When: Friday, October 31 to Sunday, November 2, 2003
Where: Sequoia Seminar, Ben Lomond, CA (1 1/2 hours from San Francisco in the redwoods of the Santa Cruz mountains)
Who: Click on the Instructors to read more about them!
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 Jim guitar |
 Bill Evans banjo |
Printable Registration
Form (.pdf 490KB)
Click here to reserve and pay for your spot on-line!
Get away to the redwoods of beautiful northern California and learn from these legendary players in a fun but intensive weekend of group instruction, jamming and concerts designed for "high" beginners through advanced players. Enjoy delicious healthy food and two nights' relaxing and comfortable accommodations at Sequoia Seminar, an adult retreat center in the Santa Cruz Mountains, 1 1/2 hours from San Francisco and less than 30 minutes from the Pacific Ocean.
The Camp
Mornings will be spent in small group sessions, learning more on your
instrument (guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo, bass). Afternoons and Friday
evening will be devoted to instructor-directed small group jamming and
electives covering such topics as harmony singing, music theory, critical
listening, band rhythm, arranging, repertoire and more. You’ll come
away from the weekend knowing more about your instrument and how to play
with others in a bluegrass band or jam session.
The Bluegrass Masters Camp is designed for those players with one or more years of playing experience on their instrument and is also ideal for entire bands who wish to raise their level of ensemble musical understanding and performance. Video and audio recording is encouraged. The Bluegrass Masters Camp is directed by Bill Evans.
Saturday Bluegrass Masters
Concert in Santa Cruz!
Enjoy VIP status with special seating at a special faculty camp concert
at the world famous Otter Opry in Santa Cruz on Saturday night, November
1st. Hear Roland, Jim, Missy, Ron and Bill perform their favorites live!
Concert admission is included with registration.
The Setting: Sequoia Seminar
in the Santa Cruz mountains
Nestled amid towering coastal redwood, madrone and tan oak trees, Sequoia
Seminar provides a tranquil setting located on 233 acres in the Santa
Cruz mountains between the cities of San Jose and Santa Cruz, California.
The venue is only thirty minutes away from the Pacific Coast and 1 1/2
hours from San Francisco. Sequoia Seminar is a non-profit center owned
by Foundation for Global Community and has hosted programs for over four
decades.
Sequoia Seminar is a comfortable retreat center geared to the needs of adults. Music camp participants will stay in one of twenty-six redwood "cabins." However, these are not cabins in the "Blue Ridge Cabin Home" sense at all! Each has its own in-suite bathroom, two to four comfortable beds and independent heating. Bedding and towels are provided. To take a look at the outside of one of the cabins, visit Sequoia Seminar's homepage by clicking here.
The base rate tuition is based on a multi-occupancy rate in which most units will be shared by three participants. For an additional fee, double and single occupancy cabins are available.
The Food: delicious and hearty!
Sequoia Seminar provides healthy and hearty cuisine that'll keep you energized
throughout the weekend. Breakfast options include hot and cold cereals,
eggs, French Toast and a Southwestern Frittata special. For lunch, you
can choose between a Sandwich Bar with homemade bread, burrito bar, foccacia
sandwich bar, fajitas and vegetarian chili. Dinner menus will include
lasagna, oven-fried chicken and/or chicken stir fry with salad, sides
and desert. Afternoon snacks will be available on Friday and Saturday
and beverage service (coffee, tea) is provided throughout the day. Refrigerators
are available to store your personal food or drinks (no alcoholic beverages
please). Sequoia Seminar is happy to accommodate individual dietary needs,
including vegetarian and food allergy options.
Getting There
Sequoia Seminar is located in the town of Ben Lomond on Rt. 9, 30 minutes
from San Jose, California. While the San Jose airport is the closest airport
to Sequoia Seminar, the San Francisco airport is only 30 minutes further
away and may provide better air travel rates. If you have special transportation
needs or questions, contact Native and Fine Music for assistance. The
camp will begin at 3 p.m. on Friday, October 31 and end at 3 p.m. on Sunday,
November 2. Meals are provided from Friday dinner through Sunday lunch.
Registration and other information
Instrumental classes will be limited in size and the total camp will be
limited to 45 total participants. An early registration fee discount is
available for all participants through September 15th. Registration includes
all classes and workshops, accommodations for Friday and Saturday nights,
six meals and free admission to the Saturday night faculty concert in
Santa Cruz. Non-student spouses are welcome to participate in all meals
and large group workshops, jam sessions and the Saturday night concert.
Tuition price is based on your rooming option (please contact Bill Evans
by e-mail at bevans@nativeandfine.com or by phone at 510-559-8879 for
current room availability)
Base rate
$575 multi-occupancy rate (four to a cabin, shared private bath, most
cabins have two bedrooms with two beds in each room).
Housing options, off site participants
and non-student spouses
$615 double occupancy (two to a room, shared private bath).
