Isa Burke is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, improviser, producer, and songwriter based in Portland, Maine. Using electric and acoustic guitars, fiddle, banjo, voice, and sometimes other instruments, she creates music that draws from traditional folk, modern indie-rock, and beyond. Raised in a musical family in Maine, Isa came up through the Northeast's thriving folk music community, studying at Berklee College of Music and playing in tiny basement clubs around Boston and Cambridge. She spent the first years of her music career as one-third of the band Lula Wiles, which toured internationally and released three albums and an EP on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Isa is spending 2022 touring as a member of Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Aoife O'Donovan's backing band, and has also appeared onstage and on recordings with dozens of other artists. A diehard collaborator, she enjoys nothing more than the interlocking of harmony vocals, of guitar and drums, of banjo and fiddle. She is also an experienced educator, teaching classes and workshops in fiddle, guitar, harmony singing, ensemble playing, ear training, music theory, and songwriting.

From Tony's website:

Early in 2019, the banjo virtuoso, songwriter and educator Tony Trischka celebrated his 70th birthday with a surprise party at the Public Theater, in Lower Manhattan, a reasonable jaunt from his home in New Jersey. Naturally for an artist NPR has referred to as "the great banjo liberationist," the well-wishers included musicians like Bela Fleck, the premier banjoist to emerge in the past four decades, and the comic genius Steve Martin, the banjo's unofficial celebrity ambassador, whom Trischka calls "a wonderful player." At center of the fete--including, all told, "about 80 people I love," says Trischka--was an unassumingly brilliant, kindhearted fellow who just so happens to stand among the most influential figures in American roots music. Or, as the New York Times wrote in 2006, "[I]n fiddle- and fret-conscious circles from Nashville to Groton, Mass. … [Trischka] is known as the father of modern bluegrass.”

Visit his website: TonyTrischka.com

Shana Aisenberg mandolin, guitar, old-time banjo

Shana Aisenberg is a nationally recognized multi-instrumentalist, playing, composing, recording, and teaching diverse acoustic roots styles from traditional southern Appalachian and Celtic, to eastern European Klezmer, bottleneck blues and jazz. She has been a national flatpicking champion.

website

Melissa Bragdon Caron fiddle

Melissa is known for playing and teaching many different styles of music. She is a member of the bluegrass band "Jerks of Grass" and the old-time band "Sugar Hill." She was greatly involved in the development of 317 Main Community Music Center in Yarmouth, Maine. Melissa co-directs the New Hampshire Fiddle Ensemble with Ellen Carlson, a diverse group with over 100 members!

Denny Breau guitar

From DennyBreau.com "Denny Breau's rhythmically flawless and dazzlingly clear style allows him to do amazing and stunning things with a six-string guitar. He first draws in an audience with a finely arranged melody and then slides effortlessly into scorching fingerwork that sets ears aflame. Lucky Clark has said that 'Denny is a consummate picker, evocative songwriter, and a singer with a voice that is warm and inviting but completely unpretentious.' He has long been in demand as a studio musician and has done jingles and sound tracks for radio and television as well as recorded and produced albums for other artists."

Susie Burke vocals, guitar

Susie Burke has a vocal style that is at once stunning and heartfelt. "Burke displays a gift for pulling honest emotional chords--all too rare in these clever and cynical times." (Scott Alarik, Boston Globe)

www.BurkeSurette.com

Bruce Carlson pedal steel guitar

Bruce adds strong jamming skills to the mix, plus he plays the elusive pedal steel guitar (lessons provided also). We let one electric instrument squeak in because he's Ellen’s brother!

Darrell Carlson Country, Bluegrass, Swing, Rock guitar, vocals

Darrell has been playing guitar and singing since he was nine years old. He started a band when he was twelve and his sister Ellen and brother Bruce joined in along with some neighborhood kids. Not only has he played with bands in Connecticut and New Hampshire, but he jams into the wee hours playing everything from country to rock to blues welcoming players of all levels.

Ellen Carlson fiddle, hamboning

Fiddler Ellen Carlson has a strong grasp on several musical genres. She has played with bluegrass, swing, western swing, country, Irish and square dance bands. Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine gave her a coveted highlight review for her solo album "People I Play With" as well as three excellent reviews for her band High Range, calling her "a talented musician." She teaches at numerous festivals and workshops including Fiddle Hell, Grey Fox, Joe Val, and Pemi Valley. She started and leads the NH Fiddle Ensemble (featured on WMUR's Chronicle) with over 80 members. She is a member of the NH State Council on the Arts Teaching Roster.

www.EllenCarlson.com

Kris Day bass

Kris is most recognizable as a member of the New England roots music scene. He's spent the last 25 years as a member of rockabilly quartet King Memphis and over a decade as bassist for bluegrass favorites Jerks of Grass and Travis-picking guitar slinger Sean Mencher and his Rhythm Kings. Kris has performed in 38 states, Canada and Europe holding down the low end for rock n' roll legends Link Wray, Dale Hawkins, Ronnie Dawson, Sleepy LaBeef and Joe Clay as well as performing with an array of artists ranging from bluegrass mandolin hero Matt Flinner to Brazilian singer Celia Vaz to Gypsy Jazz guitarist Stephane Wrembel (as a member of Hot Club of Portland). For the last 15 years Kris has spent his days teaching music at Buckdancers Choice in Portland, Maine and his nights performing live in and around New England.

