Please remember to buy concert tickets ahead of time.

Note: All workshop tickets must be purchased in advance.

This 2 hour long workshop is designed for the novice or beginning Dobro player. It will cover the history and evolution of the Dobro and it's 2 most common tunings, important beginning techniques, scales, bar slants and basic right and left hand techniques. Several songs will be included as well as a "Question and Answer" session. A Dobro with 6 or 8 string in the G Tuning is suggested but not required. A small tape recorder and/or notebook is suggested. Tablature will be provided.

This 2 hour long workshop is designed for the intermediate Dobro player. It will cover changing tunings, advanced techniques and tricks, more bar slants and several songs along with a "Question and Answer" session. A Dobro with 6 or 8 string in the G Tuning is suggested but not required. A small tape recorder and/or notebook is suggested. Tablature will be provided.

Ottoman Underground is a duo featuring Will Soll (mandolins, guitar) and Jeff Briggs (bass, doumbek). They perform tunes emanating mostly from the stateless peoples of the former Ottoman Empire.

"The core of our repetoire is klezmer," says Will, "and we emphasize its roots as melodic eastern European dance music as well as its contemportary possibilities. Other pieces have their origins in more southern climes, in the Mediterranean music of the Sephardic Jews and their neighbors. More recently, we've been working with Yiddish song, where we've been able to tap a vein surprisingly close to the blues.

· Acoustic instruments only.
· Must have ten minutes of original material.
· Only ten slots available.
· Contact Music Folk at musicfolk@musicfolk.com or call 314-961-2838 and ask for Mark

Sign ups 4/5-4/9, 2010

Matt Flinner has made a career out of playing acoustic music in new ways. Starting out as a banjo prodigy who was playing bluegrass festivals before he entered his teens, Flinner later took up the mandolin, won the National Banjo Competition in Winfield, KS in 1990, and won the mandolin award there the following year.

He moved to Nashville in 1999 and is now widely considered one of the hottest and most creative mandolin players on the acoustic scene. His two solo albums for Compass Records, The View from Here and Latitude, both featured bluegrass stalwarts Todd Phillips, David Grier, Stuart Duncan, Jerry Douglas and Darol Anger, and received high critical acclaim.

He tours actively with the Matt Flinner Trio, as a member of the 'new acoustic' trio Phillips, Grier & Flinner, as a member of Darrell Scott's band, and with guitarist Frank Vignola (David Grisman Quintet). Flinner also special guests on banjo with Leftover Salmon and in the fall of 2008 was a featured soloist with Trey Anastasio and Carlo Aonzo during Orchestra Nashville's performance of "Concertino" (Don Hart). He most recently appeared on comedian Steve Martin's new recording The Crow and the Vignola Collectives' March 09 release, Gypsy Grass .

“Flinner provides the next logical evolutionary step to David Grisman's unique dawg style, and does it with a nod to the past and a vision of the future." ~Bluegrass Now

Doug MacLeod is a singer-songwriter in the American tradition. He is a traveling artist that writes and sings original songs that are based on his own life and experiences. He learned from the old masters, lived the music, survived the life and carries forward a valuable tradition. MacLeod is known for his superb songwriting, guitar wizardry, warm soulful vocals, wit and unforgettable live performances. At the heart of this is his knack for storytelling, bringing characters-from the faceless to the legendary-to strikingly real life.

As a youth, MacLeod overcame inexpressible abuse and a crippling stutter by turning to music. After he picked up the guitar, and tried to sing-his voice came out. He really hasn't stuttered much since.

While he developed his rich, soulful voice MacLeod also worked out a unique, unorthodox and powerfully rhythmic acoustic guitar style. His distinct style of playing was a byproduct of pent-up rage from his turbulent childhood and the segregation drama in his new home of St. Louis. The rage of his youth was eventually channeled through his guitar, using his relentless right hand to pound out an insistent, churning beat to complement his intricate bottleneck and finger-style technique.

