On- or Off-Site: Students have several lodging options. You can arrange to stay right on site in cabins or (if you prefer your trailer or RV) in the O'Leno campgrounds. Alternatively, you can elect to stay nearby in a hotel or motel.

Arranging for Accomodations: Arrange with us for a bed in the cabins, make reservations with O'Leno for a space in the campgrounds, and of course, make arrangements with individual motels or hotels for reservations there.

Description and cost of on-site cabins. Reserve a bed in an on-site cabin directly with us for $17.50 per night ($35 covers Friday and Saturday nights). Fill in the appropriate blank on the reservation form. The cabins are a bit rustic, but they are clean, airy, dry, and have relatively comfortable mattreses. Cabins have electricity. Showers and bathroom facilities are located in two out-buildings.

Bunk Beds. Each cabin tends to have four bunk beds (one in each corner). Although we try to avoid filling each cabin to capacity, be aware that some people staying in the cabins may be assigned to a top bunk. If you reserve a cabin space but have physical limitations that make getting in and out of top bunks difficult, please let us know on the registration form under "special needs." If you actually prefer a top bunk, or wouldn't mind staying in one to free up a space for the physically challenged, please let us know that as well.

Reserve Cabins Early. Cabins have sometimes begun to fill up as March approached. To assure yourself of a bed-space, do register early! (Note also that in the absence of special needs, lower bunks will be assigned on a first come, first served basis).

Couples in the Cabins. If past experience is a guide, it is unlikely that we will be able to offer couples cabin accomodations that have any kind of real privacy. Couples who require more privacy than we can provide are encouraged to stay in the campground or reserve Motel accomodations in the region.

Camping Reservations. If you wish to stay in the campgrounds in a tent or vehicle, you must reserve that site directly with O'Leno State Park. Campsites at O'Leno and nearby parks tend to fill up fast so be sure to reserve early!

Off site accomodations. Some hotels, motels etc. in the immediate vicinity are:

• Alamo Motel, High Springs 386 454-1248
• Cadillac Motel, High Springs 386 454-1701
• Comfort Inn, Alachua 386 462-2414
• High Springs Country Inn 386 454 1465

Note: You can also explore accomodations in the nearby towns of Lake City and Gainesville, Florida -- both of which are roughly half an hour or less by car from High Springs. Because there are sometimes large regional events in late March that draw crowds (such as stock car races), be sure to make your motel reservations early.

Logistical Advice: For advice on finding the site, climate-appropriate dress, bedding, what to bring, etc. click here! Please be sure to read this advice prior to coming to camp!

Registration: You must register to attend Suwannee Banjo Camp. To register, just print out the registration form , fill it in, and send it with payment to the address indicated. You can also register by fax or on line. Note that we also ask you to fill in a questionnaire about your interests and playing background that will help us design the Camp.

Please Register Early! We realize that it is an old Florida custom to sign up at the last minute for events of this kind, but we strongly encourage you to break with tradition and sign up for SBC well ahead of time.

Payments: Until Jan. 19, 2010, you may reserve a place at camp either by paying full tuition ($335) or by paying a a deposit of $100. After midnight on Jan. 19, 2010 all new registrations must be accompanied by payment of full tuition. You may register right up until the start of camp, depending on space.

Tuition Balances: All those who have reserved a space with a deposit, must send in the remainder of their tuition by Jan. 19, 2009. Again, all new registrations made after that date must be accompanied by payment of full tuition.

Refunds: There is no penalty for cancellation until Feb. 19, 2010. Students who cancel after that date will have $75 deducted from their tuition or deposit refunds. Students who cancel on or after March 18, 2010 (or who simply fail to appear at camp) are liable to have $150 deducted from their tuition or deposit refunds, except in the event of serious illness or family emergency.

SBC Work Study Program: This year, we are offering a few work-scholarships. The deal is as follows: we offer $150 off your tuition in exchange for 7-10 hours of work. Among the jobs you might be assigned to are helping with set-up and registration, assisting at the camp store and at meal times, serving as "go-fers," and (especially) being on call for helping to clean up the site at the end of camp. Applicants should be physically fit, and should be unable to afford coming to camp without the scholarship. We would particularly like to encourage those under 25 to take advantage up this plan. If you are interested, please contact us and describe your situation. We reserve the right to discontinue this offer once we figure we have enough people signed up.

On-line Payment: See registration form .

Photo Credits

- View of the Santa Fe River at top of page: Karen Jabbour
- Photos on this page from 2006, and photos on photo page 1: Margo Rosenbaum
- All photos on this page from 2007 and all photos on photo page 2007: John Malinowski
- All photos on photo page 2: Jane Perry-Camp

Send email to SBC Directors Ken and Chuck

Here's our Group Photo from the 2008 Camp