$660 single occupancy (one to a room, with private bath).
Contact Bill Evans for availability and
off site options
$535 Off-site attendees (includes all classes, concerts and meals).
$360 Non-student spouses (includes accommodations, jams, concerts and
meals).
For payment by check, money order or cashier's check, please print out the camp registration form by clicking here and mail this form along with your payment, written out to "Bill Evans," to Native and Fine Music, 1185 Solano Ave., PMB #157, Albany, CA 94706.
To pay by credit card via telephone (Visa, MasterCard and Discover accepted) or for additional information, call Bill Evans at 510-559-8879, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific Time or email him at bevans@nativeandfine.com. Click here to pay via credit card on line at the secure Native and Fine Records store site (base rate only).
Printable Registration Form (.pdf 490KB)
Click here to reserve and pay for your spot on-line!
For more information, please email Bill Evans by clicking here.
Roland White
In his distinguished career in bluegrass music, Roland White has played
in some of the most influential and popular groups in the music’s
history, and has played a large part in creating that history. Roland
is known as one of the few unique stylists on the mandolin, with his own
unmistakable sound and touch. His style of guitar playing is also all
his own, and his gifts as a musician have delighted audiences everywhere:
his vitality, soul, and infectious rhythm enable him to dance through
his instrument. Add to this his mastery of ensemble playing, harmonic
sophistication, and warm voice guided by a swinging sense of phrasing,
and you have the legend of bluegrass that Roland has become.
Springing from a large family of musicians, Roland, along with brothers Eric and Clarence, first played together as youngsters in their native Maine. Moving to southern California in 1955, The Country Boys (later to become The Kentucky Colonels) won talent contests and appeared on local television shows and even landed appearances on The Andy Griffith Show. The Kentucky Colonels’ influence has far exceeded the band’s short tenure as an active band. Their "Appalachian Swing" album remains one of the most influential albums of that era, a landmark in the history of bluegrass. During the years the Kentucky Colonels were together, they featured such great musicians as Roger Bush, Billy Ray Lathum, Leroy Mack, Bobby Slone, and the legendary fiddler Scott Stoneman.
Moving from The Kentucky Colonels into a position as guitarist for Bill Monroe in the late 60's, Roland absorbed the traditional feel and repertoire from the Father Of Bluegrass that remains a strong element in his music today. He also took part in several landmark recording sessions while a Bluegrass Boy, among them "The Gold Rush," "Is The Blue Moon Still Shining," "Crossing The Cumberlands," "Sally Goodin," "Kentucky Mandolin," and "The Walls Of Time." From Monroe’s band, Roland moved on to that of another bluegrass pioneer, Lester Flatt, playing mandolin and recording several albums as a member of The Nashville Grass from 1969-1973. In 1973 a short-lived reunion of The White Brothers was brought to an untimely end due to Clarence White’s tragic death. Roland then began a thirteen-year tenure with the progressive west coast group Country Gazette, first playing guitar and then mandolin, with such bluegrass luminaries as Byron Berline, Alan Munde, Joe Carr, and Roger Bush. Roland’s most recent musical affiliation, with the highly decorated Nashville Bluegrass Band, began in 1989 and ended when he left that group at the end of 2000. The Nashville Bluegrass Band distinguished themselves as the premier bluegrass band of their generation, winning two Grammies and Grammy nominations on all of their albums.
The Roland White Band is Roland’s current venture
with bandmates Diane Bouska on guitar and vocals, banjo master Richard
Bailey and versatile bassist Todd Cook. In 2002 the band released its
debut album "Jelly On My Tofu", named after one of three of
Roland’s original instrumentals on the album. The album has been
nominated for a Grammy award in the Best Bluegrass Album category.
Roland is widely praised as a teacher, having taught mandolin and guitar
privately and in workshops for many years. He is warm and personable,
loves beginners, has a genuine interest in his students and seems to have
endless patience and boundless enthusiasm for the music, which always
rubs off those around him. He has published a critically and popularly
acclaimed mandolin method, "Roland White’s Approach to Bluegrass
Mandolin" and has taught at NashCamp in Cumberland Furnace, TN and
Oregon’s Bluegrass at the Beach.
Bill Evans
Camp director Bill Evans is widely recognized as a top banjo player, teacher
and workshop leader. A Virginia native, he came to prominence in the 1980’s
with the progressive Virgnia-based band Cloud Valley. In the 1990’s
he performed in Dry Branch Fire Squad and has toured with Tony Trischka,
Peter Rowan, Lynn Morris, and Jim Hurst and Missy Raines, among others.
He currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and performs as a solo
artist and with the David Grisman Bluegrass Experience, Bluegrass Intentions
and Due West.
