About the Teachers
Crowfoot
Crowfoot weaves musical influences from England, Ireland, Quebec, and the Appalachian Mountains into a captivating fusion that delights dancers and listeners alike. Into this meeting ground of traditions, they incorporate their own distinctive original compositions and songs.
Jaige Trudel (Fiddle and Cello)
has been making music her "day job" for the last eight years, playing for dancers and listening audiences, and giving workshops throughout the U.S., Canada and abroad. A classical background lends her a well rounded technical pallet and her love for traditional sounds determines how she uses it.
Adam Broome (Guitar and English Song)
was born and raised in rural England to a life full of music, theatre and dance. His unique songwriting and playing style has been influenced over the years by many musical genres and traditions. Making music his livelihood, Adam tours full time with his band Crowfoot, performing for concerts and dances and leading workshops on DADGAD guitar throughout the U.S., Canada and abroad. He lives with his wife Jaige Trudel in the countryside of Québec.
Nicholas Williams (Flute and Repertoire)
studied world music, composition and improvisation at York University in Toronto. Since graduating in 1998, he has immersed himself in the traditional dance music of Ireland, Scotland, Brittany and Québec, as well as the classical music of North India. He has performed across North America and the U.K., and has recorded as a producer and a guest artist on many CDs, including two solo releases.
Hammer & String
Exploring the cross- Atlantic boundaries between Appalachia and Ireland, they conduct a musical conversation, with all the texture, sparks and improvisation of virtuosic performers. Part dance music and part guided tour of two closely related musical traditions, their recording "The Girl Who Broke My Heart" gives a window into a journey of mutual discovery that is full of the exhilaration and loss of a love poem.
Tashina Clarridge
has played Fiddle for 22 years - since the age of two. Raised in California, Tashina studied with Darol Anger, Natalie MacMaster, Buddy Spicher, Matt Glaser, and Mark O'Connor. She is the current Grand National Fiddle Champion, a 6-time Grand National finalist, and a winner in many other contests. Though her contest history clearly distinguishes her as a sparkling clean, studied player in the genre of Texas-style fiddling, it is her enthusiasm for many diverse styles of music that brings such a high level of creativity to her playing. Tashina has performed and taught at many fiddle programs all over the country and will be touring with Mark O'Connor this fall.
Cleek Shrey (Irish Fiddle)
is an enthusiastic and experienced performer and teacher of Irish fiddling, has led classes for the Blue Ridge Irish Music School and has been on staff at the Augusta and Catskills Irish weeks. As a teen in Virginia, he was mentored by the legendary fiddler Brendan Mulvihill and also Paddy Reynolds, the great Longford fiddler, and in 2005 he co-produced of the release of archival recordings of the late Reynolds’ surviving work. Cleek performs regularly with accordion players Sean McComiskey and Damien Connolly, and tours internationally with the Celtic Legends music and dance show. A passionate interpreter of Appalachian stringband music, his collaborative recording with the old time the fiddle master Rhys Jones, called The Girl Who Broke My Heart, was released to great acclaim. In the summer of 2010, their band Bigfoot garnered first place in the traditional stringband competition at the prestigious Clifftop Appalachian Music Festival.
Joel Wennerstrom (Banjo)
is a talented clawhammer banjo player who style reflects influences of Dirk Powell, Adam Hurt and others. He plays in old time groups for contra dances in New York City. In addition to playing with Hammer and String, he also plays with the band Two Lost Turkeys. When not playing music he makes his living doing design and teaching at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.
*Our Caller – Ron Buchanan
began dancing as a child and started calling in 1972. Since then he has called from Boston to LA, from Tampa to Fairbanks, and hundreds of dances in between. He is known for efficient walk-through, quick wit, high energy patter as well as teaching others to call. He is also a well-respected dance choreographer known for a wonderful repertoire of square and contra dances with unusual twists and well-sequenced figures.
Upper Potomac Music Weekends