MOO Music Gathering
November 1-3, 2024
We have a great slate of Featured Performers and workshops lined-up, with Lil' Rev and Chris Walz bringing their special brands of musical magic to the Gathering.
Chris Walz is a topflight bluegrass guitar-picker and five-string banjo player from Chicago. He has been an instructor at the Old Town School of Folk Music since 1996. Along with his extraordinary teaching credentials, Chris has performed, toured and recorded with the bluegrass group Special Consensus, and was a member of Weavermania alongside folk legends Michael P. Smith, Mark Dvorak and Barbara Barrow. He has also teamed-up with Keith Baumann in an Old Time duet called “Long Journey Home”. This is Chris’ first visit to MOO, but we hope to see more of him in the future!
Delta Blues "dead thumb" Style Technique 8:30-10:00 AM
This workshop will cover the right hand “dead thumb“ style that is most often associated with Robert Johnson. You will learn how to mute the bass strings and keep the treble strings lively, plus some of the chord shape vocabulary that can be moved up and down the neck in this blues style.
Bluegrass Rhythm Playing for Guitar 1:00-2:30 PM
This workshop will cover the pick grip, the bass notes, base runs and variations on chord, strums found in bluegrass guitar. Various ways of playing the G run, and how to deal with three-four time, slow, medium, and fast will also be covered.
Lil' Rev is well-known to the Wisconsin folk music community. Rev grew up in Milwaukee and learned his craft from local folk legends like Larry Penn and Jim Liban and has been featured at Stringalong and MOO. He has authored a half-dozen books and now tours regularly doing 125-150 shows per year sharing his expertise with ukulele, harmonica, mountain dulcimer, mandolin and banjo. His genuine enthusiasm for traditional folksongs and folklore makes him both a stand-out performer and a highly sought-after instructor at festivals around the country.
Intro to Fingerpicking for Ukulele 10:15-11:45 AM
Learn 5 basic picking patterns and how to apply them. We'll strum and pick songs like: Simple Gifts, Down In The Valley, Skip To My Lou and many others.
Easy Yiddish/Jewish Folksongs for Mtn Dulcimer 2:45-4:15 PM
This class is geared toward dulcimer players beyond basic-beginner but will also be of interest to singers and other instruments looking to learn some great traditionally Yiddish/Jewish folksongs. We’ll be playing in D-A-C and D-A-D tuning, handouts provided with dulcimer tab.
** BONUS! ** SATURDAY NIGHT AFTER OPEN MIC **
Easy Bluegrass Jam For All Instruments w/Lil' Rev:
Join Lil' Rev for a fun evening of bluegrass music in the keys of A, D, G, F and C.
We'll sing and strum our way thru at least a dozen classics like Rolling in My Sweet Baby's Arms, Worried Man Blues, High on a Mountain, Bury Me Beneath the Willow and much more! Open to all instruments and all attendees of all levels.
REGISTRATION
You can sign up for one, two, three, or all four performer workshops, in addition to some great participant-led workshop sessions!
Click here to return to Announcement Page and begin registration