Bill’s 1995 debut CD Native and Fine on Rounder Records features side persons Stuart Duncan (fiddle), Mike Compton (mandolin) and David Grier and was awarded an honorable mention for Acoustic Instrumental Recording of the Year by the Association for Independent Music. His 2001 release Bill Evans Plays Banjo, featuring Rob Ickes, John Reischman and Darol Anger, among others, was similarly honored, being named a Top 10 Bluegrass CD of 2001 by the Chicago Tribune and a Top 5 Instrumental Release of 2002 by County Sales.
Bill has taught at virtually every major bluegrass camp in the country, including the California Bluegrass Music Association Camp, Grass Valley; the NashCamp Banjo Retreat, Cumberland Furnace, TN, which he co-hosts with mentor Sonny Osborne; Augusta Heritage Center’s Bluegrass Week, Elkins, WV; Banjo Camp North, Groton, MA; the American Banjo Camp, Fort Flagler, WA and the Bath Banjo Festival, England, among others. His Acu-Tab instructional DVD "Power Pickin’ Vol. 1: Up The Neck Back-up" has been frequently called one the "finest instructional banjo video ever made." His clear, inclusive, step by step teaching methods have helped hundreds of players the world over.
Jim Hurst
Jim is the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Guitar Player
of the Year for 2001 and 2002. "Amazing," "awe inspiring,"
"passionate," and "unbelievable" are just a few of
the adjectives that have been used to describe his incomparable guitar
playing and singing. A versatile flatpicking and fingerpicking guitarist,
Jim has worked with Claire Lynch and the Front Porch String Band, the
McCarter Sisters, Holly Dunn, Trisha Yearwood and Sarah Evans.
Jim currently tours with bassist Missy Raines as well as fronting the
Jim Hurst Band. In addition to the duo CD Two on Pinecastle Records, Jim
recently released his first solo project, Second Son, featuring a virtual
who’s who of modern bluegrass side persons and many great new songs
from such writers as Claire Lynch and Tim Stafford.
Ron Stewart
Ron is fast becoming a bluegrass legend in his own right, and is probably
the most respected multi-instrumentalist in bluegrass today. If your ear
has been turned by a great, traditional sounding fiddle or banjo break
on the latest bluegrass hit record, chances are you’re listening
to Ron Stewart! Ron grew up playing with his family band in Paoli, Indiana,
and had already been invited to play fiddle on a live album with his legendary
hero, Lester Flatt, by the time he was nine years old. He is the five-string
banjo player extraordinaire for the Lynn Morris Band, and also performs
on lead guitar and fiddle onstage. His gutsy and soulful fiddle playing
has earned him the Indiana State Fiddle Championship twice, and the IBMA
Fiddle Player of the Year in 2000, as well. He makes his home in rural
Paoli, Indiana and maintains a blistering schedule as a recording session
player in addition to his steady gig with The Lynn Morris Band.
His new solo CD on Rounder, Time Stands Still, features Ron's earthy vocals and fiery instrumental drive on banjo, fiddle, and guitar (as well as mandolin and bass on one of his original cuts, 'Riding the Saranac'.) Ron hand picked some of his most talented favorites to appear as guest artists on the project, and wrote half the material himself. Don't miss this one, folks!
Missy Raines
Missy Raines is the International Bluegrass Music Association's Bass Player
of the Year for 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001. She is the first woman to ever
receive this prestigious award. She was named the 1999 Bass Fiddle Player
of the Year for the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in
America. Missy was also voted Fan's Choice Bass Player of the Year by
the readers of Bluegrass Now magazine.
Missy's solo debut CD, My Place in the Sun was named one of the Top 5 Bluegrass Albums of 1998 by the Chicago Tribune. Currently, Missy performs full-time with guitarist Jim Hurst as a duo and together they just released their first CD on Pinecastle Records titled Two.
In 1995 Missy became a member of Claire Lynch's Front Porch String Band, where she was featured in Claire's 1996 CMT/TNN's video, "My Heart is a Diamond", and on the group's 1997 Grammy-nominated Rounder release Silver and Gold and her most recent release Lovelight as well as numerous national television appearances including TNN's PrimeTime Country, The Grand Ole Opry LIVE, and This Week in Country Music.
Missy joined The Eddie Adcock Band in 1985 and toured the U.S. and Europe with the Adcocks for the next 8 years, recording 4 albums on the CMH label. It was during this time that she worked with The Masters featuring Josh Graves, Kenny Baker, Jesse McReynolds, and Eddie Adcock. With the Masters, Missy performed on Austin City Limits, TNN's Nashville Now, and also recorded both of the group's albums on the CMH label.
A West Virginia native, Missy began playing guitar at age 10 but switched to bass age 12. In 1981, she joined Bill Evans in the Virginia-based group Cloud Valley.
Missy has taught at many bluegrass and acoustic music instructional camps, including the Augusta Heritage Center’s Bluegrass Week, Elkins, West Virginia; NashCamp Bluegrass Week, Nashville, TN; Camp Bluegrass, Levelland, TX; Bluegrass at the Beach, OR; the California Coast Music Camp; the Rocky Grass Academy, CO and many others.