Paul Hubert guitar

Paul Hubert has performed extensively as a solo artist on classical guitar and as a singer/songwriter. He is the guitarist extraordinaire with the NH-based band The Buskers, featuring tasteful fingerstyle guitar to blues-to-the-metal rock licks. He has produced three solo recordings and is featured on several other recordings and has an ongoing relationship with the New Hampshire Very Special Arts program.

www.TheBuskers.com/bios

Carter Logan banjo, dobro

Carter is a founding member of the Maine-based bluegrass band "Jerks of Grass" and has played with the group for 20 years. He is a veteran of the acoustic music scene in New England. When he's not busy teaching music, performing or practicing, he enjoys spending time with his daughter Sarah when she's home from college. He studied music at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Carter teaches at 317 Main Community Music Center and is often referred to as "317 Main's Ambassador of Fun." Carter has taught at our camp before and we are excited to have him back.

Mitch Reed fiddle

From Mitch Reed's Website:

"I am a multi-instrumentalist, traditional music instructor, and storyteller. Born in Bayou Vista, raised in Lafayette by musicians and storytellers from Mamou, at 15 I began playing the fiddle and studying traditional Cajun and Creole music. By 17 I toured as a cultural ambassador in Smithsonian Institution Office of Folklife Programs, and have continued to work with them since 1989. During my career, I have played alongside Louisiana greats such as Canray Fontenot, Bois Sec Ardoin, Charles Neville, and George Porter. I have performed on four Grammy Nominated albums, and in 2009 I was awarded a Grammy with BeauSoleil for the album 'Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.' Over the years I have built an extensive repertoire and learned an old style of playing which is evident in my sound today."

Steve Roy bass, mandolin, fun-meister

Steve Roy has toured on bass with bluegrass fiddler Laurie Lewis, Hit and Run Bluegrass and was a member of High Range. He currently plays with the Stowaways and Erica Brown and leads the bluegrass jam in Dover.

David Surette guitar, mandolin

We will so miss David. He was a mainstay at our camp, a great teacher, player and person. We will spend a lot of time remembering him and playing for him.

Kathy Sommer  Fiddle, Fiddleheads JamCamp Original Co-Organizer for over 22 years and an inspiration to many of our campers (including Ellen and Melissa) and perhaps guest at anytime.

Kathy plays fiddle, electric violin, mandolin, and sings with the band The Buskers, a wild and fun, folky and funky band based in NH, and performs with northern NY musicians as Yellow Moon Jazz. She is adept at folk, swing and jazz, and has tried her hand at the Latin jazz scene as well. You can catch her performing across state lines, traveling with The Buskers or playing a variety of gigs in northern NY, including the Northern Lights Orchestra. She also has played many years for New England contra and square dances, was a member of The Fiddleheads Band, and Sweet, Red, Hot, and Sassy, and gives fiddle workshops in NH and NY.

Amanda Kowalski  Bass

Woody Pringle  Old-Time Banjo

Bob Kordas  Banjo, Resophonic Guitar (Dobro)

Alan Epstein  Mandolin

Byron Berline  Fiddle

David Greely  Cajun Fiddle

Andrea Larson  Swedish

Andrew VanNorstrand  Fiddle, Mandolin, Guitar

Carter Logan  Banjo, Dobro

Jason Anick  Fiddle, Mandolin

Erica Brown  Fiddle 

Bob Amos  Banjo, Guitar, Songwriting

Jim Prendergast  Guitar, Irish

Matt Glaser  Fiddle

Darol Anger  Fiddle

Joyce Andersen  Fiddle and Vocals

Harvey Reid  Guitar and Vocals

Matt Shipman  Guitar, Bass and Mandolin

Rodney Miller  The Great Contra Dance Fiddler

David Surrette  Folk and Bluegrass, Guitar and Mandolin

Shana Aisenburg  Guitar, Mandolin and Fiddle

Ryan Thomson  Fiddle, Accordion, Penny Whistle and Dance

Donna Hebert  Fiddle

Liza Constable  Guitar and Vocals

Paul Bourgelais  Guitar

Nancy Harrowitz  Vocals

Diane Kordas  Bass, Vocals and Song Writing

Todd Jones  Guitar, Banjo, Vocals and Song Writing

Skip Gorman  Mandolin and Cowboy Historian

August Watters  Guitar, Bass, Mandolin and Vocals

Steve Roy  Bass and Fun

Dave Talmage  Banjo and Fiddle

Sue Hunt  Piano, Accordion and Calling

Peter Stillwagon  Guitar