Workshop Schedule2026 (PDF)
Workshop Descriptions (PDF)
FRIDAY, SATURDAY & SUNDAY:
WORKSHOP / JAM & SONG TENT
1pm Friday – Howard Blumenthal
Guitar – Absolute Basics of Backing up Old Time, Folk & Bluegrass
Howard Blumenthal started playing rhythm guitar in the Band Enchanted Mountain Green in 1972. For many years, the band had no bass player, and it was up to the guitar to supply the “boom-chuck” needed to give tunes both the upbeat AND the downbeat. In this workshop you’ll learn how best to hold the pick (& what type of pick is best), choosing strings, and keeping the beat with the most basic strum pattern for reels and waltzes. You’ll need to bring your guitar & be able to play the basic chords in the most common folk keys (G, C, D, A). Lots of strumming practice on simple songs.
2pm Friday – Laura Keadle
UKE Basics – How to get started
This workshop is for beginners or folks hoping to learn the Uke. Laura Keadle will have one or two “loaner” ukes for the workshop, if you have any extra ukes at home, bring them along for others! This workshop will get you started with a few chords you can use to back up your singing.
3pm Friday – Laura Keadle UKE Backup for Old Time & Bluegrass
Laura will be sharing specific techniques that support the Bluegrass and Old Time style. Beginners are welcome always, however, this Uke workshop will focus on bluegrass strum patterns, rhythm, chording and picking techniques that would require the student to have mastered the fundamentals to get the most out of it.
OPTIONAL: There will be a signup sheet for 30mins of one-on-one Uke coaching sometime over the weekend. Laura loves teaching!
4pm Friday – demystifying music theory – You Already Know Music Theory (You Just Didn’t Know It!) Ron Buchanan
Think music theory is only for people who can read sheet music? Think again! If you can play a tune, find a chord, or jump into a jam, you already know more theory than you realize. Ron takes a lighthearted tour through the hidden logic behind old-time and folk music—Nashville numbers, the Circle of Fifths, modes, rhythm, and why the key of D has more personalities than your Uncle Earl. No quizzes. No homework. Just plenty of “Aha!” moments and a few laughs along the way.
12am Saturday – Laura Keadle SONG TENT
Vocal Harmony tips & tricks – Want to chime in on the vocal harmony and not sure how to get started? Worried that you may choose the wrong harmony line, or wander too far off? This class will have you singing confident and beautiful harmony lines to just about any Old Time, Folk, or Bluegrass song, even if you’re not sure of the words! There might be a bit of music theory on finding the “High Lonesome” Bluegrass sound. We’ll talk about the “hooks” that help your ear find a place to start your own harmony line and stay on key. You will laugh, make mistakes, and find a new song in yourself by singing it!
1pm Saturday – Laura Keadle SONG TENT
Singing harmony will be a loosely structures a sing-along with Laura Keadle + staff. The Harmony workshop will focus on the “hooks” that help an ordinary person find a harmony line; the sing-along will just be a series of songs that are easy for folks to find harmonies to sing along. Will have some Words to help the singers, but other instrumentalists would be very welcome! If you’d like to offer up a song you’d like to lead that propel us into an afternoon of joyous song!
11am Saturday – Annie Trimble
Old-time guitar workshop
Intermediate skill level: You’ll need to know all the basic chords
Improve your playing backing up fiddle tunes
Old-time jam etiquette
The role of guitar in jams
Alternating bass
Bass runs between chords on familiar songs in D, G, and A.
12am Saturday – Staff
Waltz workshop / jam
Play some beautiful waltzes!
1 -> 3:45pm WORKSHOP TENT – Mark Tamsula & Art Lindsay
1 – 1:45: PA Fiddle Tune Workshop – Art Lindsay
2 – 3:34 PA Fiddle Tune Jam – Mark Tamsula + Art Lindsay
Mark Tamsula and Art Lindsay are the proud recipients of the 2025-2026 Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Grant awarded by the Pennsylvania Creative Industries’ Folk and Traditional Arts Program. Their focus is the traditional fiddle and fife tunes that represent the Southwestern Pennsylvania.
Join the Workshop & following jam & you will gain an awareness of the historic relevance that past SW Pennsylvania fiddlers and their tunes have in Appalachian music.
3 -> 4:45 WORKSHOP TENT – Marge & Tony Sume – Old Time Singing + C tunes jam
Best known for their welcoming jam sessions that include SONGS, Marge & Tony will have a great selection of Old Time Songs, many of which are the “Old Time” Fiddle tunes we play today. Come join the fun, sing and play along. They will have handouts!!
PLUS: 4pm – Stick around for their C tune jam just after the Songs WS
5pm till Potluck – WORKSHOP TENT – Community “Onion” Jam
An “onion jam session” is a musical gathering where participants are arranged in concentric, layered circles, mirroring the skins of an onion. This setup—where the innermost core features skilled musicians driving the tempo and melody, while the outer layers consist of beginners playing softly to learn—allows acoustic musicians to play together comfortably.
SUNDAY
10 am SUNDAY: Workshop TENT
Gospel Sing – Annie Trimble
Annie Trimble has lead the Song Tent and participated in Gospel Sings at the West Virginia State Folk Festival for many years.
We’ll be singing great old gospel songs from Heavenly Highway Hymns, Carter Family, and bluegrass/country traditions. Words will be provided.