MacLeod's playing landed him sideman gigs with George 'Harmonica' Smith, Big Joe Turner, Pee Wee Crayton, Eddie 'Cleanhead' Vinson, Lowell Fulson and Big Mama Thornton. Under their tutelage, he learned how to thrill and enrapture a crowd.

Over 26 years, 13 studio albums, several live records and two DVDs, MacLeod has consistently earned raves. His songs have been covered by many artists including Albert King, Albert Collins, Joe Louis Walker and Eva Cassidy. He has co-written songs with Dave Alvin and Coco Montoya. MacLeod's songs have been featured in many TV movies and the hit show In the Heat of the Night.

From 1999 to 2004 he hosted Nothin' But The Blues, a very popular weekend blues show on Los Angeles' KLON-KKJZ. He has also been the voice for The Blues Showcase on Continental Airlines and contributed his soulful slide guitar playing to the Los Angeles opening of the August Wilson play Gem of the Ocean. And for the past nine years, he's penned "Doug's Back Porch," a regular feature in Blues Revue Magazine in which he shares his humorous and insightful stories with thousands of readers. In April 2006, MacLeod released Where I Been on Black and Tan Records, as well as the instructional DVD 101* Blues Guitar Essentials on Solid Air/Warner Bros. In April 2007, Black and Tan released the live concert DVD The Blues in Me and in April 2008 his latest album, The Utrecht Sessions.

In every note he performs and records, MacLeod subscribes to the rule-of-thumb learned from country bluesman Ernest Banks who instilled in him to "Never play a note you don't believe" and "Never write or sing about what you don't know about."

Like the old masters who taught him, MacLeod's music expresses life and times via an intangible, elusive quality that may simply be a keen sense of what matters most. There is a philosophic and healing side to MacLeod's music and his stories that has helped others overcome the hardships of their lives.

As Pee Wee Crayton's widow Esther once told Doug, " You have a message and you'll send that message mainly to the people who don't go to church."
Amen.

Doug MacLeod is one of the last true bluesman who learned from the old masters. He is a man who has lived the life, survived the life and now carries on the tradition. His songs have been recorded by blues giants like Albert Collins and Albert King. Bill Dahl of Living Blues says, "Cross an extraordinary acoustic blues guitarist with a savvy singer-songwriter and you've got Doug MacLeod." Delta Blues Legend David Honeyboy Edwards said, "Doug MacLeod, now there's a man who can really play the blues."

The student will learn the secrets of Doug's unique way of simplifying the fretboard and exploring the fretboard for greater range.

The workshop will focus on the key of E in standard tuning. Doug starts with the right hand and the importance of setting up a grove and will take the student on a musical journey that includes turnaraounds, improvisation, octaves, and as Doug says, "Playing the feeling that lives behind the notes."

The workshop will also focus on playing in open D and bottlenecking. The student will learn chord forms, how to build a solo, and the secret of finding the notes that live inside the notes."

After a workshop with Doug MacLeod the student comes away with not only a whole new batch of tricks and licks, but with an insight to the music and its philosophy that could only be learned by a man who had been there. Plus students have fun. With his stories and sense of humor the students come to find that Doug is an engaging teacher as he is a performer.

Details to be announced.

A roots group with a straightforward and unassuming style, a sound that is stripped down to its core, and songs that come straight from within, Salt of the Earth formed early in the spring of 2003. The members are Lynne Reif on lead vocals, rhythm guitar, and occasional harmonica, Mike Schrand on bass, baritone guitar and vocals, Jake Brookman ..o and Jim Hieger on lead acoustic guitar, banjo, and vocals. Both Lynne and Mike have a history playing and singing in the St. Louis-based Roots-Rock band Belle Starr (1996-2002). Jake is a classically trained cellist who has played in groups ranging from symphony orchestras to punk bands, and Jim is a self-taught all-natural lead player with performance roots in the "jam band" circle. Salt of the Earth features Lynne's songwriting, which aims to chew on life in a heartfelt way, and spans the genres of pop, folk and blues. The band puts down rhythmic instrumental accompaniment complemented by rich melody and harmony lines. Sit back and listen to the music. Thats all there is.